Alberta writers have until Dec. 31, 2021 to enter the Writers’ Guild of Alberta’s (WGA) 2022 Alberta Literary Awards. This year, WGA has added two new book prizes: the Short Story Collection Award and the Memoir Award.
Started in 1982 as a way to recognize excellence in writing by Alberta authors, WGA evaluates its annual submissions on originality, creativity, and quality of writing. Additionally, the guild looks at appropriate fit within a category.
Winners will be announced next spring.
Below is the list of categories for the 2022 awards:
The 2022 Alberta Literary Awards Categories
Prizes of $1500 will be awarded to published entries in the following categories:
- R. Ross Annett Award for Children’s Literature (chapter books)
- Georges Bugnet Award for Fiction
- Wilfrid Eggleston Award for Nonfiction
- Stephan G. Stephansson Award for Poetry
- Gwen Pharis Ringwood Award for Drama (published or produced)
- NEW FOR 2022 Short Story Collection Award (for books published in 2020 or 2021)
- NEW FOR 2022 Memoir Award (nonfiction)
Prizes of $700 will be awarded to unpublished and published entries in the following categories:
- James H. Gray Award for Short Nonfiction (published)
- Howard O’Hagan Award for Short Story (published)
- Jon Whyte Memorial Essay Award (unpublished)
Award submissions can also be entered to qualify for the following city book prizes:
- The Robert Kroetsch City of Edmonton Book Prize ($10,000 prize)
- The City of Calgary W.O. Mitchell Book Prize ($5,000 prize)
At the same time, the WGA will also be accepting nominations for the Golden Pen Award.
Full submission guidelines can be found online.