Entry Guidelines
Honouring Writing That Achieves Excellence Without Sacrificing Popular Appeal
The information on this site currently reflects the 2009 awards.
Entries
Look for the information and links to the entry forms (where necessary) within the information for each award category. Only The CAA Awards for Adult Literature, The CAA Carol Bolt Award and The CAA-BookTelevision Emerging Writer Award require specific entry forms. Submission deadlines and requirements may vary between award categories.
Awards Categories
Awards are presented in the following categories:
- The CAA Awards for Adult Literature
- The CAA MOSAID Technologies Inc. Award for Fiction
- The CAA Lela Common Award for Canadian History
- The CAA Poetry Award
- The CAA Carol Bolt Award for Drama
- The CAA-BookTelevision Emerging Writer Award
- The Allan Sangster Award
The CAA Awards for Adult Literature
Entries Information - Entry Form
The Canadian Authors Association (CAA) administers the following awards for full-length English-language literature for adults by authors who are Canadians or landed immigrants. For the 2009 awards, all entries must have been first published in 2008. Publication may have taken place outside Canada. Winners will receive a silver medal and the cash prize noted below. Previous winners are eligible but not in the year following their award. i.e. If Jane Doe wins a particular CAA Literary Award in 2009, she will not be eligible to win again in the same category until 2011. Previous winners may be entered in the other award categories. Reprints, translations and posthumous entries are not eligible.
- CAA MOSAID Technologies Inc. Award for Fiction: $2,500
For a full-length novel.
(Collections of stories are not eligible.) - CAA Lela Common Award for Canadian History: $2,500
For a work of historical non-fiction on a Canadian topic.
(Biographical works are not eligible.) - CAA Poetry Award: $1,000
For a volume of poetry by one poet.
Entries Information
Entry Fee
There is a fee of $35.00 per title entered to offset a portion of the awards program administrative costs.
Shortlists of the best three books in each category will be published in late April, 2009. The winning titles and authors will be announced at the awards presentation at a gala banquet during the CAA's annual conference—to be held in June 2009 in Toronto. There will also be readings by shortlisted authors at the conference.
A trustee for each award, appointed by the CAA, will select two judges. Identities of trustees and judges will be confidential. Decisions of the trustee and judges will be final, and they may choose not to award a prize.
Entry Forms
Download the CAA Awards for Adult Literature Entry Form (PDF - 384k) which includes instructions. Entry forms may also be obtained from the CAA National Office.
To enter, send four copies of the book, plus an entry form and the $35.00 fee, to:
- CAA AWARDS
- PO Box 581, Stn. Main
- Orillia ON L3V 6K5
The address on the entry form is no longer correct. Please use the address above.
The deadline is DECEMBER 15, 2008. Entries should be postmarked by that date, except for works published after December 1, 2009, in which case they must be postmarked no later than JANUARY 15, 2009. For assistance contact Anita Purcell, CAA Interim Executive Director, at 705-653-0323, toll-free 866-216-6222, email .
The CAA Carol Bolt Award for Drama
Entries Information - Entry Form
Your entries are invited for the 2009 CAA Carol Bolt Award for Drama. This award is for a play published or first performed in 2008. The deadline is December 15, 2008.
The Canadian Authors Association (CAA) Carol Bolt Award is for the best English-language play for adults by an author who is a Canadian or a landed immigrant. For the 2009 award, all entries must have been first published (singly or in a collection) or performed in 2008. If performed, the working script for the production must be submitted. Publication or performance may have taken place outside Canada. Winners will receive $2,500 
and a silver medal. Previous winners of this award, or of the former CAA Award for Drama (given from 1976 to 1999), are eligible to be entered but not in the year immediately following their award.
Reprints, translations and posthumous entries are not eligible. A play may be entered only once, either when first produced, or first published.
This award is made possible through the generosity of the Playwrights Guild of Canada and Playwrights Canada Press.
Entries Information
Entry Fee
There is a fee of $35.00 per title entered to offset a portion of the awards program administrative costs.
The award is for a play, not for a collection of plays or a body of work. A play in a collection must be identified with entry form and fee if it is to be entered in the contest.
A shortlist of the three best books in this category will be published in late April 2009. The winner will be announced and the award presented on Saturday, July 6, 2009, at the CAA's annual conference in Toronto.
A trustee for the award appointed by the CAA will select two judges. The identities of the trustee and judges will be confidential. Decisions of the trustee and judges will be final, and they may choose not to award a prize.
Entry Forms
Download the Carol Bolt Award Entry Form (PDF - 399k) which includes instructions. Entry forms may also be obtained from the CAA National Office.
To enter, send four copies of the book or script, plus an entry form and the $35.00 fee, to:
- CAA AWARDS
- PO Box 581, Stn. Main
- Orillia ON L3V 6K5
The address on the entry form is no longer correct. Please use the address above.
The deadline is DECEMBER 15, 2008. Entries should be postmarked by then, except for works published or performed after December 1, 2008, in which case they must be postmarked no later than JANUARY 15, 2009. For assistance contact Anita Purcell, CAA Interim Executive Director, at 705-653-0323, toll-free 866-216-6222, email .
The CAA-BookTelevision Emerging Writer Award
Your entries are invited for the 2009 CAA-BookTelevision Emerging Writer Award. The deadline is March 31, 2009.
The CAA-BookTelevision Emerging Writer Award goes to the Canadian (or landed immigrant) writer under 30 deemed to show most promise in the field of literary creation. There are no restrictions as to that field and a winner may be chosen for work in a variety of forms. Previous winners are ineligible but there is no limit on the number of times a writer may be nominated before the age limit (at April 30 in the year of the competition) is reached. There is no entry fee for this award.
The nomination can be in any form but the recommended approach is to submit a biography of the writer accompanied by an introductory letter and samples of the writer's work with reviews if available. Full-length works need not be sent: copies of a few pages are sufficient. Entries are not returned.
The date of birth of the nominee must be included with the nomination.
Nominations are made through CAA branches, other writing organizations, agents, publishers, writing coaches and teachers at colleges, or university professors in charge of creative writing programs. Self-nominations are not accepted. Membership in the CAA is not required. Nominations must be postmarked no later than March 31, 2009. A trustee appointed by the CAA Awards Chair reviews the entries and selects a winner.
The winner will receive a $500 cash prize, a silver medal and travel to and from the CAA's conference (to a maximum value of $1,500). The award will be presented Saturday, July 6, 2009 at the CAA's annual conference in Toronto. During the conference there will be a reading by the award winner. For assistance contact Anita Purcell, CAA Interim Executive Director, at 705-653-0323, toll-free 866-216-6222, email .
This award is made possible through the generosity of BookTelevision, Canada's only television station dedicated to writing in all its forms.
If you know a promising young writer, contact a CAA branch, another writing organization, an agent or a publisher, a teacher at a community college writing program, etc., and arrange for a nomination. Send nominations to:
- CAA AWARDS
- PO Box 581, Stn. Main
- Orillia ON L3V 6K5
Entries Information
Entry Fee
There is no entry fee for this award.
Entry Forms
There is no entry form, but a copy of the information about this award is available. Download the CAA-BookTelevision Emerging Writer Award information which includes instructions for nominating someone for this award. (PDF - 11k)
The deadline is March 31, 2009. For assistance contact Anita Purcell, Interim Executive Director, at 705-653-0323, toll-free 866-216-6222, email .
The Allan Sangster Award
The Allan Sangster Award honours one of the CAA's own members for extraordinary service to the Association.
This award winner is chosen by the previous winners.
www.CanAuthors.org/awards/guidelines.html
Updated May 6, 2009
