Where Young Authors Can Submit

by | Aug 11, 2015 | Mentoring, On Writing

As of February 2017, I’ve migrated this list to my For Writers page for easier updating. Please feel free to share widely, and email me any suggestions or corrections.

Contests

The CNIB Braille Creative Writing Contest accepts original poems and stories by Canadian students up to grade 12. altlit.ca/braillecontest

The Eden Mills Student Poetry Contest is an annual youth poetry contest run by Eden Mills Writers’ Festival, which is held annually in early September. edenmillswritersfestival.ca

Indigenous Arts & Stories showcases writing by Aboriginal Canadians between the ages of 6 and 29. www.our-story.ca

The Hamilton Public Library has the annual Power of the Pen Creative Writing Contest for ages 12 to 18 who are residents of Southern Ontario. Check the Teen Page at www.hpl.ca.

The League of Canadian Poets lists prizes and offers resources for young poets. poets.ca/resources

The River of Words Annual Poetry Contest is designed to help youth explore the natural and cultural history of the place they live. The contest is open to any writers aged 5 to 19. Older students must have not yet completed high school. www.stmarys-ca.edu/center-for-environmental-literacy/rules-and-guidelines

The Scholastic Art and Writing Awards recognize student achievement in the visual arts and creative writing. Sign up to receive email updates about annual deadlines. www.artandwriting.org

The TD Canadian Children’s Book Week Writing Contest invites young writers from across Canada, in grades 4 to 12, to submit stories and/or poems. Judging is done by noted writers from across Canada and one winner and two honourable mentions from each grade receive a gift certificate for the bookstore of his or her choice. www.bookweek.ca

World Literacy Canada organizes Write for a Better World – a national writing contest open to students in grades 5 to 8 that aims to inspire a sense of global citizenship in Canada’s youth. www.worldlit.ca

Publications

The Adroit Journal is a print literary publication offering young writers from around the world the chance to submit work for publication alongside established adult writers. Young writers in high school or college can also participate in the editing process as part of the journal’s staff of readers and editors. www.theadroitjournal.org

The Blue Pencil Online is an online magazine edited and produced by the students in the Creative Writing Program at Walnut Hill School for the Arts, located in Natick, Massachusetts. The magazine seeks to publish the best literary work in English by young writers (12 to 18) around the world. thebluepencil.net

chixLIT is a literary zine written, illustrated and produced by and for girls. They accept submissions of stories, poems, artwork, and photography from girls age 13 to 17. chixlit.tumblr.com

Teens from around the world can submit their poems and art to Navigating the Maze, an annual youth anthology. www.adonisdesignspress.com

Cicada Magazine is an international print and online magazine that publishes writing by teens. www.cicadamag.com

The Claremont Review is an international print magazine of young adult writers. It accepts manuscripts by writers aged 13 to 19. www.theclaremontreview.ca

Cricket Magazine is an international print magazine that holds monthly writing and artwork contests for young subscribers aged 9 to 14. www.cricketmagkids.com

Cuckoo Quarterly is a British literary journal that publishes work by young writers in high school. chronicle.cuckoowriters.com/submit/

The Cyberkids website at www.cyberkids.com accepts work for online publication.

F(r)iction literary magazine publishes fiction, nonfiction, and poetry by young authors. tetheredbyletters.com

Greystone Young Lit Mag publishes poetry, stories, artwork, and photography from students K to 12 for their quarterly online publication. mygreystone.wordpress.com

Hanging Loose Press is dedicated to supporting new and young writers. They have special guidelines for high school student submissions. www.hangingloosepress.com

INKspire publishes articles by youth aged 14 to 29 on the arts, social issues, science, and technology. INKspire hopes to provide opportunities for young writers, journalists, and artists to showcase their talents. inkspire.org

Launch Pad is a print magazine devoted to publishing fiction, nonfiction, poetry, book reviews, and artwork by children ages 6 to 12. www.launchpadmag.com

Matador Review is an online alternative art and literature magazine. They accept submissions from any location and any age group. www.matadorreview.com

New Moon: The Magazine for Girls and Their Dreams is a print magazine edited by 8 to 14 year-old girls. www.newmoon.com

Shameless is a progressive Canadian magazine rooted in feminism and DIY culture for teenage girls, who are underrepresented in the mainstream media. Accepts submissions from young writers. www.shamelessmag.com

Skipping Stones is a multicultural children’s magazine that encourages children to submit both art and writing. www.skippingstones.org

Stone Soup is a print magazine of writing by young people up to age 13. www.stonesoup.com

Teen Ink is a US monthly print magazine, e-zine, and book series that publishes teen (13 to 19) writing. It offers lots of publishing opportunities, contests, and a chance to read work by other youth. teenink.com

Windscript is the Saskatchewan Writers Guild’s annual magazine of high school writing. www.skwriter.com/publications

