CONTEST GUIDELINES
The deadline is October 31 at 11:59.
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The theme:
Haunted
Haunted, as in the things that keep you up at night: obsessions and the obsessed, the things you carry with you always. What is it that is ever-present, always waiting, always lingering at the back of your mind, ephemeral and enveloping, all at once? Whether it is beautifully haunting, or something that lives in your nightmares, we invite you to submit your original work—short stories, prose, poetry, art, etc.—that will haunt us too.
The Prizes:
Two $500 prizes, one for writing and one for design, will be chosen. Each winner will appear online and in our print issue. Both winners and all finalists will be featured in the 2026 edition of The Liar. Prize money is provided by Capilano University’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences.
General Rules:
1. Each person is allowed to submit up to three pieces per category (Writing and Design).
2. Each piece should be in a separate document.
3. All submissions will be jugded blind.
4. We only accept online submissions via our Submittable portal. Make sure to include your active student number and your preferred email address.
5. We only accept new and unpublished work. However, we do allow simultaneous submissions. If your piece is accepted elsewhere, please let us know.
6. Any work created using Generative AI will not be accepted.
7. Content warnings can be included at your discretion.
Writing Contest Guidelines:
We accept writing submissions of up to 2,000 words. We accept all kinds of prose, and poetry: hybrid-genre, creative non-fiction, literary essays, creative journalism and personal essays are welcome; as well as hybrid and cross-genre poems. However, we do not publish academic essays.
Feel free poetry to submit and prose translations into English. Please include the original author’s name, the title and the language it was originally published in the body of your submission email.
Submit all writing as .PDF, .DOC or .DOCX.
Design Contest Guidelines:
We accept visual art including photography, traditional, digital, hybrid, and experimental works.
All art should be submitted in high resolution (300dpi or higher) with the extension .JPG, .TIFF or .PNG.