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Opportunities for Young Writers

Organizations & Programs

The Writers’ Federation of Nova Scotia (WFNS) is a charitable, non-profit arts service organization founded on a collaborative philosophy: writers helping writers. Through our Writers In The Schools (WITS) program, we offer in-school, extracurricular, and virtual support for young writers. No membership is required for young writers to

Digitally Lit is a not-for-profit society that empowers Atlantic Canadian youth through digital literacy and storytelling. Its programs bolster community engagement with local books, stories, and art while celebrating diversity, advancing equity, and improving accessibility in the region’s creative industries.

Competitive Opportunities

Opportunity name
(& website)		Type of opportunityAge range(s) of eligible writersPlace of residence of eligible writersAnnual submission / application deadlineWinning / selected writers receive
AfterWords Literary Festival's Youth Mentorship Programliterary mentorship14 - 18mainland NSNovembersix-week virtual mentorship with professional NS writer
Cabot Trail Writers Festival RAISE OUR VOICES Youth Mentorship Program
literary mentorship12 - 18Cape BretonNovemberthree-month virtual mentorship with professional Cape Breton writer
Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM) Youth Poet Laureate
compensated work14 - 18HRMOctoberone-year laureateship (running Jan to Dec), with compensation of $1,000
Helen Creighton Folklore Society and Halifax Public Libraries' Ghost Story Contestwriting contest7 - 9
10 - 12
13 - 15		HRMSeptemberbook prize for top two entries in each age category
Woozles Children's Bookstore's Woozles Writeswriting contest6 - 10
11 - 15		NSJuly$75 Woozles gift certificate for winner in each age category

To submit an organization or opportunity for addition to this resource, send details to contact@writers.ns.ca.

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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 and 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.

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 information, strategies, and skills that suit their career stage. 

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 you’re uncertain of your experience level with regard to any particular workshop, please feel free to contact us at communications@writers.ns.ca