Deadline: October 23rd, 2026 11:59PM
Canada & U.S. wide
How do we reclaim voice, identity, belonging, and agency in a world that tries to define and contain us?
For our second annual youth essay contest, The 44 North invites young writers to explore questions of power, personhood, culture, identity, and self-definition for a chance to win up to $1000!
What we’re looking for: We welcome essays that are personal, thoughtful, and engaged with the world around you. Strong submissions may draw on lived experience, family or cultural history, community life, social issues, or research where relevant. We’re seeking original writing that connects personal experience to larger social, political, or cultural realities.
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Prompt
Please choose one of the following:
Reclaiming Power: What does it mean to reclaim power in your own life, community, or culture? Write an essay exploring how you (or others) have or hope to reclaim voice, agency, belonging, identity, or dignity in the face of forces that try to limit, define, erase, or silence them.
Who Gets to Define Who You Are: And what happens when that power is taken back? Write an essay exploring identity, personhood, culture, ancestry, language, or belonging, and the tension between how people are seen by others, and how they define themselves.
Deadline
The contest opens on June 4th, 2026, at 12:00 AM EST, and closes on October 23rd, 2026, at 11:59 PM EST.
Winners will be contacted by November 23rd.
Prizes
The winners of this contest will be selected by a panel of editors at The 44 North, alongside several guest judges. In addition to prize money for the top 3 submissions, the winning essays will be published in our magazine.
Our long list—the next 12 winners to round out a top 15—will be published on our Substack alongside personalized editorial support.
Our entire top 15 essays will be published in print, available at our live podcast event in 2027.
Criteria
This essay contest is open to writers under the age of 25 in Canada and the US*. Only essays written in English will be accepted due to internal language barriers and limited capacity. Essays may not exceed 2000 words. Only essays submitted through the submission form located on our website will be accepted.
*US applicants must be the age of majority in their state
THE JUDGES
Ashley Sheppard
Ashley Sheppard (she/they) is a Two-Spirit and AuDHD educator and scholar who believes learning is most powerful when rooted in land, culture, and community. Ashley is Indigenous of mixed ancestry, L'nu (Mi'kmaq) through her father and Ukrainian through her mother, and a member of St. George's Indian Band in Ktaqmkuk (Newfoundland). She was raised in Alberta until 15, when her family moved back home to the East coast.
Multilingual and multicultural, Ashley spent six years living and teaching abroad in Japan, France, Mexico, and China before returning home. She now leads See Different, a national youth education initiative of the Canadian Centre for Diversity and Inclusion, offered free to youth in Canada aged 15-26. (www.seedifferent.ca)
Ashley holds a BA from the University of Regina, an MA in International Relations from McMaster, and is currently working towards her EdD at Ontario Tech University, co-supervised by Elder Ningwakwe George and Dr. Robyn Ruttenberg-Rozen.
Whether in classrooms, community spaces, or out on the trails with her partner and their two dogs, Ashley brings heart, energy, and a deep commitment to creating spaces where young people feel welcome, valued, and free to be themselves.
Patrick de Belen
Patrick de Belen is a Toronto-based Filipino-Canadian storyteller, arts educator, spoken word poet, writer, and filmmaker. His work—spanning poetry, film, and multidisciplinary projects—delves into themes of mental health, Filipino identity, liberation, community, grief, and healing.
Renowned for his poetic collaborations with the Toronto Raptors, the NFL, CBC, and more, Patrick has released two spoken word EPs and written/directed multiple cine-poems. He made history as the youngest poet to win a national poetry slam championship and has been honored with both the Canadian Poet of Honour and Youth Poet of Honour titles, along with several other storytelling accolades. Over the years, he has shared the stage with artists like The Roots, Shane Koyczan, and The Halluci Nation.
His short documentary, Tell Me A Story About Someone You Miss, was a finalist in the 2023 TVO Short Doc Competition, and he is currently in post-production for his debut feature documentary, Last Note—the recipient of the inaugural Kalabaw Bursary from the Reel Asian Film Festival.
Beyond his artistic work, Patrick is a dedicated educator, curator and community builder, collaborating with schools, libraries, non-profits, addiction centers, jails, and mental health organizations to champion diverse storytelling and create space for voices often unheard.
Stephanie Campbell
Currently, Stephanie is the Managing Editor for the award-winning regional lifestyle publication—Watershed Magazine (2024 Canadian Media Foundation Award for Excellence in Journalism, a 2025 Canadian Media Foundation Silver Medal for Short Feature Writing, and a 2025 Semi-Finalist for the best Advertising Campaign)—and continues to strive to bring interesting and evocative stories with a strong local connection to Watershed’s pages. She is also proud to support her local YMCA through their Global Initiatives Committee, and has recently joined Magazine Canada’s Advocacy Committee to help define and prioritize public policy issues for members and guide strategic lobbying efforts on behalf of the Canadian magazine industry. Closer to home, Stephanie is also a long-standing member of 100 Women Northumberland, a group of impassioned women investing in Northumberland Charities.
WRITING SUPPORT
Workshop: July 24th, 7:00 pm EDT / 5:00 pm MDT.
Join us for a 2-hour workshop with Christine Mejukah Weeber.
Spells & Taboos: The Social Lives of Poems
Poems live in social worlds. So do we. How do these social worlds reveal, erase, disrupt, or erupt understandings? How can anthropology help unveil these social worlds? And more, how can anthropology + poetry help us witness and communicate these worlds in terms of power, agency, identity, culture, belonging, kinship, history, and more?
In this 2-hour workshop, participants will explore a brief history of anthropology and its contemporary manifestations. They will also pick up a few anthropological tools for understanding broader social worlds and the possibilities of poetry within those. Participants will craft their own poems as knowledge-makers in particular “fieldsites” to wrestle with power, negotiate self-identities, unveil taboos, and unseat “spells,” or taken-for-granted assumptions.
About Christine Mejukah Weeber
Christine Mejukah Weeber is the author of two poetry chapbooks, In the Understory of Her Being (in English and Spanish; Finishing Line Press, 2018) and Sastrugi. Her poetry and prose have appeared in the Wild Roof Journal, the Kyoto Journal, Solo: On Her Own Adventure, and other publications. From 2016–2025, Christine served as the copy editor, poetry editor, and fact-checker at SAPIENS Anthropology Magazine, a digital publication that brought anthropological insights and research to general audiences. She is a freelance writer and editor for Stonefly Editorial Services.
*Workshop package available post-workshop. Pre-reads will be provided via email before the workshop.
