Open to Regina Writers of All Genres
The City of Regina Writing Award, funded by the City of Regina, is an annual award for literary merit in creative writing for a work-in-progress; it is open to Regina writers in all genres.
The award is designed to enable one local writer to work on a specific solo writing project for a three-month period. The winner will receive $4,500. Each runner-up will receive a one-week individual retreat at St. Peter's Abbey in Muenster, SK. The award competition is juried anonymously by professional writers from outside Saskatchewan.
You are eligible to apply for this award if you are 19 years and older and if you were a Regina resident as of January 1, 2025. Applicants may submit one entry to this competition per year. Previous winning entries (for both winners and runners-up) may not be submitted again.
The decision of the jury will be final. Jurors may choose to not award the prize if they believe no submission merits it. The winner will be announced in April 2026, and will be celebrated at the City of Regina Writing Award ceremony on May 28, 2026.
Our 2026 City of Regina Writing Award application period is now OPEN. Apply below! Deadline is January 21, 2026 at midnight.
Apply to the City of Regina Writing Award
To apply for the 2026 City of Regina Writing Award, please complete the form below, including these two attachments:
- a 1-2 page statement of intent indicating how you will use the funds for your writing as well as a description and brief outline of your writing project
- this statement is to be separate from your writing sample
- it should NOT contain identifying information (i.e. your name, previous publications, etc.)
- this may be single or double-spaced, using plain text font size 12
- a 10 page sample of your writing in any genre (i.e. prose, poetry, plays, hybrid work, etc)
- this sample must be a portion of the writing to be worked on, which must be an unpublished work in progress
- do not send more than 10 pages as it will not be forwarded to the jury
- please follow these submission guidelines
- all material must be typed in plain text fonts (e.g. Times New Roman, Arial, Courier)
- font size 12 point with at least a one inch margin on all sides
- include title of project and page number in header of each page
- writing sample should be:
- double-spaced for prose
- single or double-spaced for poetry
- text only - do not send illustrations or photos
- please attach documents as Word or PDF files - do not send Google docx or other files
Note: All entries are numbered upon receipt so that they may be judged anonymously. Your name, biographical information and/or previous work titles cannot appear on the statement of intent or sample of writing, and cannot be referred to on any part of the outline or synopsis—your entry will be returned if your name/previous work does appear or if the guidelines are not followed.
Do not submit literary resumes, letters of support, reviews of previous work, or evaluations; these will be discarded.
Applications must be submitted by January 21, 2026 at midnight. If you have any trouble using the application form or have questions, please contact the Program Director Yolanda Hansen at programs@skwriter.com or 306-791-7743.
Applications that do not meet our guidelines will not be accepted. Accepted applications will receive a confirmation email within two business days - if you do not receive this, please reach out.
Conditions for Award
The recipient of the $4500 award must complete the three-month period/work stated in their application by January 2027 and submit a 1-page report to the Saskatchewan Writers' Guild on how the funds were used. This is shared with our funders.
The runners-up win a prize of a retreat stay organized by the Guild within a year. The runners-up can choose a retreat to attend within a one year period (August 2026 to July 2025). Options includes a week-long stay at the Winter or Summer Writers' Retreats, a three-day Facilitated Retreat, or any other retreat being offered by the SWG in this time frame. The retreat prize is not transferrable to another time, receipient or paid out if the runners-up are not able to use it.
Current and past recipients
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For more information, please contact:
Program Director
T: 306.791.7743 | E: programs@skwriter.com
