Entry Guidelines

Honouring Writing That Achieves Excellence Without Sacrificing Popular Appeal

The information on this site currently reflects the 2012 awards.

The Canadian Authors Association manages awards in the following categories:

The CAA Awards for Adult Literature
- The CAA Award for Fiction
- The CAA Lela Common Award for Canadian History
- The CAA Poetry Award
The CAA Emerging Writer Award
The Allan Sangster Award

Awards For Adult Literature

CAA Award for Fiction: $2000 and a silver medal
For a full-length novel
CAA Lela Common Award for Canadian History: $2000 and a silver medal
For a work of historical non-fiction on a Canadian topic
CAA Poetry Award: $2000 and a silver medal
For a volume of poetry by one poet

Eligibility Criteria

The entry must have been first published in 2011. (Publication may have taken place outside Canada.)
Entries must be full-length English-language literature for adults written by a single author or co-written by two or more authors.
Collections of stories or articles are not eligible, whether they are by a single author or by a group of authors.
The author must be a Canadian citizen or permanent resident of Canada.
Entrants are not eligible to win a prize for the same category two years in a row. (Previous winners may submit entries to any of the other CAA Literary Award categories.)
Reprints, translations and posthumous entries are not eligible.

Entry Fee

The entry fee is $40 per title entered.

Deadline

Entries must be postmarked by December 15, 2011. (Works published after December 1, 2011 must be postmarked no later than January 15, 2012.)

To Enter

Send four copies of the entry, plus a completed entry form (PDF - 99k) or fillable entry form (you can enter your information before printing the form) (PDF - 117k) and the $40 entry fee to:

CanAuthors Literary Awards
74 Mississaga Street East
Orillia ON L3V 1V5

Process

The CAA Awards Chair appoints a trustee for each award. That trustee selects two judges. The identities of the trustee and judges are confidential throughout the judging process. Decisions of the trustee and judges are final, and they may choose not to award a prize.

Please note: Ineligible entries and their accompanying fees will not be returned.

Shortlist Announced

A shortlist of the best three entries in each category will be announced in May 2012, and the winners will be announced in July 2012 at a special awards dinner.

Questions?

Call 1 866 216 6222 or 705 653 0323, or email to: .

Download a printable copy of these guidelines (PDF - 111k).

Return to Top

The CAA Emerging Writer Award

The CAA Emerging Writer Award goes to the Canadian writer deemed to show the most promise in the field of literary creation. There are no restrictions as to the genre, and a writer may be selected based on a body of work in a variety of forms, or on a body of work in a single genre or writing form.

Prize

$500 and a one-year membership in the Canadian Authors Association (CAA).

Eligibility Criteria

The nominee must be under 30 years of age (as of May 30 in the year of the competition) and a Canadian citizen or a permanent resident of Canada.
Self-nominations are not accepted. Nominations may be made solely through CAA branches, other writing and arts organizations, publishers, agents, and creative writing coaches, teachers or professors at public or private schools and universities.
Book-length publication is not required.
Nominees are not eligible to win this prize two years in a row. However, previous winners may submit entries to any of the other CAA Literary Award categories, and there is no limit on the number of times a writer may be nominated for this award before the age limit is reached.

Entry Fee

There is no entry fee for this award.

Deadline

Submissions to the Emerging Writer Award submissions will only be accepted after October 30, 2011. Nomination packages must be postmarked by April 30, 2012.

To Nominate a Writer

Complete the Emerging Writer Award nomination form (2012 nomination forms are pending).
Prepare a nomination package that includes a) a cover letter outlining why your nominee is deserving of this award, b) your nominee's bio (up to 200 words), and c) samples of the writer's written work.

Send the completed nomination form (the 2012 nomination forms are pending) and three copies of the nomination package to:

CAA Awards
74 Mississaga Street East
Orillia ON L3V 1V5

Decisions of the judges are final, and they may choose not to award a prize in any awards year.

Process

Nominees will be named in May 2012, and the winners will be announced in July 2012 at a special awards dinner.

Questions?

Call 1 866 216 6222 or 705 653 0323, or email .

The 2012 guidelines are pending (and details in this section are subject to change).

Return to Top

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.

Return to Top

www.CanAuthors.org/awards/guidelines.html
Updated September 29, 2011