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                 Kloppenburg Hybrid Grain Contest

                                    Sponsored by Henry and Cheryl Kloppenburg

                                   Submissions are closed

 

Are you looking for a writing challenge?

If so, we’re looking for literary-based hybrid work that defies genres, bends rules, scavenges, juxtaposes, toys with truth. Our new Kloppenburg Hybrid Grain Contest is not for the meek of pen! It’s for writers who create their own literary landscape.

 

 

View Entry Guidelines Payments

The contest is open from August 1 to October 15, 2023

1st prize

Two $1000 Cash Prizes

2nd prize

Two $750 Cash Prizes

3rd prize

Two $500 Cash Prizes

What do we mean by hybrid work? Think conceptual, outside the rubik’s cube, ripoff and mashup, Oulipo to algorithms, graphics and collage, photo-unrealism, sound work and found play, words as code, writing as a visual form, bio poetry, neural fiction, constraint-based writing, the everlasting sentence. The word is your oyster!

Some writers and examples to inspire you: Sue Howe, Paul Dutton, Lily Hoang, Renee Gladman, Charles Bernstein and A.E. Stallings, Jason Huff,  Adam Dickinson, Theresa Hak Kyung Cha, Sylvia Legris, Bhanu Kapil.

 

Grain is a print publication, so we can’t take:

  • Strictly digital work.

  • Coloured text or images (as we print in black and white only). 

Judges

Liz Howard

Liz Howard

Liz Howard's debut collection Infinite Citizen of the Shaking Tent won the 2016 Griffin Poetry Prize, was shortlisted for the 2015 Governor General’s Award for poetry, and was named a Globe and Mail top 100 book. A National Magazine Award finalist, her recent work has appeared in Canadian Literature, Literary Review of Canada, Room Magazine and Best Canadian Poetry 2021. Her second collection, Letters in a Bruised Cosmos, was shortlisted for the 2022 Griffin Poetry Prize and the Trillium Poetry Prize. Howard received an Honours Bachelor of Science with High Distinction from the University of Toronto, and an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Guelph. She has completed creative writing and Indigenous arts residencies at McGill University, University of Calgary, UBC Okanagan, Douglas College, Sheridan College, and The Capilano Review. She is the Shaftesbury Creative Writer-in-Residence for Victoria College (University of Toronto) and serves on the editorial board for Buckrider Books, an imprint of Wolsak & Wynn. She is of mixed settler and Anishinaabe heritage. Born and raised on Treaty 9 territory in Northern Ontario, she currently lives in Toronto.

Steven Ross Smith

Steven Ross Smith

Steven Ross Smith has engaged with hybrid writing on the page and as a sound/performance poet. During his tenure as Director, Literary Arts at the Banff Centre, he created and led the In(ter)ventions program supporting innovative writers working in cross-genre, conceptual, collaborative, performative, and other non-normative forms derived from literary practice. 

 He has published fourteen books of poetry, fiction, and nonfiction, and is an arts journalist. He is known for his seven-book poetic exploration fluttertongue. Two collaborative chapbooks - coda: fluttertongue 7, (with Saskatoon designer Brian Kachur), and Table for Four (with Winnipeggers Ted Landrum, Jennifer Still, and Colin Smith), were published by Jackpine Press in 2021 and 2020 respectively. Smith was Banff Poet Laureate, 2019-2021. His 2022 book is Glimmer: Short Fictions, published by Radiant Press.

Entry Guidelines 

Guidelines
  1. The fee for Canadian entrants is $40 (includes GST) for a maximum of five pages.
     
  2. The fee for US entrants is $50 and the fee for international entrants is $60, payable in US or Canadian funds.

Please make your cheque or money order payable to the Saskatchewan Writers’ Guild (SWG). You may also pay online via PayPal (see below). Every entrant receives a one-year (four-issue) subscription to Grain Magazine, starting after payment is received.

  1. Each entry must be original, unpublished, not submitted or accepted elsewhere for publication or broadcast, nor entered simultaneously in any other contest or competition. Work that has appeared online is considered published and is not eligible.
     
  2. All entries in this contest will be judged anonymously, on merit alone. The judges' decisions are final. Judging is blind. Do not print, type, or write your name on the text pages of your entry.
     
  3. Entries must be accompanied by one cover page, regardless of the number of entries submitted, and must provide the following information. If you are submitting via email, include this information in the body of your email.
    • Your name, complete mailing address, telephone number, and email address.
    • Title of your entry or entries.
    • Method of Payment (if submitting by email).
       
  4. Entries must be printable on 8 1/2 x 11-inch pages and must be sent as individual files if emailed.
     
  5. Names of the winners and titles of the winning entries of the Short Grain Contest will be posted on the Grain website in February. Contest winners will be notified directly either by telephone or by email.
     
  6. MAIL: Send your entry or entries to:

Short Grain Contest
PO Box 3986
Regina, SK  S4P 3R9
Canada

Mailed entries will not be returned. Keep a copy of your entry.

  1. EMAIL: Send your entry or entries as individual files to grainmag@skwriter.com with a subject line that contains the author’s full name, contest name, and payment method (cheque, money order, or PayPal). For example, Jane Grain, Hybrid Grain, Cheque OR PayPal. REMEMBER: Judging is blind. Do not put your name on your entry. Acceptable file formats are Word (.doc or .docx) or PDF.
     
  2. Make your cheque or money order payable to the Saskatchewan Writers’ Guild (SWG). If you want to pay online, use the PayPal order form below. If payment is from a name other than that which is on your submission, please let us know.
     
  3. All entries must be POSTMARKED or EMAILED by the deadline. Entries postmarked or received by email after this date will not be accepted.
     
  4. Entries by fax will not be accepted.
 

FAQ's

Can I enter more than once?

You may enter as many times as you like, provided you include another entry fee for each entry beyond the first; therefore, two Canadian entries would cost $80.

Do I need to send a separate cover page for each piece I enter?

No. If you are sending more than one piece per submission, send only one cover page that includes all the information for every piece of hybrid writing you are entering up to five pages. [Example, a one-page piece could be mostly visual and another four-page piece mostly text]. Don't forget to include your complete contact information!

And what happens to my free subscription if I enter more than once?

Your Grain subscription will be increased by four issues for each entry fee received beyond the first. So, if you enter twice, you will receive a two-year (eight-issue) subscription to Grain Magazine. If you already have a subscription to Grain, we'll simply add another four issues to your current subscription for each entry fee received. If you’d rather your additional entry fee go towards a subscription for someone else, please indicate this on your cover letter, and provide your friend’s name and mailing address.

Will entrants be notified of the winners?

No. Winners and the names of the winning pieces will be posted on our website in February.

What if the postmarked deadline falls on a weekend when the post offices are closed?

Because we are using a postmarked deadline, if the deadline falls on a day when the post offices are closed, we will accept entries postmarked on the next business day.

Payment

Pay Online!

You may pay for your online entry by paper means (cheque or money order) or online via PayPal. Use the form below to submit your online payment. Remember: each entry of UP TO two poetry entries or UP TO two fiction entries requires one entry fee. If you submit a poetry entry and a fiction entry, that’s two entry fees. If you submit four fiction entries, that’s two entry fees. All fees are subject to GST (5 %). 

After paying, please print a copy of the PayPal receipt for your records.We will match your payment with your entry by your name. If there is any doubt, we will contact you to confirm your receipt number.


Our Funders

Grain is grateful to its funders: Sask Lotteries, Canada Council for the Arts, and the financial support from its private donors.
Grain is published by the Saskatchewan Writers' Guild.