Humber's Bachelor of Creative & Professional Writing Degree: Flash Fiction Contest for High School Students

Hello, Writer,

We are pleased that you are interested in submitting to Humber College's New Bachelor of Creative and Professional Writing program’s Flash Fiction Contest for Ontario-based high school students.

Here's how the contest works—

• Who  Can Submit: This contest is open to individuals who are currently students at Ontario-based secondary schools (high schools) who are enrolled in grades 9 through 12 as full-time students. The contestant (you!) must be a resident of  Ontario and not be an employee of Humber College, or an immediate  family member of a Humber College employee (regardless of where they, or you, live).
• If  you have questions about your eligibility to enter, please contact  Meaghan Strimas, Program Coordinator of Humber's Bachelor of Creative and Professional Writing program: meaghan.strimas@humber.ca
• Submission Categories: This contest offers one submission category: Flash Fiction (a short, short story) of 250 words or less. Please be sure to title your short, short story. (The story title does not count toward the final word count.)
• Number of Submissions: You can enter one submission to the contest. 
• Word Count: 250 words and under.

· Previously Unpublished: The short, short story (Flash Fiction) you submit to the contest must be unpublished.

• Deadline: 1 May 2025 (at midnight); you'll submit your Flash Fiction through this Submittable portal.
• Judges:  Writers David James Brock, Kathy Friedman and Meaghan Strimas
• Announcement: We’ll announce the 5 winners in June of 2025. 
• Contest Prizes: 

The contest prizes are as follows—

1. First-place winner will be awarded $750; 
2. Second-place winner will be awarded $500; 
3. Third-place winner will be awarded $350; 
4. Fourth-place winner will be awarded $250;
5. Fifth-place winner will be awarded $150.00.

• Publication:  All five contest winners get their work published in the Bachelor of Creative and Professional Writing program’s publication Arrival, a new online, student-led literary and arts magazine. 
• Note: If you are selected as one of the five contest winners, you will be asked to complete and sign a Contributor Agreement, plus the release forms as cited in the Contest Rules below. Copyright of your work will remain with you, the author.
• Questions: If you have questions about our Flash Fiction contest or about Humber College's Bachelor of Creative and Professional Writing program, please contact Meaghan Strimas: meaghan.strimas@humber.ca

Note: Please see below my signature for the Full Contest Rules. Again, reach out if you have questions.
 Okay, one more note! Please be advised that entering this writing contest does not constitute applying to / or being accepted into Humber College’s new Bachelor of Creative and Professional Writing program. A separate application must be completed to apply to this Honours Bachelor’s degree. Visit this link and click on Apply Now if you plan to apply to the program. We are now accepting applications.

We are so excited to read your work! Sometimes taking the first step towards publication can be daunting, but we all have to start at somewhere. I published my first writing when I was in high school, and these publication credits inspired me to keep writing.

Sincerely,

Meaghan Strimas, Program Coordinator

Humber College's Bachelor of Creative and Professional Writing

+ Winner of the Trillium Book Award for Poetry

+ Recipient of the League of Excellence Teaching Award

CONTEST RULES FOR HUMBER COLLEGE’S BACHELOR OF CREATIVE AND PROFESSIONAL WRITING Flash Fiction Contest for Ontario-based high school students 

1. HOW TO ENTER: No purchase required. This contest begins at 12:01 am (ET) Wednesday, October 16, 2024 (“Contest Starting Date”) and closes at 11:59 p.m. Thursday, May 1, 2025 (“Contest Closing Date”). There is one way to enter: (A) Complete the online submission form in Submittable and submit your previously unpublished Flash Fiction piece. Limit of one (1) entry per person will be accepted regardless of the method of entry. All entries must be submitted no later than the Contest Closing Date. Incomplete, illegible, late, altered, forged, defaced or garbled entries will be disqualified. Sponsor will not be responsible for entries lost, stolen, delayed, mutilated, or illegible. If an entrant is not of the age of majority at the time of entry, the entrant must have a parent or legal guardian's permission to enter the contest and, if a prize winner, may require his/her parent or legal guardian to act on his/her behalf in regard to completing the Release (see rule 4 below) and in accepting a prize. All references to entrants and winners are deemed to include references to the parent or legal guardian in the event the entrant or winner is under the age of majority.

2. ELIGIBILITY: To be eligible to enter this contest, an individual must be a current Ontario-based secondary school student who is enrolled in grades 9 through 12. Contestant must be a resident of Ontario and not be an employee of Sponsor (Humber College), or any member of any such employee’s immediate family (regardless of where they live) or persons with whom they are domiciled.

