Sponsored by Champlain Regional, Dawson, Heritage, John Abbott, Marianopolis, and Vanier Colleges
Winner Receives $1,000
Deadline: June 2, 2025
The 2025 Quebec Writers’ Federation (QWF) College Writers Award will be awarded to a Quebec resident who is enrolled in one of the sponsoring colleges.
The prize will go to the best short story, poem, or work of non-fiction written in English between August 14, 2024 and June 2, 2025. The winner will be announced at the QWF Awards Gala in Montreal on Monday, November 10, 2025, and receive a $1,000 cash prize.
Rules and Regulations
- Maximum length for short stories and non-fiction is 4000 words. Maximum length for poems is 100 lines.
- The writer must have been enrolled in one of the following colleges during the 2023-2024 academic year: Champlain Regional (Lennoxville, Saint-Lambert, St. Lawrence), Dawson, Heritage, John Abbott, Marianopolis, or Vanier College.
- Applicants must have had a primary residence in the province of Quebec for at least one year at the time of submission.
- The submission must have been written in English (translations are not eligible).
- A total of 24 semifinalists (3 from each campus) will be chosen by college staff and forwarded to the QWF jury.
- 3 finalists will be chosen by a jury assembled by the QWF. The names of all finalists will appear in the QWF’s online literary journal, carte blanche, and on the QWF website. The winner will be announced at the annual QWF Literary Awards Gala, held on November 10, 2025.
- Grand prize: $1000 and, when rights allow, publication in carte blanche
- All 3 finalists receive a pair of tickets to the QWF Awards Gala and a free one-year membership in the Quebec Writers’ Federation.
How to Submit
Check with your teacher or your English Department about how to submit your story or poem to your college’s representative. Please save your document as a PDF file and include your name, email address, and phone number in the document.
For questions about submitting to the prize, contact your college representative or email collegewritersaward@qwf.org.
For media inquiries, contact John Wickham, Communications Officer, at john@qwf.org.