Canadian Writers' Contest Calendar 2026
by Deborah Ranchuk
Index
A | B |
C | D |
E | F |
G | H |
I | J | K |
L | M
N | O | P | Q | R |
S | T |
U | V |
W | X | Y | Z
Back to main page for the 2026 Canadian Writers' Contest Calendar
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N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z
3-Day Novel Contest 45, 50
50/50 Blank Spaces Fiction Anthology Contest 52
A
A. M. Klein Prize 37
Aboriginal Peoples' Publishing (SK) 59
Accenti Magazine 15
Accenti Writing Contest 15
Acrostic Story Contest 12
Albert B. Corey Prize 68
Alberta Book Awards 24
Alberta Literary Awards 64City of Calgary W.O. Mitchell Book Prize 64
Georges Bugnet Award for Fiction 64
Golden Pen Award 64
Gwen Pharis Ringwood Award for Drama 64
Howard O'Hagan Award for Short Story 64
Hubert Evans Non-Fiction Prize 64
James H. Gray Award for Short Nonfiction 64
Jon Whyte Memorial Essay Prize 64
Memoir Award 64
R. Ross Annett Award for Children's Literature 64
Robert Kroetsch City of Edmonton Book Prize 64
Short Story Collection Award 64
Stephan G. Stephansson Award for Poetry 64
Wilfrid Eggleston Award for Non-Fiction 64
Alberta Playwrights' Network 22
Alberta Playwriting Competition 22
Novitiate Prize 22
Sharon Pollock Award 22
Alberta Views Short Story Contest 43
Alden Nowlan Award for Excellence in English Language 40
Alfred G. Bailey Prize for Poetry (NB) 24
Anvil Press 45, 50
3-Day Novel Contest 45, 50
Arc Poetry Magazine 51
Diane Brebner Prize 51
Poem of the Year Contest 14
Archibald Lampman Award for Poetry 24
Arlene Barlin Award for Science Fiction and Fantasy 7
Arts and Letters Awards Office (NF & Labrador) 62, 63
Junior Division Poetry, Prose 62
Senior Division Poetry, Prose, Dramatic Script 62
artsnb (Arts New Brunswick) 40
Alden Nowlan Award for Excellence in English Language Literary Arts 40
Lieutenant-Governor’s Awards for High Achievement 40
Pascal Poirier Award for Excellence in French Lang 40
Askew's Word on the Lake Writing Contest 14
Atlantic Journalism Awards 26
Atlantic Writing Competition (see Nova Writes) 9
Austin Clarke Prize in Literary Excellence 55
Award For Publishing [SK] 59
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B
BC & Yukon Book Prizes 64, 65
Bill Duthie Booksellers’ Choice Award 65
Christie Harris Illustrated Children’s Literature 65
Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize 64
Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize 64
Hubert Evans Non-Fiction Prize 64
Jim Deva Prize for Writing That Provokes 65
Roderick Haig-Brown Regional Prize 65
Sheila A. Egoff Children’s Prize 65
Betty Drevniok Award 14
Bill Duthie Booksellers’ Choice Award 65
Blank Spaces Magazine 6, 52
Blank Spaces Flash Fiction Contest 6
50/50 Blank Spaces Fiction Anthology Contest 52
Book of the Year (SK) 59
Book Publishers Association of Alberta 23, 24 (see Alberta Book Awards)
bpNichol Chapbook Award 36
Brenda Strathern Writing Prize 45
Briarpatch Magazine 65
Writing in the Margins 65
Brucedale Press 12
Acrostic Story Contest 12
Budge Wilson Short Story Prize: 9
Bumblebee Flash Fiction Contest 17
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C
Calgary Foundation 45
Brenda Strathern Writing Prize 45
Canada Council for the Arts 16, 17, 34, 39, 44, 57
Governor General's Literary Awards 16, 34, 44
Canadian Book Club Awards 46
Canadian Children’s Book Centre Book Awards 7
Amy Mathers Teen Book Award 7
Arlene Barlin Award for Science Fiction and Fantasy 7
David Booth Children's and Youth Poetry Award 7
Geoffrey Bilson Award for Historical Fiction for Y 7
Jean Little First-Novel Award 7
Geoffrey Bilson Award for Historical Fiction for Young People 7
Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award 7
Richard Allen Chase Memorial Award 7
Sharon Fitzhenry Award for Canadian Children's Non-fiction 7
Canadian Committee on Labour History 6
Canadian Community Newspaper Association 28
Canadian Historical Association 6, 9, 68
Clio Prizes Certificate 68
Eugene A. Forsey Prize 6