3. PRIZES: 1. There will be five prizes, consisting of one first prize of $750; one second prize of $500; one third prize of $350; one fourth prize of $250; and one fifth prize of $150. Prizes will only be awarded to Ontario residents who are current Ontario-based secondary school students in grades 9 through 12. Prizes must be accepted as awarded and cannot be transferred or substituted except at the sole discretion of Sponsor. Sponsor reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to substitute a prize or a component of a prize for a prize or a component of a prize of equal or greater value.

4. SELECTED ENTRANTS: In order to win, the selected entrants (and/or the selected entrant's parent or legal guardian, if the selected entrant is not of the age of majority) must: (1) comply with these official contest Rules (the "Rules"); (2), correctly answer, without mechanical or other assistance, a mathematical skill-testing question posed on the Declaration, Release & Discharge Form provided by Sponsor (the “Release”) and (3) sign the Release confirming compliance with the Rules, acceptance of the prize as awarded and releasing Sponsor, its parents and affiliated corporations and advertising and promotional agents and their respective partners, directors, officers, employees and agents (as applicable) from any liability in connection with the prize or this contest. In the event that a selected entrant (and/or the selected entrant's parent or legal guardian, if the selected entrant is not of the age of majority) does not satisfy the requirements to win a prize, he/she will be disqualified and will not receive a prize and another entrant will be selected for that prize and the selection process described above will be repeated until the prize has been awarded or there are no more qualified entrants. Sponsor will contact the winner to discuss the awarding of the prize.

 5. GENERAL CONDITIONS: By entering this contest, entrants (and in the case of entrants under the age of majority, entrants' parents and/or legal guardians) agree to be bound by these Official Contest Rules. By accepting the prize, a winner (and in the case of a winner under the age of majority, a winner's parent and/or legal guardian) gives his/her permission and consent to the use of his/her name, photograph, likeness and city of residence in any publicity carried out by or on behalf of Sponsor, in connection with the contest without compensation and without limitation. The contest is subject to all applicable federal, provincial and municipal laws. The decisions of Sponsor are final. Sponsor accepts no responsibility for any loss, damages or claims arising from or caused by the contest or the prizes awarded. Sponsor reserves the right to cancel, terminate, suspend, withdraw or change the terms of this contest at any time, at their sole discretion, without notice and without liability.

6. PRIVACY: Sponsor respects your right to privacy. Personal information collected from entrants will only be used by Sponsor to administer the Contest and, only if consent is given at the time of entry, to provide entrants with information regarding programs of interest. For more information regarding the manner of collection, use and disclosure of personal information by Sponsor, please refer to the Notification of Disclosure of Personal Information available at humber.ca/notification-disclosure-personal-information

7. NO LIABILITY: Sponsor will not be responsible for late, lost, illegible, incomplete, inaccurate or destroyed entries, and all such entries are void. Sponsor will not be liable for any failure of the Contest Website, do not assume any responsibility for incorrect or inaccurate capture of entry information, technical malfunctions, human or technical error, printing errors, lost, delayed or garbled data or transmissions, omission, interruption, deletion, defect or failures of any telephone or computer lines or networks, computer equipment, software or any combination thereof. Entries are subject to verification by the Sponsor. Sponsor, its advertising and promotional agencies, their employees, directors, officers, affiliates, agents and representatives are not liable for (a) late, lost, delayed, not received, damaged, misdirected, incomplete, stolen, fraudulent or illegible entries (all of which entries shall be automatically void and not eligible for a prize); (b) failure to receive entries due to transmission failures, busy signals, traffic congestion on the internet or at any website or technical failures of any kind, including, without limitation, malfunctioning of any network, servers, access providers, hardware or software, whether originating with sender or recipient, or (c) any injury or damage to entrant's or any other person's computer related to or resulting from participation or downloading any materials in this contest and breaches of privacy due to interference by third party computer "hackers". Entry material/data not satisfying the entry requirements or that have been tampered with or altered are void. In the event it is determined that an entrant has entered in a fashion not sanctioned by these rules, the entrant will be disqualified and all of the entries submitted by the entrant will be disqualified.

8. AMENDING CONTEST: Sponsor reserves the right to terminate or suspend this Contest or to amend the Rules at any time and in any way, without prior notice. Without limiting the foregoing, if, for any reason, the Contest is not capable of running as originally planned, due to any reasons such as tampering or infection by computer virus, Sponsor reserves the right to terminate the Contest and conduct a random draw from all previously received eligible entries. Sponsor shall not be held responsible for any problems, errors or negligence that may arise or occur in connection with or resulting from the Contest or a prize including but not limited, to any damage to an entrant’s computer equipment, system, software or any combination thereof, as a result of the entrant’s participation in the Contest.