Poetry Contests in Canada 2026, Every Poem Scored
Quick answer: Monthly poetry contest open to Canadian poets in any language. Every entry scored on 5 criteria plus a certificate. Enter by the 25th, results the 30th.
Canadian poetry is not one tradition but several sharing a border. E. Pauline Johnson performed in two nations and two costumes, Leonard Cohen turned Montreal into a lyric, Margaret Atwood and Anne Carson and Dionne Brand each rebuilt the line from scratch, and Rupi Kaur reached a readership no Canadian poet had reached before. In French there is Emile Nelligan and Gaston Miron. The Griffin Poetry Prize, the Governor General's Literary Awards and the League of Canadian Poets keep the whole conversation visible. Writory sits beside those as something smaller and far more frequent, a competition that opens on the 1st and closes on the 25th of every month.
Results are declared on the 30th. The poets who place receive cash, and every entrant, placed or not, is sent a participation certificate. Each poem is marked on five counts, language, structure, theme, emotion and creativity, and those marks are written into your profile. You may submit in English, in French, in an Indigenous language or in whatever language your household speaks, and anyone aged 13 or older is eligible. Entrants have come from over 50 countries, a wider readership than most open calls in Canada can offer. Canadian poems reach the board too: in July 2026 Ilanna Mandel's Regina's Summer Nights placed in the top ten, visible on the public leaderboard.
Canada's big poetry moments are annual and heavily institutional: the Griffin Prize and the CBC Poetry Prize dominate the conversation, the League of Canadian Poets anchors the community, and between those fixed dates the calendar goes quiet. A monthly contest with a scorecard is a different kind of instrument, twelve chances a year to test a poem and see, in numbers, how it read.
Canadian entries join a blind judged pool from more than fifty countries, scored against five published criteria: creativity, emotion, structure, language and theme. Poems in French are as welcome as poems in English, the contest accepts any language, and the anonymised reading means a first submission from Moose Jaw carries the same weight as a fiftieth from Toronto.
Each month closes on the 25th, mid afternoon Eastern time, with results by the 30th. Winners are paid through PayPal, which serves Canada directly, and every entrant receives a certificate with their name and the title Writorian. The poet keeps all rights, always.
Writory is a monthly poetry competition Canadian poets can enter in English or in French, with prize money for winners, a certificate for every entrant and a marked score on each poem.
Why enter
- A Canadian poem placed in the July 2026 top ten, Ilanna Mandel's Regina's Summer Nights, on a board drawn from more than 50 countries.
- The deadline comes round every month. Canada's major poetry awards are annual, which means a finished poem often waits most of a year for a reader.
- Nothing in the process requires you to live near a city. Poets in Iqaluit, Whitehorse and rural Saskatchewan submit on the same terms as poets in Toronto.
- You are told how the poem scored. Most competitions send a form rejection, while Writory files a five count breakdown in your profile.
- Writory is indexed by Duotrope and by Christopher Fielden's competition list, so you can verify the contest before you pay for anything.
What winners and entrants receive
- Winning poets are paid in cash after the 30th of the month.
- A participation certificate goes out to every Canadian who enters, useful for a CV or a grant application record.
- Winners skip the fee entirely on their next submission.
- Three months of consecutive entries earn a free one, which suits poets working steadily toward a first collection.
- The month's ten best poems are listed on Writory's public leaderboard, which anyone can read.
Lyric poems, long poems, free verse, sonnets, ghazals, spoken word scripts, haiku and vers libre in French are all accepted, with no preference shown to any one form.
Key facts
- Entries open the 1st, close the 25th at 11:59 PM IST, results on the 30th.
- One poem $5, two poems $8, five poems $15 (Rs 150 / Rs 220 / Rs 450 in India).
- Every poem scored by human judges on five criteria: creativity, emotion, structure, language and theme.
- A participation certificate for every entrant, not only winners, and the score is visible in your profile.
- Cash prizes for winners, free entry the following month for winners, open worldwide from age 13, any language.
Questions
Can Canadian poets enter, and does it matter which province I write from?
Every province and territory is eligible, and so are Canadians writing from abroad. Submission, payment and results all happen on the site, so there is nothing to print, post or mail. The minimum age is 13.
How do I know a poem in French will be read properly?
The five counts used for marking, creativity, emotion, structure, language and theme, do not change with the language of the poem, and francophone entries are not translated before assessment. Your marks are recorded in your profile so you can check the reasoning yourself.
What are the entry fees for Canadian poets?
Writory charges in US dollars rather than Canadian. Expect $5 for a single poem, $8 if you send two, and $15 if you send five in one go. Winning removes the fee for your following entry, and so does entering three months without a gap.
How long before the results are out?
You will know within five days of the deadline. Entries close on the 25th and the announcement is made on the 30th, with the top ten listed publicly and full marks delivered to individual profiles.
When is the deadline in Canadian time?
The contest closes at 11:59 PM Indian time on the 25th of each month, which is roughly 2:30 PM Eastern and 11:30 AM Pacific on the 25th. Submit by lunch on the 25th anywhere in Canada and you are in.
Can I enter poems in French?
Yes. The contest accepts poems in any language, French included, and they are judged on the same five criteria as everything else. Bilingual poets enter work in both languages in the same month if they wish.
How do Canadian winners get paid?
Through PayPal, in US dollars, which converts cleanly to CAD. Every entrant, winner or not, also receives the judged score out of 100 and a named certificate carrying the title Writorian.
Related contests
By the Writory editorial team. Updated July 2026.
Enter the September contest · All poetry competitions 2026: deadlines & prizes · International poetry contest · Past winners · Read the winning poems