The 2025 Riddle Fence Contests opens April 1, 2025 (no fooling!)
FICTION
Saeed Teebi is an acclaimed writer and lawyer. His debut short story collection, Her First Palestinian, was a finalist for several awards, including the Atwood Gibson Writer’s Trust Prize. His short story “Her First Palestinian” was shortlisted for the CBC Short Story Prize. His upcoming book is a work of nonfiction.
@saeedteebi
POETRY
Hannah Green is a writer and poetry editor at CV2. She was a finalist for the RBC Bronwen Wallace Award for Emerging Writers in 2021 for selections from the manuscript she was working on, Xanax Cowboy. [2]Following the book’s publication, she won the 2023 Governor General’s Literary Award and the 2024 Gerald Lampert Award from the League of Canadian Poets.[4]
@projectroadkill_
VISUAL ART
Lucas Morneau (they/he) is an interdisciplinary artist and curator from Ktaqmtuk (Newfoundland). Employing drag as a central tool in their practice, Morneau blends textiles, photography, video, and sculpture to queer Newfoundland/Canadian cultural traditions, exploring gender performativity and challenging the dominance of heteronormative and patriarchal systems within Canada and Newfoundland. Morneau holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Memorial University of Newfoundland—Grenfell Campus (2016) and a Master of Fine Arts from University of Saskatchewan (2018). They currently live in the Siknikt distric of Mi’kma’ki (Sackville, New Brunswick), where they work as the Production Manager for artist run-centre Struts Gallery.
Instagram: @thequeermummer
CONTEST DETAILS:
$1000 GRAND PRIZE & PUBLICATION IN RF #56
DEADLINE: JULY 1, 2025
NEW! THIS YEAR — All contests are open to Canadian residents only.
ENTRY FEE: $29. All fees are in Canadian dollars and include a one-year subscription to Riddle Fence.
Free entry! for BIPOC contest submissions. Just self-identify upon entry.
Judging for the contest is blind. Do not identify yourself on your actual submission.
Parameters:
One short-fiction submission is one story, maximum 5000 words.
One poetry submission is up to 3 poems; no more than 100 lines per poem.
One visual art submission is one piece of artwork. For visual art submissions, please also include any necessary information about the work in a separate file (medium, materials, etc.)
General contest rules:
An entry consists of one submission in one genre. Multiple entries are allowed; however, each entry must be accompanied by its own entry fee.
Please note: Entries must be original and unpublished elsewhere. No simultaneous submissions and no previously published (or accepted for publication) submissions. Work that is written, co-written, created, or assisted by AI is not eligible.
Judging for the contest is blind. Do not identify yourself on your actual submission. Please note that any submissions that include name identification will be disqualified, and fees will not be refunded.
Every paid entry fee gets a free subscription. Want to give your contest subscription as a gift to someone? No problem — please indicate the intended address on your form.
Contest winners and honourable mentions will be contacted directly by email. Other entrants are not directly contacted about the results.
Winners and honourable mentions will be published in Riddle Fence #56.