Hello, members and friends.
I revel in this warm and sunny July, and love the sights, sounds and smells of summer – my cherry tree, for example, which has more cherries on it than I expected this year, maybe enough for a pie.
A pair of hummingbirds flit around my fragrant honeysuckle in the evening. I love to hear the steady low thrum of their wings.
The arctic kiwi, which I planted on an archway in my backyard three years ago, is finally bearing edible fruit for the first time. How delightful!
…And a single potato plant has popped up in the garden bed. I bet that’ll give us half a meal this fall! Woo-hoo!
You all know that I hate to see the end of summer, but there are other great things to look forward to when fall comes, including our invitation to writer and book editor Brian Henry (http://quick-brown-fox-canada.blogspot.com/). He will conduct a full weekend workshop on children’s writing, writing query letters, and memoir, on September 27-28. Brian has been invited to New Brunswick by the WFNB before, as well as the Moncton Chapter of the Professional Writers Association of Canada.
WFNB member and award-winning writer, Odette Barr, along with her partner YoAnne have kindly offered their outstanding coastal home (see photo left) near Cap Pelé to serve as the venue for this event. Twenty participants will be able to ask Brian questions and receive public critiques as well as timely information about the publishing industry.
About Brian:
Brian Henry has been a book editor, writer, and creative writing instructor for more than 25 years. He teaches creative writing at Toronto Metropolitan University. He also leads weekly creative writing courses in Burlington, Mississauga, Oakville and Georgetown and conducts Saturday workshops throughout Ontario. His proudest boast is that he has helped many of his students get published.
The event page is ready so read all the details here.
Welcome New Members
Erin Brandt Filliter lives in Fredericton and is a 2025 first prize winner of the Douglas Kyle Memorial Prize for short fiction. Welcome, Erin!
Jeremy Gilmer (jeremythomasgilmer.com) is a former WFNB board director, who currently lives in Saint John and celebrates the recent publication of his nonfiction story collection, This Rare Earth. Welcome back, Jeremy!
Michael Lawton writes memoir, nonfiction and poetry from his home in Quispamsis. Welcome, Michael!
Ian Ross (ianrobertross.com) is a fantasy and sci-fi writer living in Ottawa, but is originally from Miramichi, NB. With a background in newspaper and magazine publishing, Ian now focuses on the genres of editing, fantasy, fiction, science writing, speculative fiction, and short story. Welcome, Ian!
MEMBER NEWS
Heather Browne’s short story “Black Snow Blade” merited publication in this summer’s issue of Grain the journal of eclectic writing. Vol.52.4
Heather pitched a creative and performative synopsis of her novel to four publishers at WFNB’s June AGM in Fredericton, NB. Marion Fairwater, a major character, aproned-up and had much to say about the author’s writing habits, herself and her brother Charlie.
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Sara Moginot is delighted to announce the release of her picture storybook, Are You My Puppy? Purchase here: https://lazy-bear-publishing.square.site/product/are-you-my-puppy-/FTCZXB5KQDRLYQDF6426BOST?cs=true&cst=custom
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For those of you who plan to submit a manuscript to the 2026 NB Writing Competition, you may be interested in listening to the experiences of Erin Brand Filliter, who was recently interviewed for a local podcast in regards to her first place win in the 2025 Douglas Kyle Memorial Prize for Short Fiction. Listen on Spotify here: https://open.spotify.com/episode/3v6rnZPLRD4hOHZYCRezdL?si=62111b6739f34060
And here is the Apple link: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/erin-brandt-filliter/id1820011897?i=1000715863968
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Jeremy Gilmer is pleased to announce the release of This Rare Earth, a graphic account of twenty-five years of working for some of the largest mining and engineering companies in the world. Find it here: https://vehiculepress.com/shop/this-rare-earth-building-the-dams-mines-and-megaprojects-that-run-our-world-by-jeremy-thomas-gilmer/
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A rainy day activity:
Here is a crossword using the names of our 2024 NB Book Award winners, just celebrated on May 31. Answers in a separate post in this Inkspot page.
