Program Newsletter

Current and Upcoming Program News

Acknowledgements of Support

We gratefully acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts for their support of this year’s professional development programming, including monthly workshops, our two main festivals - WordSpring and WordsFall - and the newest addition to our PD portfolio the WordCraft podcast for writers, by writers.

WordCraft Wednesdays are Starting Soon!

Our first professional development podcast is ready to launch! Every Wednesday, a new episode will go live on every major podcast platform, and transcripts will be available with show notes here, on the WFNB blog. 

We’ll send a link to each episode on Wednesdays, starting July 24th until the last Wednesday in August. The first episode will feature an interview between our lovely host Jenna Morton and the incomparable Beth Powning. Stay tuned!

New Resources

BIPOC Writers Connect Extended until July 22.

The deadline for BIPOC Writers Connect: Facilitating Mentorship, Creating Community has been extended until July 22, 2024!

BIPOC Writers Connect is a virtual conference for Black, Indigenous, and racialized emerging writers to connect with industry professionals, established authors, and fellow emerging writers — all in one place! Presented by The Writers' Union of Canada (TWUC) and the League of Canadian Poets (LCP).

BIPOC Writers Connect is a free event, with no application fees, but advance application is required. We welcome applications from emerging writers across Canada. Applications are open until July 22, 2024 at 11:59 pm PDT. This year's conference takes place on October 17, 2024 on Zoom.

BIPOC Writers Connect is a free event, but advance application is required. Applications are open until July 22, 2024 at 11:59 pm PDT. Successful applicants will be notified by September 2024.

For more information: writersunion.ca/bipoc-writers-connect.

Upcoming Contests, Submissions, and Grants

The Fiddlehead’s 2024 Fiction Contest is Now Open for Submissions.

The Fiddlehead invites authors, emerging and established, to send us their best piece of writing by September 2, 2024, to be considered by acclaimed author and judge Zilla Jones. Don't miss your chance to win $2000 and be published in our winter 2025 issue! 

See the full guidelines at https://thefiddlehead.ca/contest

Tidewater Press is inviting submissions for a New Short Story Anthology.

Inspired by the Trans Canada Trail, the collection will feature one story from each of the provinces and territories. Not a travelogue, we are looking for original, creative tales, in any genre or style, with the linking theme of place: waterways, trails, roads and communities along the Trans Canada Trail. All authors will receive a standard contributor’s fee for first publication rights only. Deadline for submissions is September 30, 2024. Stories (2,000—8,000 words) to  may be sent via the Tidewater Press website, or to info@tidewaterpress.ca

ArtsLink NB is launching an exciting new project!

ArtsLink NB is launching an exciting new project – Root Words: In Search of NB Arts Writing, which is an anthology of writing about the arts in New Brunswick to be published in 2025. This call for pitches is an opportunity for writers at absolutely all career stages and levels of experience. Please read more about the project in the attached document, share widely in your networks, and with anyone you feel would be a good fit to contribute. Read the submission guidelines here: https://artslinknb.com/blog/2024/07/08/root-words-call-for-pitches/

Tenth Mennonite’s Writing Conference Invites Proposals.

Organizers of the tenth Mennonite’s Writing conference invite proposals for critical and creative presentations on any aspect of Mennonite literature, including the 2024 conference theme of "Words at Work and Play."

In keeping with the field's long-standing practice of working across creative and critical boundaries, we invite proposals for scholarly presentations as well as creative and genre-bending work from across and beyond the academy, including: work in any literary genre or medium; audio and visual arts; theatre and film; historical writing; social critique; theological reflection; religious studies; anthropology; community-engaged research; race, ethnicity, and gender studies; ecocriticism; reconciliation and Indigeneity; postcolonial writing; autotheory; ethics; digital humanities; comedy; publishing, printing, & editing; podcasting; translation; and even literary criticism. We especially encourage submissions that will broaden and enrich the field's historical, geographical, methodological, and disciplinary range.

Please send proposals as 250-word abstracts (with short contributor biographies) to mennowritingx@cmu.ca by November 1, 2024. More details will be available soon at the conference webpage: www.cmu.ca/programs/english/mennonites-writing

Community Events

July 21, 2024

Cathy J. Hopkins will be giving a public reading at the Partridge Island Publishing Bookstore.

Area 506 Container Village
85 Water Street
Saint John, NB

Saturday, July 27th

The Greater Moncton, Riverview, and Dieppe Book Fair will take place at the Riverview Lions Community Centre.

701 Coverdale Road
Riverview, NB

Free admission! A portion of all proceeds will go to support Read NB.

For more information, go to www.gmrdbookfair.ca 

July 28, 2024

Join Vanessa C. Hawkins - author of A Child to Cry Over, Baloon Riot & Bunker Blitz, and The Curious Case of Simon Todd - at the Partridge Island Publishing Bookstore.

Area 506 Container VIllage
85 Water Street
Saint John, NB

July 31, 2024

Join Sheila McPhee at the Partridge Island Publishing Bookstore.

Area 506 Container VIllage
85 Water Street
Saint John, NB

August 2, 2024

Join Cathy J. Hopkins, Suzanne Casey, Anne Smith-Nochasack, and Danielle Metcalfe-Chanail at the Partridge Island Publishing Bookstore.

Area 506 Container VIllage
85 Water Street
Saint John, NB

August 4, 2024

Join Danielle Metcalfe-Chanail and Cathy J. Hopkins at the Partridge Island Publishing Bookstore.

Area 506 Container VIllage
85 Water Street
Saint John, NB

Submit to Inkspot

If you have news for writers in NB, share it here!

Email us at info@wfnb.ca with the words, “Inkspot Submission” in the subject line. Tell us about the resource, event, or news you’d like us to share as well as a link for more information and any image, logo, or graphic we should attach to your entry. 

That’s all for now! See you next month in Quispamsis.

Kris