Billy-Ray Belcourt is from the Driftpile Cree Nation in northwest Alberta. He is an Associate Professor in the School of Creative Writing at the University of British Columbia. He is the author of five books, most recently A Minor Chorus and Coexistence.
Yolk welcomes entries to the 2025 Montreal Fiction Prize, a Canadian award for original short stories written in English. We are accepting submissions through Submittable from May 15 to June 15, 2025. 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. The prize is open to all Canadian writers. For our publication, we consider this to be:
- Anyone with Canadian citizenship or permanent citizenship, residing here or abroad
- Anyone that currently resides in Canada
We seek original short stories up to 4,000 words on any subject and in any style. The longlist will be announced in the first week of September, and the winners shortly afterwards. The entry fee is $20. Contestants can submit more than one story, but will have to submit them individually and pay the entry fee for each story submitted.
Before submitting, we strongly encourage you to read our general submission guidelines on Submittable, an interview with last year’s winner, Sabrina Fielding in our Digital Publication, our Q&A with this year’s judge (below), and our Frequently Asked Questions (below).
This year, Billy-Ray Belcourt, Giller-shortlisted author and finalist for the Amazon First Novel Award, will be our guest judge for the prize! Belcourt has also been awarded the Griffin Poetry Prize and named finalist for the Governor General Award for Non-Fiction.
Yolk warmly acknowledges the generous support of the Conseil des arts de Montréal in making this contest possible.
A quote from our Editor-in-Chief, Curtis John McRae, about the prize:
“We’re thrilled to be bringing back the Montreal Fiction Prize for its second consecutive year. We witnessed overwhelming interest in the prize from across the country last year and we were moved by the outstanding quality of work. Having Souvankham Thammavongsa judge the first prize was a delight, and we’re both excited and honoured to have Billy-Ray Belcourt judge the prize this year. I echo my inaugural statement in reaffirming that I believe through the continued creation of many well-remunerated, prestigious Canadian opportunities, our literary organizations foster a healthy ecosystem for emerging and established writers. In coexistence with other national prizes, contests, and regular publication opportunities, we hope this prize will encourage and continue to support writers in the coming years. I encourage writers to read our interview with last year’s winner, Sabrina Fielding, found below. We look forward to receiving an exciting batch of submissions.”
Q: What are you looking for in a winning story?
Billy-Ray Belcourt: An element of the unexpected, something I can’t anticipate in advance, but overall a commitment to concept, subject matter, and language.
Q: How much does your personal enjoyment figure in the assessment of a story’s quality, and how do you separate personal taste from literary acumen?
Belcourt: My personal taste is important in the sense that it encompasses a wide range of possibilities – from the campy to the serious to the theoretical to the erotic. But “quality” is subjective, even when we think we’re operating according to agreed-upon metrics. Matthew Salesses’s book, Craft in the Real World, helps us dismantle the supremacy some craft norms have held over us. Craft is how we validate one another’s tendencies and instincts and whether or not we agree to participate in them as well. Which is to say that I don’t read in order to have my tastes affirmed every time; that would be a boring way to be a reader!
Q: In A History of My Brief Body you write: “To be alert to freedom and doom is what I make of my job as a writer.” Is this general advice you would offer to emerging writers? What other advice do you have for emerging writers?
Belcourt: I think this is the job of writers interested in reimagining our conditions of living via literature. I wrote the essay from which this quote comes in the wake of the Gerald Stanley trial in Saskatchewan. I felt called to account for the violence of that trial and the original violence – the death of Colten Boushie – that preceded it. I wanted to write something to remind us we don’t have to reproduce those violences. We can insist on our freedom and our capacity to care for each other outside colonial forms of being. Writing can remind us we aren’t a courtroom, that the world isn’t private property that needs to be defended. My advice for emerging writers is to think about what motivates you to write beyond the publishing industry. What claims are you making about the world? How might you write toward your own freedom?
Q: What is the importance of literary prizes and what role can they play in a writer’s trajectory?
Belcourt: Literary prizes are important because they are a way for writers to encourage each other. Peer validation is something that can keep us going when other things slow us down.
- Yolk: An interview with last year’s winner, Sabrina Fielding
-CBC Books: "Toronto-based writer Sabrina Fielding named winner of inaugural Montreal Fiction Prize"
First Place: Sabrina Fielding, “Knick Knack”
Second Place: Zoe Lubetkin, “Too big, the perfect size”
Third Place: Eva Crocker, "Every Player Wins"
As selected by 2024 judge Souvankham Thammavongsa
Q: Is this prize only open to Montreal writers?
A: No. Despite the name, this prize is open to all Canadian writers. For our publication, we consider this to be: Anyone with Canadian citizenship or permanent citizenship, residing here or abroad; and anyone that currently resides in Canada
Q: Can I submit multiple entries to the Fiction Prize?
A: Contestants can submit more than one story, but will have to submit them individually and pay the entry fee for each story submitted.
Q: Is there a theme for the prize?
A: No. Although the winners will be published in a print issue with a theme, the contest is handled separately, and no prize submissions are expected to adhere to a theme.
Q: Can I submit to the Fiction Prize and to regular print consideration?
A: Yes, though you'll have to submit to them separately and pay the separate submission fees.
Q: Can I submit the same story to both the Fiction Prize and to regular print consideration?
A: Yes, though we recommend submitting separate stories to increase your odds of publication.
Q: When will I hear back about my story?
A: The shortlist will be announced the first week of September, and the winners shortly after. Please do not inquire about the status of your submission until mid-September.
Q: Are submissions read anonymously?
A: Yes. Therefore, do not include any personal information in your text. Any submissions including personal information (name, email, etc.) within the text will not be considered.
First Place: Sabrina Fielding, “Knick Knack”
Second Place: Zoe Lubetkin, “Too big, the perfect size”
Third Place: Eva Crocker, "Every Player Wins"
All three stories are published in Vol. 4.1 and in our Digital Publication.
Shortlist (selected by internal jury):
francesca ekwuyasi, “An Immortal Woman”
Rachael Rinn Palmer, “Vindum, Vindum” [to be published in Vol. 4.2]
Michelle Syba, “Humanities”
Longlist (selected by internal jury):
André Babyn, “The Trial of Galen Weston”
Laura Rock Gaughan, “TreeeeZone”
Amanda Merpaw, “Cusp”
Alexander "Pip" Morrison, “Jellyfish Killing”
Cassandra Nguyen, “Etymology of the Temporal Lobe”
Paz O’Farrell, “The hand that feeds has teeth”
Honourable Mentions:
Maggie Burton, “The Rat”
Alexander Hackett, “Strange Pollen”
Cassidy McFadzean, “Time Machine”
