2025 Victoria Writers’ Society Writing Contest

Fiction, Creative Non-fiction, Poetry
Open to residents from Vancouver Island and its surrounding islands

2025 contest now CLOSED

Deadline is June 1, 2025 

Submissions:

• Send your submissions as an attachment in an email to contest@victoriawriters.ca 
• We ONLY accept electronic submissions as an email attachment (word or pdf).
• This attachment MUST NOT contain your name or any other identifying features as all judging is blind, but should have title of piece on each page.
• In the subject line of the email, write the genre you are entering. (Fiction, Creative Non-fiction or Poetry). You may submit to all three genre categories, but only two submissions can be made per genre. Each submission must be accompanied by a separate entry fee.

Eligibility:

• The contest is open to residents of Vancouver Island and its surrounding islands.
• Work previously published or currently under consideration for publication elsewhere is not eligible to enter this competition. Winning pieces will be published by the Victoria Writers’ Society.

Entry fees:

• $25.00 per entry for VWS members per submission
• $30.00 per entry for non-members per submission
• Entry fee may be paid by e-transfer (preferred) or mailed cheque 
• Send e-transfer to: treasurer@victoriawriters.ca
• Send cheque to: Victoria Writers Society, P.O. Box 8311, Victoria BC V8W 3R9

Format:

• Entries should be in Times-New Roman 12 Pt. 
• Stories to be double-spaced.
• Poetry to be single spaced.
• Title of work should appear at top of each page.
• Word or .pdf files accepted

Word/line count:

• Must be shown at top left-hand corner of first page of each submission.
• 2,500 words maximum for fiction and creative non-fiction.
• 100 lines for poetry.

Winners:

• Winners only will be notified by 15 August and will be invited to read their winning works at the September VWS General meeting.
• The winning works will be published by the Victoria Writers’ Society.
• Authors and photographers retain copyright after publication.

STILL HAVE QUESTIONS?
Contact the contest co-ordinator at: contest@victoriawriters.ca

Meet the 2025 Judges

POETRY JUDGE: Marie Metaphor Specht is a multidisciplinary artist, poet, and educator living on the unceded territories of the Lək̓ʷəŋən- and SENĆOTEN-speaking peoples. A long-time member of the Canadian spoken word scene, Marie is the 6th Poet Laureate of Victoria, British Columbia. In addition to her independent practice, she has collaborated with filmmakers, lighting engineers, dancers, and musicians to create immersive and interactive works. Marie believes in the transformative power of this art form and has had the privilege of coaching and creating space for youth poets for nearly two decades. Marie’s poetry has been published in Oratorealis, Untethered Magazine, Chestnut Review, The Hellebore,and Room Magazine, among others. Her debut full-length poetry collection, Soft Shelters is out now with Write Bloody North Publishing (2023). www.mariemetaphor.com Instagram: @mariemetaphor

FICTION JUDGE: Bára Hladík is a Czech-Canadian writer and artist. She is the author of New Infinity (Metatron Press) and co-author of Behind the Curtain (Publication Studio). Her work can be found in Briarpatch Magazine, THIS Magazine, EVENT Mag, Carte Blanche, Contemporary Verse 2, Empty Mirror and elsewhere. She has been nominated for Best of the Net and her work was selected for Poetry in Transit in 2022. Born in Ktunaxa Territory, she now resides with her wife and book collection as a guest on the shores of the Salish Sea. https://barahladik.com/ Instagram: @laughingmirrors_

CREATIVE NON-FICTION JUDGE: Caroline Mufford was born in the small town of Quesnel, B.C, where she worked as an editor, freelanced, and taught college English. Before moving to Victoria, Caroline earned her BA in Journalism at San Francisco State University, and later won the national Hearst Award. She is the author of the book Quesnel: A Multicultural Tapestry, and has had work appear in Island Writer, Prism International, Nurseweek, Interior Woman, San Francisco, BC Business, the Cariboo Observer, California and California Farmer. https://cmufford.wordpress.com/