From 2010: email communication between the CBC Canada Writes Prize and me.
August 22, 2010 (me)
Thanks a lot CBC Canada Writes Prize. A $20 entry fee? I’m a writer earning a small disability income. $20 is a week’s worth of groceries for me, and I cannot afford to spend it on anything else. Are the CBC Canada Writes Prizes yet another part of Canadian life that the poor are not welcome to participate in?
August 24, 2010 (CBC Literary Awards Team)
Thanks for your email. We do understand the situation you are in, but unfortunately we cannot waive the submission fee for some participants and not others. The competition is 100% not-for-profit with all fees covering part of the administrative costs, including salaries for readers and jury members for both the French and English entries. Without the fee, the Awards would simply not exist. I’m sorry. I wish we could help further. All the best to you and your writing! – The Awards Team
August 24, 2010 (me)
In fact, the CBC Canada Writes Prizes do not exist if one is too poor to enter.
They never got back to me.
(The entry fee is now $25)
lost ironies 