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Submission Guidelines for all WFNS Book Awards

Book Awards administered by the Writers’ Federation of Nova Scotia (WFNS) celebrate and promote excellence in writing from Nova Scotia and from Atlantic Canada. The number of titles submitted each year is a testament to the diversity and quality of writing from our region. Although jurors have the unenviable task of selecting one winner for each award, each year’s shortlists introduce local, national, and international readers to a tremendous body of work and the vibrant culture of the region. 

New to the Atlantic Book Awards and Nova Scotia Book Awards?
Read our quick guide for instructions on where and how to submit.

For further questions about this program, contact program lead Oriana Duinker at director@writers.ns.ca.

Evelyn Richardson Non-Fiction Award

2027 Richardson peer assessment jury:
TBD

Maxine Tynes Nova Scotia Poetry Award

2027 Tynes peer assessment jury:
TBD

Additional Nova Scotia Book Awards categories are administered by the Dartmouth Books Awards.

All Nova Scotia Book Awards categories are listed on the Nova Scotia Book Awards website.

Ann Connor Brimer Award for Atlantic Canadian Children's Literature

2027 Brimer peer assessment jury:
TBD

J.M. Abraham Atlantic Poetry Award

2027 Abraham peer assessment jury:
TBD

Thomas Raddall Atlantic Fiction Award

2027 Raddall peer assessment jury:
TBD

Additional Atlantic Book Awards categories are are administered by the Atlantic Publishers Marketing Association and the Cabot Trail Writers Festival.

All Atlantic Book Awards categories are listed on the Atlantic Books Awards Society website.

Partners

The Writers’ Federation of Nova Scotia thanks the Dartmouth Book Awards, the Society for the Nova Scotia Book Awards, and the Atlantic Book Awards Society for their partnership in delivering these awards.

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Experience Levels

The Writers’ Federation of Nova Scotia (WFNS) uses the following terms to describe writers’ experience levels:

  • New writers: those with less than two years’ creative writing experience and/or no short-form publications (e.g., short stories, personal essays, or poems in literary magazines, journals, anthologies, or chapbooks).
  • Emerging writers: those with more than two years’ creative writing experience and/or numerous short-form publications.
  • Early-career authors: those with 1 or 2 book-length publications or the equivalent in book-length and short-form publications.
  • Established authors: those with 3 or 4 book-length publications.
  • Professional authors: those with 5 or more book-length publications.

Please keep in mind that each form of creative writing (fiction, nonfiction, poetry, writing for children, writing for young adults, and others) provides you with a unique set of experiences and skills, so you might consider yourself an ‘established author’ in one form but a ‘new writer’ in another.

Occasionally, WFNS uses the phrase “emerging and established writers/authors” to mean ‘writers and authors of all experience levels.’

The “Recommended experience level” section of each workshop description refers to the above definitions. A workshop’s participants should usually have similar levels of creative writing and / or publication experience. This ensures that each participant gets value from the workshop⁠ and is presented with info, strategies, and skills that suit their experience. 

For “intensive” and “masterclass” workshops, which provide more opportunities for peer-to-peer feedback, the recommended experience level should be followed closely.

For all other workshops, the recommended experience level is just that—a recommendation—and we encourage potential participants to follow their own judgment when registering.

If uncertain about your experience level with respect to any particular workshop, please feel free to contact us at communications@writers.ns.ca