Dhahan Indigenous Youth Award

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Note: the 2025 Dhahan Youth Award is now open to youth Indigenous story tellers within the Surrey School District. Two prizes of $300 will be awarded to the selected Indigenous authors for their stories. Two additional prizes of $200 will be offered to the Punjabi student who translates the work from English into Punjabi. Stories will be published in the Lofty Heights anthology.

Learn about the Punjabi award here.

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Eligibility guidelines (Indigenous stories):

The following are the eligibility requirements for Dhahan Indigenous Youth Award participants:

• Participant must be an Indigenous student currently enrolled in grade 11 or 12 at a high school in the Surrey School District (in British Columbia).
• Participant must attest that the work they submit is their own original creation.
• Participant must have a teacher sponsor who will confirm their application and verify the work submitted.

The following are the eligibility requirements for Dhahan Indigenous Youth Award creative writing work submitted:

• Work must be originally written in English.
• Work must be a short story of 800-1200 words in English.
• Work must be translated into Punjabi by a participating Punjabi student whom the Indigenous author will collaborate with.
• Participant must fill out an online application (see below).
• Student must complete all items on the submission checklist, viewable here.
• English and Punjabi copies must be submitted in PDF and Google docs format to youth@dhahanprize.com with the subject line formatted as: “DHAHAN INDIGENOUS YOUTH AWARD SUBMISSION – [Full Name] – [Story Title (English)]”.

Dhahan Youth Award Submission Form (Indigenous stories)

Submissions are closed for the 2025 Dhahan Indigenous Youth Award. Be sure to check back for 2026 submission eligibility!