Literary arts

Unleash Press

Deadline to submit: July 15, 2025

The Unleash WIP Award offers writers support in the amount of $500 to supplement costs to support the completion of a book-length work of fiction, nonfiction or poetry. Writers will receive editorial feedback, coaching meetings, and an excerpt/interview feature in Unleash Lit.

Guidelines

Submit up to the first 25 pages of your WIP (.DOC, .DOCX) and answers to the following questions in the same document:

Since 2000 the City Arts Centre has been sparking creativity in people of all ages and artistic abilities. We are known for providing community based art programming taught by a local team of skilled artists and professionals who are passionate about infusing art and culture within the city of Edmonton. Patrons are both returning students who want to develop a skill in a specific art medium, while others are new to our programs and are exploring something new for the first time.

Join Deborah Willis, author of MacEwan’s 2024-25 Book of the Year, for an intimate reading of Girlfriend on Mars. Following the reading, there will be time for a question-and-answer session with the author about her writing process and the book. The conversation will be with MacEwan’s 2024-25 Writer in Residence, Jenna Butler. Willis will also be available to sign copies of Girlfriend on Mars which will be available for purchase. Light refreshments will be served.

The Next Generation Short Story Awards is a not-for-profit awards program open to authors writing original unpublished short stories (5,000 words or less per story) in English. Brought to you by the Next Generation Indie Book Awards (NGIBA) and Independent Book Publishing Professionals Group (IBPPG), the 2025 Next Generation Short Story Awards offers 30+ categories, and is open to all authors, even first-time authors, in the U.S., Canada or internationally.