2026 Literary Awards Open
Writers’ Guild of Alberta
Deadline to submit: December 1, 2025
The Writers’ Guild of Alberta (WGA) is preparing to celebrate another successful year with the 2026 Alberta Literary Awards. Writers from across Alberta and their publishers are invited to check out and submit to this year’s award categories.
The deadline for submissions to the Alberta Literary Awards is December 1, 2025.
Submissions are evaluated on originality, creativity, and quality of writing, as well as appropriate fit within a category. The winners will be announced in the spring of 2026.
The Alberta Literary Awards were created by the Writers’ Guild of Alberta in 1982 to recognize excellence in writing by Alberta authors.
You can view our Awards page, download our Submission Guidelines and check out the Awards FAQs for answers to common questions about the guidelines. Please send all other questions to the Writers’ Guild of Alberta’s head office and we would be happy to help.
The 2026 Alberta Literary Awards Categories
Prizes of $2000 will be awarded in the following book categories:
- Georges Bugnet Award for Fiction
- R. Ross Annett Award for Children’s Literature (chapter book)
- Wilfrid Eggleston Award for Nonfiction
- Stephan G. Stephansson Award for Poetry
- Gwen Pharis Ringwood Award for Drama
- Memoir Award
- Short Story Collection Award
Prizes of $1000 will be awarded in the following short works categories:
- Jon Whyte Memorial Essay Award
- Howard O’Hagan Award for Short Story
- James H. Gray Award for Short Nonfiction
Award submissions can also be entered to qualify for the following city book prize:
- The City of Calgary W.O. Mitchell Book Prize ($5,000 prize)
- The Robert Kroetsch City of Edmonton Book Prize (The primary prize recipient will be awarded $15,000, and two secondary prizes of $5,000 will be awarded to the runners up.) The Edmonton Book Prize is now part of the Edmonton Arts Prizes.
The WGA will also be accepting nominations for the Golden Pen Award. Golden Pen nominations can be submitted online through this page here.
For more information and to submit visit Alberta Literary Competitions 2026 Entry Form – Writers’ Guild of Alberta.
