The Long Dark Awaits Your Story
Our annual anthology contest is now open!
Happy Canada Day 🇨🇦, beautiful writers and readers!
What better way to celebrate our great nation than by announcing the opening of our 5th annual Fiction Anthology Contest? Today marks the beginning of something special—your chance to add your voice to the chorus of Canadian storytellers who dare to explore The Long Dark.
From sea to shining sea, across our nearly ten million square kilometres of possibility, we know there are stories brewing in Canadian hearts that deserve to be heard. Stories that only you can tell. Stories that make our literary landscape richer and infinitely more compelling.
What’s Waiting for You in The Long Dark?
This year’s theme invites you to explore the shadows—but don’t let that limit your imagination! We’re hungry for stories that are light or dark, humorous or haunting, romantic or mysterious. Pull us in every direction possible. Make us feel something we’ve never felt before.
The prizes? We hope it will be our biggest yet:
Cash prize (50% of all entry proceeds—the more entries, the bigger the pot! And thanks to early sponsorship, there’s already a little sitting in the coffers.)
Publication in our gorgeous anthology
Automatic Pushcart Prize nomination
Manuscript critique with potential publishing opportunity through Chicken House Press
Meet Your Grand Prize Judge: Benjamin Rempel
Here’s where things get deliciously spine-tingling. Our grand prize judge, Benjamin Rempel, is celebrated for his dark and gritty tone. His novels INFECT and the upcoming MUTATE prove he knows his way around the shadows. While our jury appreciates stories of every stripe, if you’re eyeing that cash prize, you might want to let your story lean a little... creepy.
Think Canadian Gothic. Think winter nights that stretch too long. Think the stories that make you check the locks twice before bed.
What Past Participants Are Saying:
“One thing I liked about the … contest was that the participation buzz kept going. It’s not like a contest where you submit your entry and you wait through six months of silence, at the end of which there might be an email saying your story did/did not make the cut … there were clear timelines stated from the outset, with monthly stages as the contest progressed at a cracking pace from deadline, to longlist, to shortlist, to winner. As an entrant, I felt engaged with the contest progress from start to finish.” —Barbara Lehtiniemi, past finalist
“Participating in the contest felt friendly and fun at every step, and the prompt was engaging and interesting. I also liked the timely deadlines and feedback about whether my piece might make it into the next round. Although I didn’t know it at the time, it has become apparent that when I entered this contest, I also entered into a writing community, and a relationship with Chicken House Press/Blank Spaces.” —Crystal Randall Barnett, past winner
“As an emerging Canadian author searching for literary outlets to showcase my work, Blank Spaces is at the top of my list. When I learned about the anthology contest and its fascinating prompt, ideas started flowing so I quickly got to work. Now I regularly pinch myself when I see my name and story printed alongside seven other incredible authors. This creative community has been very welcoming and provided the encouragement to continue writing.” —Chris J. Meyer, past finalist
Your Story Belongs Here
Never been published? Perfect. Don’t have an agent? Who cares!
We want the raw, real, true YOU—the writer who stays up too late crafting sentences that make readers’ hearts race, who finds beauty in the shadows, who isn’t afraid to explore the spaces between fear and wonder.
Contest Details:
Deadline: September 30, 2025
Word count: 1000-3000 words
Entry fee: $10 (goes directly toward prizes and publication)
Open to: All Canadians (by birth or citizenship)
Theme: The Long Dark
Whether you’re from the Maritimes or the Prairies, the territories or the major cities, your story matters. Your voice deserves to be heard. And this July 1st, we’re opening the door wide for you to step into The Long Dark and show us what you’ve found there.
The longlist goes live in late October. The shortlist (our final 8) gets announced in November. The winner? December 2025. But your journey as a Blank Spaces storyteller? That starts today.
Ready to submit? Head to blankspaces.ca/fiction-anthology-contest-2025 and let’s see what stories are waiting in your Long Dark.
Together, we fill the blank spaces with heart-rendered stories and courageous spirits.
Happy writing, Canada! 🇨🇦
P.S. Don’t forget—we especially love stories that are distinctly Canadian. Give us those details that could only happen here, in this beautiful, complex, endlessly inspiring place we call home.