Eugene A. Forsey Prizes in Canadian Labour and Working Class History 68
François-Xavier Garneau Medal 68
Hilda Neatby Prize in Women's History 9, 68
Indigenous History Best Book Prize 68
John Bullen Prize 68
Prix Hilda Neatby en histoire des femmes 9
Sir John A. Macdonald Prize 68
Wallace K. Ferguson Prize 68
Canadian Playwriting Competition 69
Canadian Political Science Association 41, 66, 67
Jill Vickers Prize 41
Donald Smiley Prize 66
Canadian Society of Children’s Authors, Illustrators and Performers (CANSCAIP) 37, 38
Writing for Children Competition 36, 37carte blanche Contest 18
CBC Literary Prizes 20, 39, 57
CBC Creative Non-fiction Prize 20
CBC Poetry Prize 39
CBC Short Story Prize 57
Children’s Literature Award (SK) 59
Christie Harris Illustrated Children’s Literature 65
City of Calgary W.O. Mitchell Book Prize 64
City of Regina Award (SK) 59
City of Regina Writing Award 10
City of Saskatoon Award (SK) 59
City of Vancouver Book Award 21
Clio Prizes Certificate 68
Cole Foundation Prize for Translation 37
Collins Writing Contest 18
Concordia University 48
Concordia University First Book Prize 37
Constance Cooke Creative Nonfiction Prize 47
Contemporary Verse 2 [CV2] 27, 60
Annual 2-Day Poem Contest 27
Foster Poetry Prize 60
Creative Nonfiction Collective Society 18
carte blanche Contest 18
Creative Works SSAC Writing Contest 56
Creative Works SSAC Youth Writing Contest 61
Crime Writers of Canada Awards 55, 56, 67
Best Crime Novel Set in Canada 67
Best Crime Short Story 67
Best French Crime Book 67
Best Juvenile or YA Crime Book 67
Best Nonfiction Crime Book 67
Best Traditional Mystery Prize 67
Best Unpublished Crime Manuscript 55
Best Unpublished First Crime Novel 67
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D
Danuta Gleed Award 12
Dave Greber Freelance Writers Awards 42
Dave Williamson National Short Story Competition 16
David Adams Richards Prize (NB) 24
David Booth Children's and Youth Poetry Award 7
Dawn Watson Memorial Prize (NB) 24
Dayne Ogilvie Prize for LGBTQ2S+ Emerging Writers 41
Diana Brebner Prize 51
Digital Publishing Awards 10, 11
Do Wha(TS) Write 69
Donald Smiley Prize 66
Donner Book Prize 63
Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize 64
Douglas College 54
Douglas Kyle Memorial Prize (NB) 24
Dreamers Magazine 12, 24, 36, 52
Dreamers Flash Fiction and Nonfiction Contest 52
Dreamers Haiku Contest 36
Dreamers Micro Nonfiction Story Contest 24
Dreamers Stories of Migration, Sense of Place and Home 12
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E
ECW Press 56
Eden Mills Poetry Contest (Children & Teens) 43
Eden Mills Writers' Festival Teen Poetry Contest 43
Editors Canada 11
Tom Fairley Award 11
Prix d'excellence Tom Fairley 11
Edna Staebler Award for Creative Non-Fiction 8
Edna Staebler Personal Essay Contest 23
Ekphrastic Writing Literary Contest 13
Ellen S. Jaffe Humanist Award for Poetry 22
Entitled Titles Poetry Competition 13
Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize 64
Eugene A. Forsey Prize 6
Eugene A. Forsey Prizes in Canadian Labour and Working Class History 68
Evelyn Richardson Non-Fiction Prize 58
Event Non-Fiction Contest 54
Ex_Puritan Magazine 55
Austin Clarke Prize in Literary Excellence 55
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F
Far Horizons Award for Poetry 32
Fiction Award (SK) 59
Fiddlehead [magazine] 39, 66
Fiddlehead Contests -Creative Non-Fiction 39
Fiddlehead Contests -Poetry 66
First Book Award (SK) 59
Fog Lit Books for Young People Prize (NB) 24
Foster Poetry Prize 60
François-Xavier Garneau Medal 68
Fred Cogswell Award For Excellence In Poetry 53
Freefall Magazine 30
FreeFall Magazine Fiction and Poetry Contests 29
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G
Geist Magazine 28
Geist Literal Literary Postcard Story Contest 28
Geoffrey Bilson Award for Historical Fiction for Young People 7
Georges Bugnet Award for Fiction 64
Giller Prize 48, 49
Gelber Prize see Lionel Gelber Prize 66
Golden Pen Award 64
