Adjudicated by the Department of French Studies in York’s Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies, the Micheline Saint-Cyr Prize is an annual French-language short story contest that celebrates writing produced by York students.
Each year, the best short story is awarded a prize of $150 and the writer is celebrated during a special event hosted by the Department of French Studies.
The adjudicating committee for the 2012 Micheline Saint-Cyr Prize has issued a call for submissions for this year’s prize. Those students interested in entering their work for consideration for the prize are invited to do so by Wednesday, Feb. 29. The contest is open to all undergraduate, master’s and doctoral students enrolled in French studies. Submissions must be no longer than 1,500 words in length and will be evaluated anonymously by an independent jury. Winners will be notified in early March, with a ceremony to be held March 22. In addition to the cash prize, the winning story will be published in the journal Virages.
Patricia Ubeda, a student in the Department of Translation at Glendon, won last year’s prize for the short story “Naufrage en haute mer” (Shipwreck in High Water). Ubeda’s story was published in the Winter 2011-2012 issue of Virages, la nouvelle en revue, a prestigious Franco-Ontarian short-story journal.
The evaluation of the short stories was done anonymously by three renowned Franco-Ontarian writers – Marguerite Andersen, Michel Thérien and Didier Leclair.
For more information on how to submit a story for consideration for the prize, contact French studies Professor Lelia Young at lyoung@yorku.ca or download a PDF of the contest rules.
More about the Micheline Saint-Cyr Prize
The prize was created by Dr. Lelia Young in 2002 during her role as President of the Société des écrivain-e-s de Toronto (la SET). She established the award to honour the memory of the French Canadian poet and artist Micheline Saint-Cyr, who died in 2002. Saint-Cyr founded La Chasse-Galerie in Toronto (1968-1980), organized Toronto francophone writers in 1984 and served as the coordinator of the literacy centre, Alpha-Toronto, from 1988 to 1996. The award celebrates Saint-Cyr’s many contributions to Franco-Ontarian culture and community. In 2004, the Department of French Studies became the partner of la SET for the awarding of the Prix Micheline Saint-Cyr to recognize the creativity of its best students on an annual basis.