Shameless magazine launches Talking Back youth writing award

Here's a brand new writing competition well worth noting: The first Talking Back Awards from Shameless magazine is for teen girls or trans youth 13 - 19 years old and is open to anyone in the world. 

Entries can be made in poetry, short fiction and creative non-fiction. Maximum 2,000 words. Deadline for entries, Monday, September 7 2015 at midnight. It costs $15 to enter and with that comes a free one-year subscription. 

The entries will be judged by poet and short story writer Souvankham Thammavongsa, writer Anupa Mistry, who specializes in arts, culture and community, and Emily Pohl-Weary, an award-winning novelist, editor and arts educator from Toronto. 

There will be first and second place winners in each category. First place winners will be published in a 2016 issue of Shameless, and on the Shameless blog and receive an honorarium of $200 CAD. Second place winners will be published in a 2016 issue of Shameless, and receive an honorarium of $100 CAD. Plus all six winners will be invited to do a special reading at the Shamies Gala, an annual celebration of Shameless and the youth voices in the magazine. The event will take place on October 16th at OCAD University in Toronto. 

For those not familiar with it, Shameless is an independent, volunteer-run magazine based in Toronto and aimed at being the alternative to typical teen magazines. Its goal is to inspire, inform and advocate for young women and trans youth.