Victoria charity launches national youth contest to fight book bans<\/p>\n
Published 2:00 pm Tuesday, March 3, 2026<\/p>\n
A sharp rise in book challenges across Canada has prompted a Victoria-based charity to hand the keyboard to young readers themselves.<\/p>\n
Story Studio partnered with Canadian Authors and Illustrators Against Book Bans (CAIABB) to launch Words Without Walls, a national writing contest inviting youth aged 12 to 18 to reflect on intellectual freedom and the right to read.<\/p>\n
The contest comes amid what organizers describe as a dramatic increase in challenges to books in school libraries.<\/p>\n
Victoria-based author Robin Stevenson, a member of CAIABB, said the numbers have climbed quickly over the past two years.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn 2024, there were only 13 challenges to books in school libraries in Canada. In 2025, there was 224,\u201d Stevenson told Victoria News. \u201cThere\u2019s been a very, very sharp escalation on this side of the border.\u201d<\/p>\n
Stevenson, an award-winning author of 36 books for children and teens, said teenagers are the group most directly affected.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe majority of the books that are being pulled from the shelves are being pulled from the shelves of high school libraries,\u201d she said. \u201cSo teenagers are the group that is most affected, and I think it\u2019s really important that their voices be heard in response to what\u2019s happening.\u201d<\/p>\n
Organizers say entries have already come in from B.C. to P.E.I., with more than 100 submissions expected based on previous national contests.<\/p>\n
For Stevenson, the issue is personal.<\/p>\n
She said at least 10 of her books have been \u2018challenged\u2019 over the past decade, many of which were flagged due to LGBTQ+ references.<\/p>\n
One high-profile case involving her book, Pride Puppy, reached the U.S. Supreme Court.<\/p>\n
She said teens she has spoken with are thoughtful and articulate about how book challenges affect them.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey were very passionate about the importance of being able to read freely,\u201d Stevenson said.<\/p>\n
Story Studio executive director Sean Rodman said the partnership allows the charity to expand its mission nationally at a time when debates around reading rights are intensifying.<\/p>\n
\u201cStory Studio has always been about empowering youth to find their voice,\u201d Rodman said. \u201cPartnering with CAIABB allows us to take that mission national at a time when protecting the right to read and write has never been more critical.\u201d<\/p>\n
Stevenson says the goal is simple: make space for young voices.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s really important that young people know that their voices matter,\u201d she said. \u201cThe more we can do to find ways for people to express themselves and have their voices be heard, the better.\u201d<\/p>\n
Words Without Walls invites submissions in prose or poetry, up to 1,500 words. Prompts are available online, and the deadline has been extended to March 13. The contest is free to enter and open to youth across Canada.<\/p>\n
Finalists will have their work published in an anthology curated by Story Studio and judged by a panel of professional writers and members of the national anti-book ban organization.<\/p>\n
A writer\u2019s kit will be awarded to the first-place winner.<\/p>\n
To enter the contest, you can visit www.storystudio.ca\/write\/.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Victoria charity launches national youth contest to fight book bans Published 2:00 pm Tuesday, March 3, 2026 A…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":512537,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194299],"tags":[49,48,87674],"class_list":{"0":"post-512536","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-surrey","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-surrey"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/512536","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=512536"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/512536\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/512537"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=512536"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=512536"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=512536"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}