The Rakuten Kobo Emerging Writer Prize is an annual competition. The award showcases Canadian debut authors with the chance to win CAD 10,000 per category, plus marketing support for the three winning books.
About Rakuten Kobo Inc.

Rakuten is a Japanese multinational technology company based in Tokyo. Kobo is its digital publisher and bookseller business created by and for book lovers, with its headquarters in Toronto, Canada.
Rakuten Kobo has 38 million users worldwide. Its books can be read anytime, anywhere, and on any device.
Its mission is to improve reading lives by connecting readers to stories using an open platform.
The reason behind the Emerging Writer Prize
Kobo wants to raise the profiles of debut authors. This prize recognises exceptional books written by first-time Canadian authors in three categories:
- Literary Fiction
- Non-Fiction
- Genre Fiction (a different genre is chosen each year, Speculative Fiction is the genre for 2023)
The Emerging Writer Prize is in its ninth year.
Last year’s winners were:
- Literary Fiction: Ghost Forest by Pik-Shuen Fung. “A graceful and indelible debut about love, grief, and family”.
- Non-Fiction: Unreconciled by Jesse Wente. “A powerful part-memoir, part-manifesto which uncovers the truth of our flawed concept of reconciliation”.
- Genre Fiction (Romance): New Girl in Little Cove by Damhnait Monaghan. “A delightful small-town, slow-burn romance”.
Three prominent authors are chosen each year to select the winning titles.
The 2023 judges are:
- Literary Fiction: CS Richardson
- Non-Fiction: Emily Urquhart
- Genre Fiction (Speculative): Robert J Wiersema
Submit your book before the deadline: 6th March 2023!
The 3 winning authors will be announced in June 2023. The winners receive a cash prize of 10,000 CAD however, that’s not all. They also receive valuable marketing and communications support for the rest of 2023.
All books submitted must be available at kobo.com.
Read all the Rules, Regulations, Terms & Conditions before entering.
Spread the word, and good luck!