The Awards
The annual submission deadline for all Nova Scotia Book Awards is November 1.
Click the relevant partner logo for each award’s eligibility criteria and submission requirements.
Fiction
Dartmouth Book Award (Fiction)
Awarded each year for an outstanding fiction book that was written by a Nova Scotia author and published in the preceding year.
Margaret & John Savage First Book Award (Fiction)
Awarded each year for an outstanding debut book of fiction that was written by a Nova Scotia author and published in the preceding year and that has contributed to the understanding of Nova Scotia and its peoples.
Nonfiction
Evelyn Richardson Non-Fiction Award
Awarded each year for a book of creative non-fiction that was written by a Nova Scotia author and published in the preceding year prior.
George Borden Writing for Change Award (Nonfiction)
Awarded each year for an outstanding non-fiction book that was written by a Nova Scotia author and published in the preceding year and that inspires others, challenges the status quo, and celebrates and shares the stories of Indigenous peoples, persons with a disability, racially visible persons, or 2SLGBTQ+ persons.
Margaret & John Savage First Book Award (Non-Fiction)
Awarded each year for an outstanding debut book of non-fiction that was written by a Nova Scotia author and published in the preceding year and that has contributed to the understanding of Nova Scotia and its peoples.
Poetry
Maxine Tynes Nova Scotia Poetry Award
Awarded every two years for a book of poetry that was written by a Nova Scotia author and published in the two preceding years.