Government of Newfoundland & Labrador Arts and Letters 62
Governor General's Literary Awards 16, 34, 44
Grain Magazine 26
Grain Magazine Short Grain Writing Contests 26
Grande Prairie Public Library 18
Collins Writing Contest 18
Great Big Northern Ontario Story Contest 17
Griffin Poetry Prize 41, 68
Griffin Trust for Excellence in Poetry 41, 68
gritLIT: Hamiliton's Literary Competition 8
Grouse Grind Prize for Very Short Forms 34
Gwen Pharis Ringwood Award for Drama 64
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H
H.R. (Bill) Percy Short Creative Non-Fiction Prize 9
Haiku Canada 14
Betty Drevniok Award 14
Hamilton Central Library 8
Harvest Owl Battle 53
Harvest Raven Battle 55
Hilda Neatby Prize in Women's History 9, 28
Hon. Edward Goff Penny Memorial Prizes for Young Canadians 28
Howard O'Hagan Award for Short Story 64
Hubert Evans Non-Fiction Prize 64
Hummingbird Flash Fiction 40
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I
Icelandic Festival of Manitoba 40
Icelandic Festival Poetry & Short Story Contest 40
Indigenous History Best Book Prize 68
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J
Jacob Ziller Short Fiction Contest 10
James Bartleman Aboriginal Youth Creative Writing 36
James H. Gray Award for Short Nonfiction 64
Jane LeBlanc Screenwriting Award (NB) 25
Janet Savage Blachford Prize for Children's and Youth 37
Jean Little First-Novel Award 7
Jessamy Stursberg Poetry Contest for Canadian Youth 30
Jill Vickers Prize 41
Jim Deva Prize for Writing That Provokes 65
John Bullen Prize 68
John Glassco Translation Prize 48
John V Hicks Long Manuscript Award 42
Jon Whyte Memorial Essay Prize 64
Joyce Barkhouse Middle-Grade & Young Adult Fiction 9
Judy Mappin Community Award 37
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K
K. Valerie Connor Poetry Competition 35
Kingfisher Poetry Prize 49
Kobzar Emerging Writers 67
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L
League of Canadian Poets 30
Jessamy Stursberg Poetry Contest for Canadian Youth 30
Lieutenant-Governor’s Awards for High Achievement 40
Lionel Gelber Prize 56
Literary Translators' Association of Canada 48
Glassco Prize Committee 48
Lush Triumphant Literary Awards 34, 35
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M
Malahat lite 47
Malahat Review, The 47
Constance Cooke Creative Nonfiction Prize 47
Malahat Review Far Horizons Award for Poetry 32, 33
Malahat Review Novella Prize 15
Malahat Review Open Season Awards 61
Manitoba Writers' Guild 16
Dave Williamson National Short Story Competition 16
Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award 7
Massey College 21
Mavis Gallant Prize for Non-Fiction 37
Maxine Tynes Nova Scotia Poetry Award 58
McGill University 32
Meet the Presses 36
bpNichol Chapbook Award 36
Memoir Award 64
Montreal International Poetry Prize 32
MoonLit Magazine 47, 53
MoonLit Getaway Poetry Contest 47
MoonLit Poetry Contest 47
MoonLit Short Fiction Contest 53
Munk School for Global Affairs & Public Policy 57
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N
Narrative Non-fiction Prose (NB) 25
National Magazine Awards Foundation 11
National Media Awards Foundation 11
Digital Publishing Awards 10, 11
National Newspaper Awards 8
New Quarterly, The (TNQ) 18, 19, 23, 35, 36
Edna Staebler Personal Essay Contest 23
Nick Blatchford Occasional Verse Contest 18, 19
Peter Hinchcliffe Fiction Award 35, 36
Newfoundland and Labrador Book Awards 62
News Media Canada 28
Hon. Edward Goff Penny Memorial Prizes for Young Canadians 28
Nick Blatchford Occasional Verse Contest 18, 19
Non-Fiction Award (SK) 59
North Shore Writers' Association 22, 23
North Shore Writers’ Association Annual Writing Contest 22
Northern Ontario Travel 17
Northwestern Ontario Writers Workshop Writing Contests (NOWW) 19
NOWW International Writing Contests 19
Nova Writes Competition 9
Budge Wilson Short Story Prize: 9
H.R. (Bill) Percy Short Creative Non-Fiction Prize 9
Joyce Barkhouse Middle-Grade & Young Adult Fiction 9
Rita Joe Poetry Prize 9
Silver Donald Cameron Essay Prize 9