Young Adult Review Network (YARN) is an literary journal that publishes outstanding original short fiction, poetry, and essays for young-adult readers. They seek to discover new teen writers and publish them alongside established writers of the YA genre. yareview.net

Young Voices Magazine of Teen Writing and Art is an annual publication of poetry, stories, nonfiction, artwork, and photography. Teens 12 to 19 living in Toronto are eligible to submit. Work is selected by editorial teams made of youth volunteers and professional writers and artists. A launch event including youth readings is held each fall to recognize the contributors. torontopubliclibrary.typepad.com/teens/young-voices-magazine.html

Links of Interest

Canadian Links of Interest to Writers are listed through Wordwrights Canada. www3.sympatico.ca/susanio/WWClinks.html

Broken Pencil: The Magazine of Zine Culture and the Independent Arts reviews the best zines, books, websites, videos, and artwork from the underground and reprints the best articles from the alternative press. Also includes groundbreaking interviews, original fiction, and commentary on all aspects of the independent arts. www.brokenpencil.com

National Novel Writing Month, a yearly program that occurs over the month of November. Writers are encouraged to produce a 50,000-word novel to be submitted by the last day of month. Includes areas to post excerpts and share your word count in-progress, as well as community forums and pep talks. Free to register. Includes a NaNoWriMo Young Writers Program with special resources for writers 17 and under. www.nanowrimo.org

Newpages: Young Authors Guide is a select list of literary magazines to read, places to publish writing, and legitimate contests. Many of the magazines have open submissions with guidelines, an editorial selection process, and a regular print cycle. Some publish only young writers, some publish all ages for young readers. www.newpages.com/npguides/young_authors_guide.htm

Online Writing Communities

Figment is an online writing community created to be used by educators, but also open for individual children and teens to create independent accounts. Figment members share their writing, connect with their readers, discover new stories and authors, and participate in contests. www.figment.com

Wattpad is an online writing community that calls itself the world’s largest community for discovering and sharing stories, and connecting readers and writers through storytelling. (Not aimed specifically at youth, but many young people are active members.) www.wattpad.com

WeBook is a community of writers posting work and sharing feedback as well as an active blog with contests, advice, and publishing tips. www.webook.com

Young Writers Online is a community of young writers, both new and experienced, dedicated to improving their writing. Members have access to a Community Forum for general, literary, and off-topic discussion; the Writing Forum, for submitting writing and critiquing work posted by other members; plus a chat room, contests, exercises, and more. Membership is free. www.youngwritersonline.net

Toronto Literary Events for Teens

The BAM! Toronto Youth Poetry Slam is for poets aged 12 to 19, all ages for open mic, and runs on the second Wednesday monthly at The Central (603 Markham Street) in the Annex. www.bamyouthslam.com

Toronto Public Library Writing and Art Workshops are regularly held at library branches throughout the city. Workshops are led by professional writers and artists. torontopubliclibrary.typepad.com/teens

Young Voices Annual Writers Conference is an annual full-day literary event featuring professional writers and performers. The programming includes a keynote speech, multiple workshops and an open mic. Throughout the day, youth can submit writing and art and youth volunteers produce an instant anthology that participants take home. torontopubliclibrary.typepad.com/teens/young-voices-conference.html

Upcoming Appearances: Summer and Fall

by | Jul 6, 2015 | Mentoring, Presentation News

London Book Camp

I’m happy to be invited back to London Book Camp for a second year, this time for a workshop on “Stories Inspired by Real-Life.” Run by non-profit Investing in Children, this week-long August camp offers hands-on workshops for children and teens who are passionate about reading and writing. Although the camp is full for this year, writers aged 10 to 15 should keep it in mind for next year!

Book Camp London

London Book Camp 2014

Kingston WritersFest

Join me at the Kingston WritersFest on September 23 to 27 for a reading as well as a writing workshop:

•  Reading and Discussion of Punch Like a Girl, September 24, 9:30 to 10:30 a.m.

•   Workplay Workshop, September 24, 12:45 to 2:00 p.m.

I’ll also be announcing the winners and runners-up in the TeensWrite! Creative Writing Contest during the International Marquee at the Grand Theatre on September 24. Stayed tuned for the results!

logo

Word on the Street Toronto

On Sunday, September 27, I’ll be at Harbourfront Centre for Word on the Street Toronto. You can find me at the This Is Not The Shakespeare Stage. Check the WOTS Toronto website for times.

WOTS logo

Want To Be Read To?

by | Mar 4, 2015 | Mentoring, Presentation News

litworldWRAD15logo-webHappy World Read Aloud Day 2015 – LitWorld’s annual advocacy campaign for the human right of literacy! Some of my fondest memories as a kid are of reading A. A. Milne’s Winnie-the-Pooh books aloud with my mother, each of us taking turns reading the characters’ voices. I always wanted to be Piglet and Tigger, and my mother can still do an excellent Eeyore.

