Nominations

Announcing the third year of The Prairie Grindstone Prize — a $50,000 literary award that acknowledges a hardworking, engaged prairie writer. 

Nominations for The Prairie Grindstone Prize open on April 1 and will close on May 15 at midnight.

This annual prize, funded by an anonymous donor committee, alternates between the provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan. This year, the prize will be awarded to an Alberta writer. The Prairie Grindstone Prize recognizes prairie writers of fiction, poetry, or creative nonfiction with a cash prize of $50,000 that will enable the writer to focus on their work for a year or more.

This is not a book prize. It is awarded in acknowledgement of an author’s body of work and their contribution to the public’s appreciation for and understanding of Western Canada’s landscape, people, history, and culture.

The writer must have been a resident of the province of Alberta for the past five years, have a minimum of four professionally published books, and be an active member of the local writing community.

Authors may not self nominate and recipients will be selected by a jury of peers.

Full nomination guidelines can be found here: www.prairiegrindstoneprize.ca/nominate Letters of nomination and inquiries can be sent to grindstoneprize@gmail.com 

For more information, please contact
Lisa Murphy Lamb, Jury Chair
Jun Lee, Marketing
e: grindstoneprize@gmail.com 

www.prairiegrindstoneprize.ca
IG: @prairiegrindstoneprize
FB: Prairie Grindstone Prize

We are very excited to be hosting our annual 48hr Mobile Device Filmmaking Challenge. This year the event takes place from 6pm Friday May 23 to 6pm Sunday May 25.

This event is open to all Alberta Residents. You must pre-register to have 3 secret elements emailed to you at the start of the challenge - will be emailed at 6pm on Friday May 23. The three elements must be included in your film. All films must be recorded on a mobile device. Editing can be done on a computer.

All completed films will be screened on Sunday June 1 via an on-line watch party - with the winners being announced at the end!

There will be 4 awards:

• Best 48hr Film
• Best Use of Secret Elements
• Best Marketed
• Best First time Filmmaker

These 4 top films will be screened at the annual Edmonton Short Film Festival in October and be eligible for screening fees and the People's Choice Award.

First time Filmmaker Category: A first time filmmaker may have shot and edited a film for a student project or for personal use (such as family videos). No one on the team has experience creating a film that has been submitted to a film festival or has participated on any previous filmmaking challenge.

Register here: www.eventbrite.ca/e/2025-48hr-mobile-device-filmmaking-challenge

Did you know that you can apply to join an expert panel for the AFA?

We encourage expert panel nominations from Albertans to ensure the involvement of the arts community in AFA funding decisions. Anyone may nominate a potential expert panel member, including themselves.

To join an expert panel you must:

• First, download the Expert Panel Handbook to learn more about the roles and responsibilities of the expert panel.
• Then, complete an Expert Panel Nomination Form.
• Finally, email us your completed nomination form.

Who selects an expert panel?

Expert panels are assembled as needed by Arts Branch staff. Assembled review panels are reflective of the expertise required for each set of applications and to promote adequate representation of diverse perspectives, including:

• artists in various stages of their career
• artists from different locations around the province
• different gender identities
• Indigenous artists
• culturally diverse artists
• Francophone artists
• Deaf artists and artists with disabilities

Compensation for expert panel members

Expert panel members are paid in accordance with established AFA rates for service.

Panel members are paid a reading fee for each application reviewed and a daily rate for participation during the expert panel sessions.

Learn more about expert panels and the adjudication process