Novitiate Prize 22
NOWW International Writing Contests 19
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O
Okanagan Short Story Contest 16
Ontario Creates 62
Ontario Honours and Awards Secretariat 36
James Bartleman Aboriginal Youth Creative Writing 36
Ontario Poetry Society , The [TOPS] 13, 30, 46, 47, 51, 57
Ellen S. Jaffe Humanist Award for Poetry 22
Entitled Titles Poetry Competition 13
Pentados Series Poetry Contest 30
Ultra Short Poetry Competition 46
Ted Plantos Memorial Award 51
Surrealistic Poetry Competition 57
Orillia, City of 35
K. Valerie Connor Poetry Competition 35
Ottawa, City of 6
Ottawa Book Award 6
Prix du livre d'Ottawa 6
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P
Paragraphe Hugh MacLennan Prize Fiction 37
Pascal Poirier Award for Excellence in French Lang 40
PEN Canada 33
RBC PEN New Voices Award 33
Pentados Series Poetry Contest 30
Peter Hinchcliffe Fiction Award 35, 36
Poem of the Year Contest 14
Poems From The Crowd 70
Poetry Award (SK) 59
Polar Expressions Publishing 46
Polar Expressions National Poetry & Short Story Contests 46
Portal Magazine 54
Portent Contest 54
Prairie Fire Press Inc. 63
McNally Robinson Booksellers Poetry Award, Short Fiction and Creative Non-Fiction 63
PRISM International 10, 34
Grouse Grind Prize for Very Short Forms 34
Jacob Ziller Short Fiction Contest 10
Prix d'excellence Tom Fairley 11
Prix du livre d'Ottawa 6
Prix du Livre Français (SK) 59
Prix Hilda Neatby en histoire des femmes 9
Prix Trillium 61
Pulp Literature Press 17, 40, 49, 54
Bumblebee Flash Fiction Contest 17
Hummingbird Flash Fiction 40
Kingfisher Poetry Prize 49
Raven Short Story Contest 54
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Q
Quebec Writers' Federation 37
Janet Savage Blachford Prize for Children's and Youth 37
QWF College Writers Award 37
QWF Prize for Playwriting 37
Judy Mappin Community Award 37
Mavis Gallant Prize for Non-Fiction 37
Paragraphe Hugh MacLennan Prize Fiction 37
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R
R. Ross Annett Award for Children's Literature 64
Raven Short Story Contest 54
RBC Bronwen Wallace Award for Emerging Writers 66
RBC PEN New Voices Award 33
Richard Allen Chase Memorial Award 7
Riddle Fence Publishing Inc. 43
Riddle Fence Fiction, Poetry, & Visual Art Contest 43
Rita Joe Poetry Prize 9
Robert Kroetsch City of Edmonton Book Prize 64
Robyn Herrington Memorial Short Story Contest 26
Roderick Haig-Brown Regional Prize 65
Room Magazine 21, 39, 49,58
Room Magazine Creative Non-Fiction Contest 39
Room Magazine Fiction Contest 21
Room Magazine Poetry Contest 49
Room Magazine Short Forms Contest 58
Royal Canadian Legion 44
Royal Canadian Legion Literary Contests 44
Royal City Literary Arts Society 32, 53
Royal City Literary Society Write On Contest 32
Fred Cogswell Award For Excellence In Poetry 53
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S
SAAG Arts Writing Prize 23
Saskatchewan Book Awards 59, 60
Saskatchewan Writers' Guild 10, 26, 42
Aboriginal Peoples' Publishing (SK) 59
Award For Publishing 59
Book of the Year 59
City of Regina Award 59
City of Saskatoon Award 59
Fiction Book Award 59
First Book Award 59
John V Hicks Long Manuscript Award 42
Non-Fiction Award 59
Poetry Award (SK) 59
Prix du Livre Français 59
Scholarly Writing Award 59
Science Writers & Communicators of Canada 60
Science in Society Awards 60
Scugog Council for the Arts 13
Ekphrastic Writing Literary Contest 13
Sharon Fitzhenry Award for Canadian Children's Non -fiction 7
Sharon Pollock Award 22
Sheila A. Egoff Children’s Prize 65
Sheree Fitch Prize for Teen Writers (NB) 24
Shevchenko Foundation 67
Shevchenko Foundation Emerging Writers Short Prose 67
Short Prose Competition for Developing Writers 17
Short Story Collection Award 64
Shuswap Association of Writers 14
Askew's Word on the Lake Writing Contest 14
Silver Donald Cameron Essay Prize 9
Sir John A. Macdonald Prize 68
SIWC Storyteller’s Award 51
Solstice Owl Battle 45
Solstice Raven Battle 48
