2025 Montreal Fiction Prize

Yolk welcomes entries to the Montreal Fiction Prize, a Canadian award for original short stories written in English.

The winner will receive $2,000 and publication in our Fall 2025 print issue, Vol. 5.1; second and third place will receive $500 each and publication in Vol. 5.1.

Original short stories up to 4,000 words on any subject and in any style are accepted.

Eligibility: The prize is open to all Canadian writers.

• Anyone with Canadian Citizenship or Permanent Resident status, residing in Canada or abroad
• Anyone that currently resides in Canada

This year, Billy-Ray Belcourt, Giller-shortlisted author and finalist for the Amazon First Novel Award, will be the guest judge for the prize! Belcourt has been awarded the Griffin Poetry Prize and named finalist for the Governor General Award for Non-Fiction.

Is this competition legit?YES! – Based on our research this event is legitimate and the organizer is well established. However, as with any event, please remember to do your own research before submitting your work.

FAQ
If you are curious how writing competitions work, or it’s your first time entering one, we recommend reading our Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) page first.

ProWritingAid
We are keen to encourage quality, so suggest writers to check their stories before submitting using Prowritingaid. They have free and paid versions and are the best writing software we know to help improve grammar, readability and check for repetition, ‘sticky’ sentences and suggest alternatives. Visit their website and try ProWritingAid for free.