Accepting submissions from March 9, 2024 to April 30, 2024

We want YOU to submit original works of poetry or short fiction to our Teen Writing Contest. We will be awarding awesome prizes for first, second and third place in both categories. Plus, the winning writers will be published in our 4th edition of Inkling Magazine.

 

WHO?
Teens ages 13 to 19 living in Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada.

 

WHAT?
The Teen Writing Contest accepts original works of poetry or short fiction. All work must be original. Use of ChatGPT or any other artificial intelligence is not permitted.

For short stories, entries must be 1000 words or less. For poems, entries must be 20 lines or less. Our panel of WPL judges will be using standard judging criteria for each category to pick the winners. You are allowed to submit a maximum of ONE short story and ONE poem.

To view the poetry judging rubric, click here.
To view the short story judging rubric, click here

 

WHY?
We will be awarding prizes for first, second, and third place in both the Poetry and Short Story categories. Plus, the top 5 winning writers in each category will have their work shared publicly in our Inkling Magazine.

 

WHEN?
Submissions will be accepted between Saturday, March 9 and Tuesday, April 30 at 9PM EST through a form on this page (available starting March 9). Judging will take place in May, and winners will be contacted in June. Inkling Magazine will be released online in mid-July.

 

HOW?
You can enter your submission(s) using the form linked below. Please remember that you can only enter ONE poem and ONE short story. If you are submitting a poem AND a short story, please fill out the form TWICE (one submission for each category).

Looking for inspiration? Read the winning entries from past editions of Inkling Magazine

Submit Your Entry

Teen Poetry and Journalism Writing Workshop

Tuesday, March 26 from 6:00pm - 8:00pm
Eastside Branch
Ages 13 to 18

Get some extra tips and tricks to help you perfect your writing before submitting to our Teen Writing Contest! Join us for a writing workshop, with a dual focus on poetry and journalism writing, with a blend of fun activities, held in collaboration with Laurelwood Heights Secondary School newspaper, The Forecast.

Regsiter Now

Inkling Magazine

The top five winners from both the poetry and short story categories of our contest are featured each year in our Inkling magazine.

View Inkling magazine

Contact Us

Claire MacFarlane and Ikhlas Hussain
Programmer & Library Assistant
519-886-1310
teens@wpl.ca