Photo: UBCO

Local and emerging writers are encouraged to enter the annual competition Okanagan Short Story Contest.

The short story competition was started in 1997 by Nancy Holmes, a creative writing instructor at UBC Okanagan, in collaboration with local author John Lent. And today, 27 years later, it’s still going strong.

“The annual short story competition has a long tradition of introducing emerging writers to the Okanagan community,” says Umar Turaki, UBCO creative writing professor and UBCO alumnus.

Previous winners have published with Penguin Random House, Arsenal Pulp Press, and NeWest Press, as well as numerous national and international magazines and journals.

“The history of the Okanagan Short Story Contest is long and its influence significant. What a privilege to play a small part in its history as the annual competition continues to discover and celebrate local voices within British Columbia,” said Turaki.

Emerging writers are invited to submit their work for a chance to win prizes, including $1,000 for the winner, while second and third prizes are $400 and $200, respectively. This is the sixth consecutive year that the competition is open to high school students and the first prize in this category is $200.

Entries for the Okanagan Short Story Contest are open to fiction writers from southern British Columbia, east of Hope, west of the Alberta border, north of the border with United States and south of Williams Lake.

All original entries should be between 1,000 and 4,000 words and authors are welcome to submit as many entries as they wish. There is a $20 entry fee for each story, but no fee for students in the high school category. Entries must be received by 11:59 p.m. on February 7, 2025.

All proceeds from the competition benefit creative writing scholarships at the Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies at UBC Okanagan and support Indspire, an Indigenous organization that invests in First Nations, Inuit education and Métis.

The winners of the short story competition will be announced in March.