Events & Workshops

The SWG is now receiving submissions for the 2026 John V. Hicks Long Manuscript Award in Literary Nonfiction.

The John V. Hicks Long Manuscript Award recognizes excellence in unpublished book-length manuscripts. The award rotates between the genres of poetry, fiction, and literary nonfiction.

This award contest accepts unpublished full-length literary nonfiction manuscripts. Prose submissions are welcome in, but are not limited to, these creative nonfiction subgenres: memoir, biography, historical investigation, literary journalism, political commentary, social or cultural criticism and essays that are personal, lyric or narrative. We will not accept nonfiction work that is technical or instructional work, conventional newspaper reportage or nonfiction work characterized by a neutral (so-called objective) third-person perspective.

The manuscripts may be for children, young adults or adults. We do not have minimum or maximum word counts, but your manuscript must be a full-length, completed and polished work of nonfiction in any of its subgenres.

No more than 50% of the manuscript may have been published in magazines, anthologies or by broadcast or online media. The manuscript must not be accepted for publication at the time of submission, nor can it be published, including self-publication, before the announcement of the awards in October (although it may be accepted for publication).

Prizes are:

• 1st place:  $1,000
• 2nd place: $650
• 3rd place: $350

Winners will read from their work at the John V. Hicks Awards ceremony at SWG's Conference in Regina at the DoubleTree Hotel in Regina on October 23, 2026.

Deadline: Manuscripts must be received electronically by Tuesday, June 23, 2026, by midnight.

Your entry must include:

1. Completed application form
2. An electronic file (Word or PDF) of your manuscript
3. Payment of the $40 entry fee

Apply here: https://skwriter.com/programs-and-services/awards/the-john-v-hicks-long-manuscript-awards.

Full submission guidelines and award criteria are available at https://skwriter.com/programs-and-services/awards/the-john-v-hicks-long-manuscript-awards. Work that does not follow the submission criteria will not be accepted.