Ottawa Public Library heralds a new year of youth writing with 2023 Awesome Authors contest

Photo: Books at a library.

(Via Ottawa Public Library)

Starting today, January 10, 2023, talented young people between the ages of 9 and 18 from across Ottawa with a story to share in words or in comic/graphic novel style can get in the running – and writing – for greater skill, exposure and rewards by signing up for Ottawa Public Library’s (OPL) annual Awesome Authors writing contest. Registration for this popular youth writing contest is open. Entries are accepted in English and/or French in the following categories:  poetry, short story, comic/graphic novel, poésie, nouvelle, bande dessinée. 

Awesome Authors is one way that OPL inspires young people to be passionate about writing and creative expression through books and written works of various genres. Participants have a chance to win cash prizes and are sure to benefit regardless of the contest outcome by participating in writer’s workshops by local published authors and receiving generous advice from Awesome Authors’ contest judges.  

Judges Catherine Austen, Apollo the Child, Amelinda Bérubé, Pierre-Luc Bélanger and Éric Péladeau are all renowned local authors. They will give workshops on different themes related to writing, such as genres and styles of writing (novels, short stories, poems, comics/graphic novels) in English and French. The workshop schedule is available on the Awesome Authors contest website.  

With the valuable tips and techniques from the expert workshops, participants can develop their craft and enhance their work in time to submit a piece of writing by February 24, 2023. The Library encourages parents, teachers and educators to spread the word to the budding writers they suspect might be hiding their light under a bushel. 

Winners’ pieces of writing will be included in an anthology called Pot-pourri that will be published at the end of 2023. 

This initiative was made possible through the generous support of the Friends of the Ottawa Public Library Association. For more information about the contest, visit BiblioOttawaLibrary.ca.