NEW WEBSITE: We have a new website at http://www.ipbcontest.ca. Head there for up-do-date contest information.

NEW EMAIL: Reach us at info (at) ipbContest.ca.
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Submissions for 2024 are closed. Visit our new website for news about the 2025 contest. 

The Robyn Herrington Memorial Short Story Contest is a contest for young writers. The 2024 contest is open to kids under the age of 18 who reside in Alberta or the Northwest Territories.

About the Contest
Writers younger than 18 are invited to submit their original, unpublished written works of fiction to the 2024 Robyn Herrington Memorial Short Story Contest, "In Places Between". There is no entry fee. Ten selected stories will be published in the annual contest book. The author retains copyright. 

All entrants will receive a critique from our panel of judges.
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Contest Rules and Requirements
  • Entrants must be younger than 18 as of June 10, 2024
  • Deadline for submissions is midnight on June 10, 2024
  • There is no contest entry fee
  • Short stories of up to 4,000 words maximum (roughly eight single-spaced pages)
  • Two submissions per entrant maximum
  • The contest is open for submissions now
  • Unlike previous years, authors do not have to be members of the When Words Collide convention (but it's an awesome convention, so you should consider it).
  • All content should be PG; no excessive profanity, extreme violence, etc. We try not to be too uptight, but copies of the book will go to every winner, and some of them are pretty young.
  • No ChatGPT or AI-generated content, please. You can use it in a very limited way for brainstorming ideas, but please don't use it to generate any actual text--or most of the ideas. We have a team of hard-working authors who will be critiquing every story and sending feedback, and it's kind of a waste if it's not your writing being critiqued.

Competition Format
  • Your email should tell us the author’s name, age, and email address, and the title of the story. You don't have to include any author information in the actual story; we do blind judging.
  • We take electronic (email) submissions only. All submissions should be in .rtf, .doc, .docx, or .txt format. In other words, anything you make in Microsoft Word, Wordpad, or Notepad should be fine. Send us an email with your story in an attached file. Links to Google docs are fine too.
  • Please email all submissions to [email protected].
  • You should get a confirmation email within a few days.

Stories are judged on a combination of factors, including professional presentation, originality, ingenuity, entertainment factor, character, plot, spelling, grammar, and other authorial skills.

Prizes ($CDN)

 
Ten stories will be selected.

We pay $45.00 for each selected story.

The top ten stories will be printed in the annual In Places Between book. A copy of this publication will be provided to each of the ten winning authors.
 


​How You Can Help

We're always looking for volunteers, donations, or sponsors. We also hire artists to illustrate the final ten stories. See the "Artists" and "Volunteer" pages for details, or the "Donate" page if you'd like to help fund the contest. Get in touch with us directly at [email protected], or speak to Brent Nichols.

In Places Between is sponsored by IFWA, the Imaginative Fiction Writers Association.

IFWA is Calgary's most awesome writers' group. They're a critique group for writers and editors of speculative fiction, and they're great. Check out IFWA.ca for more details.

In Places Between is sponsored by CoolSeriesCovers.com
Specializing in affordable premade book covers for series, especially science fiction and fantasy. We also do custom covers, print and audiobook covers, 3D mockups and images for ads.  www.CoolSeriesCovers.com