Online Entry Form

The 2008 contest is now CLOSED. No entries will be accepted.

The Kitchener Public Library is pleased to announce the 41st annual Dorothy Shoemaker Literary Awards Contest, open from Sunday, June 1, 2008 to Thursday, July 31, 2008.

The poetry judge will be Rienzi Crusz and the prose judge will be Eric Walters.  

Entry is FREE with $2700 in prize money available to be won in three age divisions and two categories.

The contest is open to individuals in three age divisions:

• Junior (12 years and younger)
• Intermediate (13 to 17 years)
• Senior (18 years and older)

Rules and Guidelines

Please read carefully:

1. The 2008 contest officially opens Sunday, June 1, 2008.

2. The deadline for entries is Thursday, July 31, 2008.

3. Entrants may submit up to two (2) poems not to exceed 55 lines each and/or one (1) prose entry of up to 3,000 words. Submissions exceeding these limits will not be eligible.

4. All entries must be previously unpublished. Commercially published poets and prose writers are not eligible.

5. Entries will be accepted on-line only until 9:00 pm Thursday, July 31, 2008 by using the on-line form. The number of entries we can accept is limited, so enter early.

6. Judges' decisions are final. There will be no correspondence between the judges and the entrants regarding any submissions.

7. Each submission must be entered separately and completely. All fields must be entered. Entries which do not conform to the contest rules, or are incomplete, are ineligible.

8. Winning entries will be printed in the publication The Changing Image.

9. Winners will be notified the third week of September, 2008.

10. The Awards presentation ceremony will be held at the Kitchener Public Library, 85 Queen St. N. Kitchener, on Sunday, November 9, 2008. Honourable mentions and winners will be invited, along with their family and friends to the Awards Presentation Ceremony, where excerpts of the winner's work will be read. Following the presentations and readings, light refreshments will be available as well as the opportunity to purchase a copy of the 2008 The Changing Image, where all entries are printed. Copies of Mr. Walters' and Mr. Rienzi's books will be available for purchase (and autographing). Cheque and cash sales only.


This contest is supported by the Kitchener and Waterloo Community Foundation.
* Due to the volume of entries, we accept * online entries only*. If you do not have Internet access at home, free Internet workstations are available at all Kitchener Public Library locations.