We are so pleased to announce that five writers have made the shortlist for our September 2022 Write Prompt Challenge.

As I write this I’m sitting beneath the massive pines of a campground that is two years away from its 100th anniversary. Year after year my husband and I are blessed to be invited back to this place to play music together through two consecutive weeks of Family Camp. There are five things we can count on:

The complete table of contents for the September 2022 issue of Blank Spaces magazine.

We are so pleased to announce that five writers have made the shortlist for our June 2022 Write Prompt Challenge.

Over the last few years, the book that has most informed my decision-making—both personally and in business—is Start With Why by Simon Sinek. It was recommended at a side-hustle seminar I attended and I immediately bought myself a copy: not because I want to be a great leader, but because I wanted to channel my passion in a way that championed others.

The complete table of contents for the June 2022 issue of Blank Spaces magazine.

We are so pleased to announce that five writers have made the shortlist for our March 2022 Write Prompt Challenge.

Welcome to our YEAR SEVEN fundraising campaign.

Asking for support is uncomfortable. Expecting people to actually do it is unrealistic unless they can be given a clear understanding of our goals. That’s why we want to take a minute and let you know what we’re thinking.

We did it. We have survived the first two months of 2022 even though survival feels a little bit like being stuck: stuck in the uncertainly of a world on the brink of wanting to return to normal but also terrified of what that means.

The complete table of contents for the March 2022 issue of Blank Spaces magazine.

We are so pleased to announce that six writers have made the shortlist for our December 2021 Write Prompt Challenge.

During a Thanksgiving mishap, I severely sprained my ankle and spent a full month off my feet. I fluctuated between grief and anger and self-pity; way too much Netflix and not enough productivity.

Earlier in 2021 we launched our inaugural cash fiction contest, calling writers across Canada to submit stories under the theme of The Things We Leave Behind. Though we weren’t overwhelmed with entries, the competition was furious, and we narrowed the field down to a shortlist of eight, all of whom will be published in an anthology aptly named, The Things We Leave Behind, set to be released in April of 2022.

The complete table of contents for the December 2021 issue of Blank Spaces magazine.

The Pushcart Prize: Best of the Small Presses series, published every year since 1976, is the most honoured literary project in America. They welcome up to six nominations (print or online) from little magazine and small book press editors throughout the world, and selected winners will appear in their annual publication.

We are so pleased to announce that five writers have made the shortlist for our September 2021 Write Prompt Challenge.

Back in 2016, frustrated by the state of publishing in Canada and how inaccessible it felt to newcomers, I started Blank Spaces. With nothing more than a vision to champion Canadians and a hastily constructed free website, I put out the call, looking for people like me: people who wanted to be heard. I recruited volunteers, I blocked haters, I accepted my first submission, and I released the inaugural issue in September of that same year.

The complete table of contents for the September 2021 issue of Blank Spaces magazine.

As time has passed, engagement in our quarterly write-prompt challenge has waned. While we believe it is a valuable exercise for all who enter, there comes a time when you have to ask if this thing has run its course.

I feel blessed by a constitution that allows me to embrace beauty even in the ugliest situation. Ontario’s lockdown has been extended. Again. And as our government limps along and people rage on social media, I don’t find it hard to swallow a sigh and say, ‘they're just doing their best,’ even if I don’t really believe it.