Catherine Austen
Creative Writing
Awesome Authors is on!
MAY 2021 Update: The Library has just announced the winners of the this year’s Awesome Authors contest! Check out the announcements on YouTube. You can watch right here (below) or visit the OPL’s YouTube channel and view the Ages 9-12 results or the Ages 13-18 results.
MARCH 2021 update: The deadline for the Ottawa Public Library’s Awesome Authors Youth Writing Contest has passed and the judges are busy reading all the fabulous submissions. I have 171 short stories to consider from writers aged 9-12 — and I can only choose six finalists! That means MANY great stories will be rejected. Such is the nature of publishing. If your story does not win, it doesn’t mean the story is not good. So keep writing.
Winners and Honourable Mentions will be announced at a virtual ceremony this spring. I’ll post details when I have them….
[From January 2021]…The Ottawa Public Library’s Awesome Authors Youth Writing Contest is back! Young writer, get ready to write your best poem, short story, or comic ever. The Ottawa Public Library is inviting you to share your talent with the world, and you could win cash prizes and publication.
Learn all the details from the Awesome Authors page on the OPL website.
I’ll be judging fiction in the 9-12 age category again this year — and I want to read your story!
Other judges back for another year are Apollo the Child; Amelinda Bérubé; Karine Perron; and Éric Péladeau. All judges are offering virtual writing workshops over the next month to help you get started.
Here’s the workshop schedule from the library website. Click on the links to register.
For ages 9-12:
- January 23
- 1:30 PM Short Story Writing Workshop with author Catherine Austen
- 3:30 PM Poetry Workshop with Spoken Word Artist Apollo The Child
- January 30
- 1:30 PM Atelier d’écriture : Comment devenir un super bédéiste with author and illustrator Éric Péladeau
- 15 h 30 Atelier d’écriture : Atelier d’écriture : Comment devenir un(e) super auteure with author Karine Perron
- February 6
- 1:30 PM How to Become an Awesome Comic Book Writer with author and illustrator Éric Péladeau
For ages 13-17:
- January 30
- 1:30 PM Atelier d’écriture : Comment devenir un super bédéiste with author and illustrator Éric Péladeau
- February 6
- 1:30 PM How to Become an Awesome Comic Book Writer with author and illustrator Éric Péladeau
- 3:30 PM Short Story Writing Workshop with author Amelinda Bérubé
- February 13
- 1:30 PM Atelier d’écriture : Comment devenir un(e) super auteur(e) with author Karine Perron
- 3:30 PM Poetry Workshop with Spoken Word Artist Apollo The Child
If you are a budding student author in Ottawa, sign up for a virtual workshop to get your creative juices flowing, then develop your work into a poem or story or graphic narrative — or all three — to submit to the contest before February 26th.
Find out all the rules and details on the OPL website.
And be sure to check out the winning pieces from past years anthologized in Pot-pourri, published annually by the Friends of the Ottawa Public Library Association. There are so many talented young writers featured in those pages. (But there’s never enough room for all the great entries received every year.)
Good luck!
13 Comments on “Awesome Authors is on!”
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Catherine Austen writes books for kids and teens, short stories for adults, and reports for corporate clients. She lives in Gatineau, Quebec.
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Hi, I was just wondering what day the winners will be announced?
Hi Sara. I am not sure exactly what day the virtual ceremony will posted. Sometime in May, I think, but I’m not sure when. If I find out, I’ll post another reply to this comment. 🙂
I was told the winners will be announced at the end of April or the beginning of May is that true?
Ps: I love all your books!
Thanks, Ava. I’m sure the announcement will be sometime in May, but I haven’t heard exactly which day. As soon as I find out, I’ll post an update at the beginning of this blog post.
There were SO MANY great stories this year! It’s inspiring to know there are so many good young writers around. 🙂
Hi do you still not have any news about the announcement?
No, sorry, I haven’t heard anything yet. I’ll post the date as soon as I know. 🙂
will you update this website the same day we get the email?
Yes, I will update this post with a link to the announcement as soon as I get word of it. 🙂
May is almost over and still we have no idea on when the results are coming out. Can you please inform us on when they are coming out? and are they even coming out in may? thanks
They have just made their announcements. You can find the links at the top of this blog post.
Is there going to be the contest this year. I found the page but it just says “Just in case you were wondering about the next edition of our Awesome Authors contest. It is still on! The contest is just taking a little vacation to rejuvenate and prepare for the new year. Awesome Authors registration opens January 5, 2022!” Today is January 5th so I was just wondering if you knew what was going. By the way congratulation on your new book.
Hi Lilly. As far as I know — barring unforeseen problems — Awesome Authors is happening this year, just a bit later than usual. The OPL page will be updated very soon, I’m sure. The contest will have a deadline near the end of February and there will be free writing workshops as usual. That’s all I know for now. Fingers crossed that it all comes together. 🙂
Thank you. I’m excited to participate in the contest this year!