TORONTO – January 8, 2010 – Ever wonder if you have what it takes to be an award-winning author?
Effective immediately, writers and aspiring authors can enter the Toronto Star’s 2010 Short Story Contest, which is the biggest contest of its type in Canada and one of the largest in North America, senior officials for the Star and the Toronto Public Library announced today.
The contest, which will be judged by a top-flight panel, began in 1978 and now carries the most lucrative prize in the country, with a grand prize of $5,000 plus the tuition fee for the creative writing correspondence program at the Humber School for Writers.
In addition to the first prize, there will be a $2,000 second prize and $1,000 for the third-place winner.
The Toronto Public Library will be a partner with the Star in presenting the prestigious contest, which in past years has attracted up to 3,000 entries. “The library is very pleased to join with the Star in this contest – it’s a natural fit for us of course as lovers and guardians of the written word,” said Jane Pyper, city librarian of the Toronto Public Library.
This year the Humber School for Writers will also be a partner in the contest.
The judges for the 2010 contest were also announced today. They are Elyse Friedman, an award-winning author of short stories, novels and poetry; Jane Pyper, city librarian of the Toronto Public Library; Matthew Church, chair of the Toronto Public Library Board; Richard Ouzounian, theatre critic for the Toronto Star and author of six books; and Geoff Pevere, the Star’s books columnist who has been reviewing, writing and teaching about film and books for more than 25 years.
The winners will be announced in April during the Toronto Public Library’s celebration of Keep Toronto Reading Month and will be published in the Star.
Deadline for submitting entries is Feb. 28. For full contest rules, visit www.thestar.com/contests.
About the Toronto Star:
The Toronto Star, founded in 1892, is read in print and online (thestar.com) by 2.9 million readers every week. The Toronto Star is a division of Star Media Group, which includes Toronto.com, Torstar Syndication Services, Shop TV, Eye Weekly, Sway Magazine and The Canadian Immigrant. Star Media Group also includes the jointly owned Metro free daily newspapers in Toronto, Ottawa, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton and Halifax, and the Chinese language newspaper Sing Tao. Star Media Group is a division of Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, which is a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation.
About Toronto Public Library:
Toronto Public Library is the world’s busiest urban public library system. Every year, more than 16 million people visit our 99 branches and borrow almost 30 million items.
Media Contact:
Edward Karek, Communications Officer
416-397-5925
media@torontopubliclibrary.ca