RBC Bronwen Wallace Award for Emerging Writers

The RBC Bronwen Wallace Award for Emerging Writers is a Canadian literary award, presented annually by the Writers' Trust of Canada to a writer who has not yet published his or her first book.[1] Formerly restricted to writers under age 35, the age limit was removed in 2021, with the prize now open to emerging writers regardless of age.[2]

Named in memory of Bronwen Wallace, a Canadian writer who died of cancer in 1989, the award was created in 1994 by her literary executor Carolyn Smart to honour Wallace's work as a creative writing instructor and mentor to young writers.[3] The Royal Bank of Canada stepped in as the award's corporate sponsor in 2012, through its Emerging Artists Project.

The prize has a monetary value of $10,000, with finalists receiving $2,500. The prize traditionally alternates every other year between poetry and short fiction; in 2020 the Writers' Trust announced that they would present awards in both categories.[4]