The following resources that are available to all writers to explore more ways to celebrate their authentic voice:

Publishers

Piquant Press: Piquant Press publishes up to two books of poetry a year, with the long term goal of identifying and publishing “clever, daring” writers who make intimate statements about our society. https://piquantpress.ca/

Brick Books: Brick Books publishes full-length poetry collections of the highest quality by both new and established writers. They encourage submissions from Indigenous poets, racialized poets, poets from LGBTQ+ communities, and poets with disabilities. https://brickbooks.ca/submissions/

Talon Books: Talon’s mission is to publish work of the highest literary merit by world class authors from the mainstream and the margins of Canada’s three founding nations, as well as from both visible and invisible minorities within Canada’s cultural mosaic. https://www.talonbooks.com/

Self-Publishing

Kindle Direct Publishing (Amazon): Amazon enables writers to self-publish print and digital books, and reach millions of readers around the world on Amazon. https://kdp.amazon.com/

Agora Publishing: Agora makes book publishing accessible to all writers across Canada and internationally. This includes university and community college professors as well as teachers who seek to self-publish books for their courses. Agora is a not-for-profit corporation that was founded in 1997. https://agorapublishing.com/about-us/

Digital Publishing

Many writers today publish exclusively on platforms such as Wattpad and Substack, or they use these platforms to complement other publishing and creative pursuits.

Resources for Writers

Quick Brown Fox: A free monthly newsletter full of helpful information for writers created by Brian Henry, a book editor, writer and creative writing instructor at Ryerson University. Contact: brianhenry@sympatico.ca  | http://quick-brown-fox-canada.blogspot.com/

Submissions and Contests

Canadian Writers’ Contest Calendar (Book): Each edition contains approximately 80 pages of detailed information on Canadian writing contests, awards and prizes, organized month by month according to their deadline dates. https://wmpub.ca/cwcc.html

Voice and Vessel Writing Studio: Voice & Vessel offers online writing workshops, coaching, and other support for creative practice. They have a spreadsheet for finding opportunities and tracking your submissions. https://voiceandvessel.com/poetry-publishing-2021

Dreamers Magazine: A publication dedicated to “writing from the heart.” They accept submissions and host a wide variety of contests. https://dreamerswriting.com/submit/

Pottersfield Press: Pottersfield specializes in books about Atlantic Canada but also publishes a wide range of fiction and nonfiction titles. They have a yearly contest for writers who can provide a manuscript of 30,000 to 150,000 words, covering a wide variety of categories that use the nonfiction medium to tell a story or put forward an idea. https://www.pottersfieldpress.com/creative-prize-for-nonfiction

Open Minds Quarterly: Open Minds Quarterly is a literary journal that features explorations of life in a mad world. More specifically, it welcomes writing and art from people with lived experience of what is variously called mental health challenges, mental illness, madness, neurodiversity etc. https://openmindsquarterly.submittable.com/submit

Globe and Mail: The daily First Person essay is a great forum for you to share your own experiences, viewpoints and writing flair with other Globe readers. The Globe is looking for writers from all walks of life to submit. https://theglobeandmail.com/life/first-person/submissions/

Mentorships

The Writers Union of Canada: The Writers’ Union of Canada (TWUC) is the national organization of professionally published writers. They have a list of mentorship opportunities in the country: https://writersunion.ca/

Sister Writes: Participants receive mentorship from professional women writers and editors for the duration of The Writing Workshop program. Sister Writes is a creative writing and literacy program dedicated to honouring the wisdom and experiences of women in downtown Toronto. https://sisterwrites.com/programs/#writingandeditorialmentorship

Diaspora Dialogues Mentorships: Diaspora Dialogues has a variety of long form and short form mentorships. They support voices from Canada’s diverse communities with their one-on-one programs. In honour of Black History Month in February, they launched a Black Playwrights Mentoring Program that matches four emerging playwrights with four of Canada’s top dramaturges to develop their first full-length play for mainstage production. https://diasporadialogues.com/mentorship/

Black Playwrights Mentoring Program: Diaspora Dialogues (DD) supports emerging voices from across Canada to turn their craft into a career through mentorship, professional development and opportunities to publish and present their work. Everything we do as an organization is made possible through the passion and commitment of our team, the board members, and our allies across the country. https://diasporadialogues.com/diaspora-dialogues-to-launch-new-mentoring-program-for-emerging-black-playwrights-with-support-from-td-bank-group