South Simcoe Arts Council 56, 61
South Simcoe Arts Council Creative Works 56, 61
Southern Alberta Art Gallery Maansiksikaitsitapiitsinikssin 23
SAAG Arts Writing Prize 23
Stephan G. Stephansson Award for Poetry 64
Stephen Leacock Association 29, 69
Stephen Leacock Association Student Competition 29
Stephen Leacock Memorial Medal for Humour 69
subTerrain Magazine 34, 35
Lush Triumphant Literary Awards 34, 35
Sunburst Award for Canadian Literature of the Fantastic 13
Surrealistic Poetry Competition 57
Surrey International Writers’ Conference Writing A 52
SIWC Storyteller’s Award 51
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T
Ted Plantos Memorial Award 51
Tempest Owl Battle 7
Tempest Raven Battle 15, 16
The Fiddlehead see Fiddlehead [magazine]
The New Quarterly see New Quarterly, The (TNQ)
The Ontario Poetry Society [TOPS] see Ontario Poetry Society, The
Theatre BC 69
Canadian Playwriting Competition 69
Tisdale Writers Group Inc. 25
Tisdale Writers Group Writing Contest 25
Tom Fairley Award 11
Toronto Arts & Culture 29
Toronto Book Awards Committee 29
Toronto Star 20
Toronto Star and Toronto Public Library Short Story Contest 19
Trillium Book Award 61
Two-Day Poem Contest 27
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U
Ultra Short Poetry Competition 46
Unhanged Arthur 55, 67
University of British Columbia 10, 16, 34
University of New Brunswick 39, 66
University of Toronto 57
University of Victoria 15, 33, 47, 61
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V
Vallum [magazine] 31, 70
Vallum Chapbook Contest Award 31
Vallum Poems From The Crowd Series 70
Vancouver Island University 54
Verdant Owl Battle 27
Verdant Raven Battle 33
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W
Wallace K. Ferguson Prize 68
West Coast Book Prize Society 65
Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize 64
Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize 64
Hubert Evans Non-Fiction Prize 64
Roderick Haig-Brown Regional Prize 65
Sheila A. Egoff Children’s Prize 65
Christie Harris Illustrated Children’s Literature 65
Bill Duthie Booksellers’ Choice Award 65
Jim Deva Prize for Writing That Provokes 65
Whistler Independent Book Awards 31
Wilfrid Eggleston Award for Non-Fiction 64
Wilfrid Laurier University 8
Willliam Southam Journalism Fellowships 21
Word On The Lake Writing Contest 14
Writers' Alliance of Newfoundland and Labrador, 62
Writers' Federation of New Brunswick 24, 25
Alfred G. Bailey Prize for Poetry (NB) 24
David Adams Richards Prize (NB) 24
Dawn Watson Memorial Prize (NB) 24
Douglas Kyle Memorial Prize 24
Fog Lit Books for Young People Prize (NB) 24
Jane LeBlanc Screenwriting Award (NB) 25
Narrative Non-fiction Prose (NB) 25
Sheree Fitch Prize for Teen Writers (NB) 24
Writers' Federation of Nova Scotia 9, 58
Budge Wilson Short Story Prize: 9
H.R. (Bill) Percy Short Creative Non-Fiction Prize 9
Joyce Barkhouse Middle-Grade & Young Adult Fiction 9
Maxine Tynes Nova Scotia Poetry Award 58
Rita Joe Poetry Prize 9
Silver Donald Cameron Essay Prize 9
Writers’ Federation of Nova Scotia 58
Evelyn Richardson Non-Fiction Prize 58
Maxine Tynes Nova Scotia Poetry Award 58
Writers Guild of Alberta 64
Writers' Trust of Canada 41, 66
Dayne Ogilvie Prize for LGBTQ2S+ Emerging Writers 41
RBC Bronwen Wallace Award for Emerging Writers 66
Writers' Union of Canada , The [TWUC] 12, 17
Danuta Gleed Award 12
Short Prose Competition for Developing Writers 17
Writing Battle 7, 15, 16, 27, 33, 45, 48, 53, 55
Harvest Owl Battle 53
Harvest Raven Battle 55
Solstice Owl Battle 45
Solstice Raven Battle 48
Tempest Owl Battle 7
Tempest Raven Battle 15, 16
Writing for Children Competition 36, 37
Writing in the Margins 65
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X
no entries
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Y
YABS Young Writers Award 25
Yolk Magazine 35
Yolk Montreal Fiction Prize 35
Young Alberta Book Society 25
Youth Creative Works 61
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Z
no entries