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Encouraging the future of Canadian literature

RBC Bronwen Wallace Award for Emerging Writers

Highlights

GuidelinesPrize History

Prize

  • Winners $10,000
  • Finalists $2,500

2025 Important Dates

  • Finalists announced April 23, 2025
  • Winners announced June 2, 2025

Eligibility

  • Canadian citizen or permanent resident
  • Published in a literary magazine or anthology
  • Unpublished in book form

Questions?

Please contact:
Devon Jackson, Senior Program Manager
djackson@writerstrust.com

About the Award

Established in memory of writer Bronwen Wallace, this award has a proven track record of helping talented developing authors secure their first book deal. Three $10,000 prizes will be given for outstanding works of unpublished poetry, short fiction, and creative nonfiction. Finalists are invited to attend networking events in Toronto and have their nominated writing published in print and digital formats. All applicants are given access to webinars on the business and craft of writing. The award is sponsored by RBC. 

Submissions for the 2025 RBC Bronwen Wallace Award are closed

2024 Winner
Short Fiction

Nayani Jensen

Like Rabbits

Jury Citation

“‘Like Rabbits’ is historical fiction at its most intimate and convincing. This storybeautifully harks back to the golden age of Dutch science, a time when men played gods. As one such man attempts to conceive with his wife, he seeks credit for his groundbreaking discoveriesat great personal cost — only to face tragedy and his own mortality. With elegance, authority, and vitality, Nayani Jensen gives us a timeless story of ambition and a tender portrait of a marriage.” —2024 RBC Bronwen Wallace Award short fiction jury (Jessica Johns, Maria Reva, and Jack Wang)

2024 Winner
Poetry

Faith Paré

Selections from “A fine African head”

Jury Citation

“Stunning and necessary, the poems in ‘Selections from “a fine African head”’ are not merely inspired by a historical event but emerge ingeniously from it. Faith Paré returns the truth not only to the victims, but also to the survivors of the 1969 Sir George Williams University computer centre incident. This urgent, chimerical, and devastating work is finely crafted from the unreliability of archive and the misery of memory.” —2024 RBC Bronwen Wallace Award poetry jury (Derek Beaulieu, Kama La Mackerel, and Joanna Lilley)

2024 Finalists - Poetry

2024 Finalists - Short Fiction

Listen to the 2024 RBC Bronwen Wallace Award audiobooks

Jury

Poetry (2024)
A jury composed of Derek Beaulieu, Kama La Mackerel, and Joanna Lilley read 215 submissions to select finalists in the poetry category.

Jury

Short Fiction (2024)
A jury composed of Jessica Johns, Maria Reva, and Jack Wang read 252 submissions to select finalists in the short fiction category.

2024 Event Photos

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Publishing can be a confusing and tough industry to navigate, and I am truly grateful that the Bronwen Wallace Award has been like a foot on the gas pedal for my career.

— Teya Hollier

About Bronwen Wallace

Bronwen Wallace (1945–1989) was a poet, short story writer, essayist, and mentor to many aspiring authors as a creative writing instructor at Queen’s University and St. Lawrence College in Kingston, Ontario. This prize was established in her honour in 1994 by a group of friends and colleagues. Wallace felt that writers should have more opportunities for recognition early in their careers. This annual award will be presented to three writers — one each in the categories of poetry, short fiction, and creative nonfiction — who have been published in literary journals or anthologies but have yet to publish in book form. Past winners include Michael Crummey, Alissa York, Sonnet L’Abbé, Alison Pick, Noor Naga, Maria Reva, and John Elizabeth Stintzi.  

Sponsor

RBC aims to support the careers and development of emerging Canadian creatives through mentorship programs, education, and access and exposure to new audiences.