As a parent of young kids, reading before bedtime was an opportunity to connect  after a long day, and my kids and I can still recite books like Loris Lesynski’s Dirty Dog Boogie and Robert Munch’s A Promise is a Promise from memory. On family holidays, we always picked a novel to read aloud together. Today, all the books we read aloud together still hold treasured memories.

One special memory came when we were reading The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo. My partner and our daughters had travelled to a cabin in Algonquin Park with my parents. I’d carefully selected a book to read aloud that I hoped would interest everyone. After I read a few chapters, I was delighted when my father picked up the book and read the next chapter. He couldn’t wait to find out what happened next, and he greatly enjoyed reading aloud. During that holiday, we passed the book around, taking turns reading. My parents even planned to begin reading aloud together at home.

Another fond memory I have is of my two daughters reading aloud together from books like Camp X by Eric Walters. My eldest would most often read, while the youngest listened, perhaps painting her nails or tidying her room. When my youngest had to leave the room for a moment, she would say, “Pause,” and push her imaginary pause button in the air. My eldest would stop reading, and wait impatiently for her return.

Today, I still enjoy reading aloud with family and with my writing group as we critique each others’ works-in-progress. Reading aloud creates a shared knowledge, a community, and strong relationships. It empowers and it strengthens. On World Read Aloud Day, we can advocate for every child’s right to a safe education and access to books and technology. One book at at time, we can show our support for the right to read, write, and share words that can change the world.

Want to be read to today? Then get cozy and enjoy! You can listen to seven author readings from Fitzhenry and Whiteside Publishers, including Caroline Pignat, Marty Chan, Lisa Dalrymple, Andrew Larsen, Natalie Hyde, Melanie Mosher, and me. Oh happy day with reading in it!

On the Value of Writing Workshops

by | Dec 4, 2014 | Mentoring, On Writing, Presentation News

Writing for Publication

In my workshops for kids and teens, they always have questions about where they can publish and how they should go about it. So I tell them what I can, and I offer my ongoing list of Where Young Authors Can Submit.

I understand how exciting and validating it can be when a story or poem is accepted for publication, and I’m particularly thrilled when marginalized voices get a chance to be heard. But publication isn’t THE goal of my writing workshops.

Writing to Understand Your World

Personally, I write to understand the world around me in all its complex, painful, fascinating glory. It maims us and then celebrates us. It gives us riches and takes them away. I find endless subject matter to write about by lifting my head and really observing what’s happening around me.

So I hope that, in my workshops, kids and teens can get a taste of that goal and its pleasures.

Writing to Move People

I also hope to share my awe of words – how they have the power to make me laugh, cry, or feel inspired. I’m continually delighted by the power of words to move me, particularly the brilliant writing that’s composed in only a few minutes during a workshop.

Writing to Make Your Soul Grow

In a letter to high school students in 2006, Kurt Vonnegut wrote:

Practice any art, music, singing, dancing, acting, drawing, painting, sculpting, poetry, fiction, essays, reportage, no matter how well or badly, not to get money and fame, but to experience becoming, to find out what’s inside you, to make your soul grow.

Wonderful advice! Is there are loftier purpose for writing? In his letter, Vonnegut goes on to suggest the students write a poem and then tear it up. Then he writes:

You will find that you have already been gloriously rewarded for your poem. You have experienced becoming, learned a lot more about what’s inside you, and you have made your soul grow.

Thanks, Vonnegut, for the reminder.

Workshop with Street Youth

by | Jul 10, 2014 | Mentoring, Presentation News

satellitenew

Eva’s Satellite

Last night, I had the pleasure of conducting a writing workshop at Eva’s Satellite, a youth shelter in north Toronto, through the Toronto Public Library‘s outreach program.

My favourite quote from the workshop is from a peer critique: “You create a world in my mind that I want to play in.” I so agree. I witnessed powerful writing. I met honest, interesting people. I thoroughly enjoyed myself.

We started the workshop by talking about what they liked to write, which sparked one woman to read from her notebook. The others headed upstairs to get their writing, and we shared and critiqued their worldly observations, cleverly plotted stories, and death metal lyrics.

We then did two writing activities that I’d prepared. One was writing from a prompt using words selected from my word box of powerful and interesting words. We also wrote story scenes from photos by Gregory Crewdson, who captures a “single-frame movie” in each shot. Both times, we shared our writing and discussed technique.

We then critiqued more from their independent writing. I also answered their questions about the submission and publication process, giving a summary of how it all works. I suggested books about writing that could help further their craft. We discussed how to set up a writing group as well.

It was a fascinating group, and all the youth were strong writers who I encourage to continue writing. Everyone, particularly people who may be marginalized, need their voices to be heard.