It isn’t always easy for young writers to find places to submit their work, so we’ve collected together competitions, magazines and online publications to which teenage writers (and tween writers) can submit their poetry and short fiction. A fun fact: young writers at the Centauri Arts Academy have been published in many of these places, and have also been short-listed for several of these awards!
Young Voices Magazine
This is an annual magazine published by the Toronto Public Library. They accept creative writing and art by writers aged 12-19. You can submit your work at any time but submission deadlines fall in March each year.
https://www.torontopubliclibrary.ca/teens/young-voices.jsp
Stone Soup Magazine
This is a fabulous magazine 100% written and illustrated by kids aged 6-13. Read their submission guidelines carefully before sending your work.
https://stonesoup.com/
CBC First Page Award
This annual competition for grades 7-12 requires writers to submit the first page of a novel, based on a prompt. The deadline falls in February each year, and the work of previous winners is available to read online:
The Amazon Youth Short Story Award
This is open to writers aged 13-17, and the challenge is to write a short story under 3,000 words. For more information, scroll down to the bottom of this link:
https://thewalrus.ca/afna-2024/
The Meaning of Home (Habitat for Humanity Award)
This annual competition is for writers in grades 4-6 and is directed by teachers – so tell your school about it! The competition opens in January each year and the prize is a sum of money donated to a Habitat for Humanity house build. That makes it a terrific cause! https://meaningofhome.ca/page/how-it-works
Kids Write 4 Kids
This one comes recommended! Kids Write 4 Kids is open to writers in grades 4-8. The prize is publication of your book, with proceeds from the sales going to a charity of your choice. https://kidswrite4kids.ripplefoundation.ca/books/
Polar Expressions Publishing
Polar Expressions offers two annual creative writing competitions, one for poetry and one for short stories. The competitions are open to all grades, and the deadline falls in November each year.
https://www.polarexpressions.ca/StudentContests.html
The ‘Get to Know’ contest
This contest is all about nature, and there are three categories: creative writing, photography and art.
https://www.gettoknow.ca/
Scholastic Writing and Art Awards
There are so many categories to choose from! These awards are open to US and Canadian writers aged 13-17. There is an entry fee of $5.
https://www.artandwriting.org/awards/
Hanging Loose Press
This literary magazine has a section dedicated to high school writers. You can find submission requirements here:
https://www.hangingloosepress.com/submissions/
If you are more interested in submitting your work to literary magazines rather than competitions, you can find a list of those that accept work from young writers, here:
Finally, the New York Times runs many competitions for young writers, throughout the year. They include a broad range of writing styles and topics, such as travel fiction, open letters and journalism. Check out their annual calendar of contests here:
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/25/learning/our-2024-25-student-contest-calendar.html
Young writers in the Centauri Arts writing classes also have the opportunity to be published in our anthologies each year. Check them out here:
https://www.centauriarts.com/academy/on-line-writing-magazines/
Check out our year-round classes in Bloor West Village, and virtually here:
https://www.centauriarts.com/academy/toronto/writing-classes-for-teens/
