RBC Bronwen Wallace Award for emerging writers doubles, will give two $10,000 prizes in 2020
The RBC Bronwen Wallace Award, a prize for Canadian emerging writers administered by the Writers' Trust of Canada, is doubling in 2020.
The $10,000 prize, which recognizes writers under 35 years of age who have yet to publish a book, previously alternated between poetry and short story each year.
In 2020, two prizes will be awarded: one for poetry and one for short fiction.
Three finalists in each genre will receive $2,500.
"The RBC Bronwen Wallace Award is one of the most highly regarded recognitions a young writer can receive, boasting a remarkable list of alumni. Doubling the prize is a testament to the difference it has made," Charlie Foran, the executive director of the Writers' Trust of Canada, said in a press release.
Foran was named the executive director of the Writers' Trust of Canada in 2019. He started the position in January 2020.
The two prizes will have independent juries.
The prize was established in 1994 in memory of Bronwen Wallace.
Wallace was a poet and short story writer. Over the course of her career, she wrote five poetry collections, two short story collections and one essay collection. In 1984, she won the Pat Lowther Memorial Award for her poetry collection Signs of the Former Tenant.
She died of cancer in 1989.
Last year's winner was John Elizabeth Stintzi for their work Selections From Junebat.
Michael Crummey was the first writer to receive the prize. Other past winners include Maria Reva, Jeramy Dodds, Alison Pick and Alissa York.
Submissions for the 2020 prize are open until Feb. 25.
The Writers' Trust of Canada is an organization that supports Canadian writers through literary awards, fellowships, financial grants, mentorships and more.
It also gives out seven prizes in recognition of the year's best in fiction, nonfiction and short story, as well as mid-career and lifetime achievement awards.
The organization was founded in 1976 by Margaret Atwood, Pierre Berton, Graeme Gibson, Margaret Laurence and David Young.