2027 YRP Youth Writing Contest
York Regional Police invites youth aged 12 to 17 who live in York Region to participate in the 2027 YRP Youth Writing Contest.
This year's theme is Courage. Whether you enjoy writing fiction or poetry, we want to hear your story and see your creativity.
Contest opens: Sunday, November 1, 2026
Submission deadline: Thursday, December 31, 2026, at midnight
Contest event: Saturday, February 20, 2027
Important: Contestants must be available to attend the contest event to be eligible.
Who can enter?
To be eligible, contestants must:
- Be between 12 and 17 years old at the time of submission.
- Live in the Regional Municipality of York.
- Submit an original piece of fiction or poetry based on the theme of courage.
- Be available to attend the contest event on Saturday, February 20, 2027.
How to enter
Email your submission to contest@yrp.ca by midnight on December 31, 2026.
Your submission must include all of the following:
- A PDF version of your writing.
- A Microsoft Word document version of your writing.
- A completed Contest Submission Sheet, available to download here.
Required file name format
LAST NAME, FIRST NAME – TITLE OF SUBMISSION, FICTION/POETRY
Please indicate whether your submission is fiction or poetry in the file name.
Submission rules
Please read all rules carefully before submitting your entry.
- The submission deadline is Thursday, December 31, 2026, at midnight.
- Contestants must be able to attend the contest event on Saturday, February 20, 2027. If a contestant cannot attend, their submission will not be considered.
- Submissions must be emailed to contest@yrp.ca in both PDF and Word document formats and must include the completed Contest Submission Sheet.
- Contestants must live in York Region and be 12 to 17 years old at the time of submission.
- Submissions must revolve around the theme or concept of courage.
- Submissions must be no more than 1,250 words, double-spaced, in 12-point Times New Roman font. The word count must be included on the last page.
- Entries may be fiction or poetry.
- The title of the piece must appear as a header.
- All pages must be clearly numbered.
- Submissions must be written in English.
- Submissions must not contain curse words, sexual content of any kind, or gratuitous violence, blood or gore.
- All work must be original. Contestants must not use AI technology to compose any part of their submissions. Entries suspected of being AI-generated or plagiarized will be disqualified.
- Picture books or stories containing artwork that complements the writing are acceptable.
Our partners
York Regional Police gratefully acknowledges the generous support and partnership of Indigo Markville and Annick Press.
