The Ottawa Public Library is seeking new judges for this year’s Awesome Authors Youth Writing Contest. Published authors and professional storytellers living in the National Capital Region are encouraged to apply.
There is only one week left to apply. (This is a late post, I know, but I was confused by the September 29th selection date — the date for applications is September 5th. So apply ASAP if you’re interested.)
If you’ve followed my blog in the past, you know about this contest, as I’ve been one of its judges for a decade. It’s time for fresh eyes. 😉
Every winter, Ottawa students aged 9-18 enter their poems, short stories, and comics for a chance to win prizes and publication. Judges are needed to consider the hundreds of entries received each year.
The Ottawa Public Library has put out a call for 5 judges for the 2027 Awesome Authors Contest. Judges consider contest entries by genre (poem, story, or comic), language (French or English), and age category (9-12 or 13-18). Each judge reads 40-100 entries each year in their category/categories. (One year I read over 200 but that was an anomaly.)
Judges do not have to consider entries outside their category/categories. (i.e., the English Poetry judge doesn’t have to consider French fiction; the Comics judge doesn’t have to consider poetry, etc.) So if you feel competent to judge only one or two categories, that’s okay. Go ahead and apply.
A full scope of work for judges is available here.
Past judges include novelists, poets, picture book authors, comic book artists, storytellers and spoken word artists — all sorts of creative people. If you are an author in the Ottawa area who’s keen to support youth and youth writing, why not apply?
After ten years as a contest judge, I can attest that this is a fun gig. The job entails delivering two writing workshops at library branches while the contest is open (January-February); reading all entries in your category/categories when the contest closes and choosing three winners (March-April); and attending the fall book launch to meet the winning authors (October-November). In return, judges are paid a respectable honorarium.
Prospective judges might want to take a look at the fruits of the contest in the Pot-Pourri anthologies of contest winners available at any OPL branch. This fall, the anthology of 2026 winners will be launched under a new name, Carte Blanche. It will be the last launch I attend as a judge, but I’ll read the new anthologies every year. 🙂
If you are interested in judging the 2027 Awesome Authors Youth Writing Contest, and helping to determine the contents of the 2027 Carte Blanche anthology, check out the details of the call for judges on the OPL Awesome Authors page. And apply today. Or at least before September 5th.
Good luck, and good reading.
Catherine Austen 