Toronto Star and the Toronto Public Library launch biggest short story contest in Canada

The contest, which will be judged by a top-flight panel, carries a grand prize of $5,000 plus the tuition fee for the creative writing correspondence program at the Humber School for Writers.

In addition to the first prize, there will be a $2,000 second prize and $1,000 for the third-place winner.

The Toronto Public Library will be a partner with the Star in presenting the prestigious contest, which in past years has attracted up to 3,000 entries.

This year the Humber School for Writers will also be a partner in the contest.

The judges for the 2010 contest are Elyse Friedman, an award-winning author of short stories, novels and poetry; Jane Pyper, city librarian of the Toronto Public Library; Matthew Church, chair of the Toronto Public Library Board; Richard Ouzounian, theatre critic for the Toronto Star and author of six books; and Geoff Pevere, the Star’s books columnist who has been reviewing, writing and teaching about film and books for more than 25 years.

The winners will be announced in April during the Toronto Public Library’s celebration of Keep Toronto Reading Month and will be published in the Star.

Deadline for submitting entries is Feb. 28, 2010

For full contest rules, visit: www.thestar.com/contests