Submit your essay for a chance to win up to $1,000! Learn about submissions here.
Deadline: January 6th 11:59PM
Canada wide
Write about an issue you care about for a chance to win up to $1000 in our first ever youth essay writing contest!
We all have a lot on our minds right now. From political division to global conflicts, it has never been more important to use our platforms to educate and inspire.
Write about an issue that you care about for a chance to win up to $1,000! The winners of this contest will be selected by a panel of 44 North editors and several surprise guest judges. In addition to prize money for the top 3 submissions, the winning essays will have guaranteed publication in our magazine.
The 44 North was created to help youth achieve their full potential by providing them with a platform to share their ideas and to provide a resource to connect with ideas that matter to them. Our goal is to maintain a platform that showcases the depth of the human experience.
Prompt
What is a pressing social issue you’re concerned or passionate about? We want your essay to educate and inspire! Write an informed, cited, and in-depth response to the prompt, including some aspect of hope to inspire others.
Deadline
The contest opens on October 6th, 2025 at 12:00 AM EST, and closes on January 6th, 2026, at 11:59 PM EST. Winners will be announced and contacted prior to publication.
Prizes
There are 3 possible winners. All winning essays will be published in the December/January issue of The 44 North Magazine. The first place essay will receive $1,000, second place $300, and third place $200.
Criteria
This essay contest is open to writers under the age of 25 in Canada. Only essays written in English will be accepted due to internal language barriers and limited capacity. Essays may not exceed 2000 words.
Submission Details
Judging and Rubric
Essays will be judged on originality, grammar and spelling, well-researched, a concise and compelling response to the prompt, adequate citations (where applicable), clarity, and creativity.
Spelling/grammar, punctuation:
The ideal essay should have few to no spelling, grammar, or punctuation mistakes throughout the work. Maintaining a consistent tense, capitalization, etc. If a writer wishes to break grammar rules (or include translation) in a meaningful way that supports/emphasizes their essay threads, that can be welcome but should be clear and consistent throughout the work. There are no restrictions on the type or point of view used in your essay. For example, first-person, second-person, braided essay, etc.
Originality:
The ideal essay should be original in its framework, with a unique perspective on the prompt. Originality is based on the writer’s ability to offer creative responses to their chosen societal issue.
Thoughtful analysis:
The essay should be clear and concise, with a direct relation to the prompt and the author’s argument.
The essay should demonstrate thoughtful engagement with the topic and present a well-reasoned idea about the chosen societal issue. The prompt is a two-part question; therefore, the essay should be balanced—not only identifying their chosen societal issue, but also thoughtfully conveying a message of hope or resolution in response to the latter half of the prompt.
Evidence and support:
The ideal essay should provide evidence and support for its response, showcasing a strong argument and a clear thought process throughout the writing. Any evidence or sources used should be factual and support the writer’s analysis, such as personal experience, scientific resources, lived perspectives, etc. Any secondary sources used should be included in a works cited page following the essay in APA format.
Understanding the audience:
The ideal essay should demonstrate a strong understanding of who its audience is through a deliberate exploration of the prompt. Although we are a mental health and youth magazine, the essays do not have to specifically target youth mental health. The ideal writer should demonstrate a clear sensitivity to the chosen societal topic, understanding the nuances and impact of their analysis.
Do you want to support contests like this one?
We have limited sponsorship and partnership opportunities available. If you're interested in being a part of our growth, e-mail team@the44northmedia.ca
THE JUDGES
Matthew Dawkins
Matthew is a queer Jamaican award-winning author and poet. Matthew’s work explores subject matters including race, nationhood, and mental health. His work has been featured in Arc Poetry, Ouch!, Westwind Poetry, Pinhole Poetry, and more.
Mikaela Brewer
Mikaela Brewer (she/her) is a Canadian writer & editor. Her work has previously appeared in SAPIENS, The Stanford Daily, The Headlight Review, Unsinkable, The 44 North, Global Sport Matters, the International Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, and is forthcoming in several print magazines. Some of her other work can be found online at mikbrew.substack.com. As a multi-suicide-attempt and multi-suicide-loss survivor, she is currently working on several projects that braid suicide prevention with poetry, language, storytelling, fiction, voice, and music. She is presently the Senior Editor at The 44 North, Publication Manager at Unsinkable, and the Founder/Editor in Chief of Lamplight Magazine.
Rafia Mahli
Rafia Mahli is a writer and visual artist with experience and training in sculpture, graphic arts, user experience writing and content design. She is currently at work on a novel and essays drawing on her upbringing as a child of Arab immigrants to Canada. She lives in Ottawa with her family.
Free Writing Workshop
Workshop Details
Join us for a two-part writing workshop, including an instructional session and a live feedback session with contest judges Mikaela Brewer and Matthew Dawkins. The instructional session will be recorded and available on YouTube, in our newsletter, and on social media. The live feedback session will not be recorded, and will have a small fee.
About this class:
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For a long time, writing an essay felt like trying to fit a toy back into its hyper-structured packaging. We broke our fingernails trying to twist-tie ideas into five perfect paragraphs and a seamless three-point argument. Maybe we hadn’t read enough essays beyond classroom walls to see this in practice. Now, years later, we’re closer. And we’d love to share what we’ve learned from the rich breadth of genre-expanding essays living in our world.
Essays are, instead, more like sand villages built in sandboxes. They’re for exploring and shaping—in real time—the ongoing search for that which we don’t yet know. More specifically, they’re a form for holding the relationship between what we know and what we still don’t know by the end of the essay. Essays aren’t airtight. They can’t always capital-K-know something. Sandcastles are fragile, but necessary homes for action figures who would rather live in a sandbox than suffocate in a plastic one.
We believe that part of being a good writer is being a good reader, and in this class, we’ll spend some time with our literary ancestors and their essays. You’ll leave with not only a new TBR, but a thoughtful list of craft choices to look for and incorporate into your own reading and writing.
What to expect:
Session 1. Free Attendance on November 28th, 6 pm: an hour of teaching with excerpts from essays we admire.
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Session 2. For $6 on December 5th, 6 pm: an hour of live editing & feedback, incorporating what you’ve learned from Session 1.
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Materials: A recording of Session 1 + a reading packet with Mikaela's & Matthew’s notes from Session 1
