2007 Fresh Fish Award for Emerging Writers

Sponsored by Brian O'Dea and administered by the Writers' Alliance of Newfoundland and Labrador

The Writers' Alliance of Newfoundland and Labrador (WANL) is now calling for submissions to one of the country's most lucrative literary awards for unpublished writers. Dubbed the "Fresh Fish Award for Emerging Writers" by its sponsor, Newfoundland-born author Brian O'Dea, the prize is valued at $5,000. The Fresh Fish Award is intended to serve as an incentive for emerging writers in Newfoundland and Labrador by providing them with financial support, recognition, and professional editing services for a book-length manuscript in any genre.

The winning author will receive a cash prize of $4,000 and the editing services of a professional editor valued at up to $1,000 (and a tax-deductible receipt for those services). The winning author will also have her or his name inscribed on a brass plaque and receive a miniature sculpture in the style of "Man Nailed to a Fish" by sculptor Jim Maunder.

Rules of Eligibility

Writers must be registered members of WANL with a completed, unpublished manuscript in any genre. Writers may join WANL at the time of submission.

Writers must have lived in Newfoundland and Labrador for at least three of the previous five calendar years, in any combination of 36 of the last 60 months.

Writers are permitted to submit only one entry per year, in any genre.

Writers with a published book in any genre or a book accepted for publication at the time of submission are NOT eligible.

The Fresh Fish Award will accept a manuscript that has been submitted once before. Entry forms for resubmitted manuscripts must identify the manuscript as such, and the year it was first entered. Do not submit the same manuscript more than twice to the Fresh Fish Award.

Submission Guidelines

Each manuscript must be typed, double-spaced, and submitted in triplicate. No handwritten manuscripts will be accepted. Pages must be numbered and may be copied double-sided. Ensure that your name appears on the title page only. To have the manuscript returned, include a stamped, self-addressed envelope. Send entries, postmarked no later than June 15, 2007, to:

The Writers Alliance
PO Box 2681
St John's, NL A1C 6K1

Or hand deliver to:

155 Water Street
St John's, NL

Call Shoshanna at (709) 739-5215 for more information.

www.writersalliance.nf.ca