That’s it for me. May the rest of July be inspirational for your writing.
WordWorthy:
“Write as specifically as you can. It doesn’t necessarily have to be something that happened to you (and God bless all the people who can write things like science fiction, because I can’t). I am good at observing from my own life, and then writing that very specifically, and hopefully finding humour in it. I don’t know why – but, I say this all the time – that specificity is the key to being universal. We all deal in specifics, so even though your specific isn’t mine, I will relate to a story you tell about a quirky thing or something you love cause I have something I feel that way about, too. So that feeling is what we relate to.”
Phil Rosenthal, Showrunner, writer/producer of Everybody Loves Raymond and Somebody Feed Phil
in conversation with CBC’s Tom Power, July 2025
MESSAGE FROM THE NEW PRESIDENT
Vision. From an author who writes fantasy and science fiction, you may expect to read something imaginative and wholly unrealistic. I do hope the goals I’m about to outline resonate with you within the realm of the possible, excite you, and call you to action in achieving them.
On our WFNB website, you’ve been introduced to the new Board of Directors and its Executive, including me as your President. This is a role I am honoured to serve on your behalf.
Creating Community Through Words remains our motto. My vision sees that community growing, by sending a clear message that we are a diverse and inclusive community, welcoming accomplished and aspiring authors, poets, playwrights, screen and song writers, traditionally published and self-published alike. We embrace editors, publishers, and others who support the literary arts.
Merely growing our membership isn’t enough. We need to improve our financial health so we can provide more to you, the membership. Workshops, awards, and an influential lobby group to promote the literary arts provincially, all require funding. I hope to encourage WFNB Patrons to bolster our accounts through their generous support.
Advocacy for the literary arts also needs a wider audience, and another goal is to create closer ties with our fellow associations in Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island in the short term, with the hope to add Newfoundland and Labrador later. A more powerful lobby regionally will in turn help each province individually. We stand stronger when we stand united.
I look forward to working with our new and returning Board of Directors, and welcome all of you to contact me at The Writers' Federation of New Brunswick - Email member
Don Bourque
ASSOCIATIONS
If you are a writer of romance or women’s fiction, The Canadian Romance Writers wants you! Check out their website here: https://preview.mailerlite.io/preview/1464404/sites/154689552282289809/KnoSmx
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Volunteer Opportunity with Canadian Children’s Book Centre (CCBC) - New Brunswick Regional Coordinator, Canadian Children's Book Week
The CCBC’s Book Week Coordinators organize the author and illustrator tours in their province/territory by:
- Sharing Book Week information with potential host organizations (schools, libraries, and community groups) encouraging them to apply to host an author, illustrator or storyteller during Book Week
- Working with Carol-Ann Hoyte (CCBC Events and Program Manager) to match hosts with an author and illustrator based on their list of preferences
- Coordinating itineraries for book creators touring in New Brunswick
- Assisting with booking of accommodation and travel arrangements (as needed)
- Acting as a liaison between touring book creators and host schools and libraries
- Actively promoting Book Week and those book creators touring your region to provincial, regional and local media (if possible)
- Collecting statistics regarding the number of Book Week participants from host schools and libraries and sharing them with Carol-Ann Hoyte for reporting purposes.
- Encouraging host schools and libraries to participate in post-Book Week survey to help gauge the impact of the tour.
As compensation for and recognition of their work, the New Brunswick Regional Book Week coordinator will receive a free one-year membership to the Canadian Children’s Book Centre which includes access to our publications, Canadian Children’s Book News and Best Books for Kids and Teens.
If you would like to be considered for this position, please contact Carol-Ann Hoyte, Events and Program Manager, Canadian Children’s Book Centre, by email at carol-ann@bookcentre.ca or by phone at 416-975-0010 extension 2 by no later than 5 pm Eastern Time on September 30th, 2025.
UPCOMING EVENTS
Reading and exhibition by poet Kathryn Mockler and artist David Poolman
13 Cedars presents Everyone’s a Blob, an exhibition by Kathryn Mockler and David Poolman, opening Saturday, July 19 from 1 to 4 p.m., with a reading by Kathryn Mockler at 2 p.m.
13 Cedars, is a new independent gallery located rurally in Rowley, New Brunswick, between the city of Saint John and the oceanside village of St. Martins. The space is housed in a small barn, refurbished between 2023-2025.
Kathryn Mockler is the author of the story collection Anecdotes (Book*hug Press, 2023). She co-edited the print anthology Watch Your Head: Writers and Artists Respond to the Climate Crisis (Coach House Books, 2020) and runs the literary newsletter Send My Love to Anyone.
David Poolman is an artist working in drawing, print, sound, and video. Since 2015 Poolman has worked with artist Jeremy Drummond as Never Met a Stranger, a publisher of vernacular arts and culture that collectively explore landscape and culture throughout central Appalachia and the rural North American south.
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Project Bookmark Canada launches a bookmark in Miramichi for David Adams Richards
New Brunswick will soon join the Canadian Literary Trail with plaques honouring Senator David Adams Richards, the province’s pre-eminent writer and one who has inspired generations of New Brunswick writers. New Brunswick’s first Bookmarks in both English and French present a passage from Richards’ novel The Friends of Meager Fortune, and will be installed in the City of Miramichi.
All are welcome on July 18, 2025 at 1 pm, to attend the plaque unveiling and readings at a new park, off Newcastle Boulevard at the old Harkins Middle School property in the City of Miramichi, New Brunswick. https://www.projectbookmarkcanada.ca/news/
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Planting Seeds: A Free Playwriting Workshop with NotaBle Acts Playwright/Dramaturge in Residence, Beth Graham
Sunday, July 13, 6:30-8:00 PM, Carleton Hall, UNB, Room 304 To register: email bethgraham@shaw.ca
There are many ways to create a new play. Some plays begin with a main character, others spring from a setting, still others are inspired by a central idea or an image. In this workshop, we will explore a myriad of different approaches to new play creation with an emphasis on intuition rather than logic. Bring a pen and paper and be prepared to engage in discussion and perform writing exercises.
About Beth:
Beth Graham is an actor, playwright, and dramaturg. She has been a finalist for the Governor Generals’ Award in Drama and is a two-time recipient of the Gwen Pharis Ringwood Literary Award. From 2020-23 she was the Lee playwright in residence at the University of Alberta, as well as the dramaturg in residence with Workshop West Playwrights Theatre. Her plays and collaborations include Mermaid Legs, The Gravitational Pull of Bernice Trimble, Weasel, and The Drowning Girls (co-creator). Recently, Beth was the dramaturg of The Doorstep Plays with Theatre Yes, a play that toured to the backyards of Edmonton. This fall, Beth will be the writer in residence at Grant MacEwan University and her play, Mermaid Legs, will be published by Playwrights Canada Press.
COMPETITIONS
The Fiddlehead's 2025 Fiction Contest is currently open for submissions! The best story will receive the $2000 prize and be published in Issue 306 of The Fiddlehead. This year's contest is being judged by award-winning writer Anuja Varghese! You can find all our guidelines for submission here. Deadline to submit: September 1.
CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS
Milk Bag Magazine.
Submissions are now open for our Fall 2025 issue: "Paintings for Mice &
Coffee for the Burglar", an exploration of unwelcome guests, lingering memories and what it means to make space for what you once tried to shut out.
We publish short fiction, poetry, visual art and reviews quarterly and would be grateful if you could share this call with your members.
The key details:
- Deadline for submissions: August 1, 2025
- Submission guidelines: here is the link to our submission portal
- Compensation: We operate on a profit-share model, so all contributors receive a share of the profits from the magazine
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Open Call for Novella-length Fiction and Nonfiction
Since January of 2019, Sunspot Lit has accepted long-form fiction, nonfiction and graphic novel manuscripts as well as epic poetry. Submit single works of fiction or nonfiction from 29,001 to 49,000 words, graphic novels should between 51 and 120 pages, or a single poem between 86 and 105 single-spaced pages between July 1 and July 31 here: https://sunspotlit.submittable.com/submit.
