October Inkspot (part 2, continued)

President's Message

Changing leaves, changing tires. Welcome to autumn! If you didn't attend The Writers of the Realm Literary Festival and/or The Serenity Ball, you missed an exceptionally great time. Many thanks to Sakura Blue Studios and all the volunteers who made it great. The next big event is Pages in the Province, to be held at the NB Provincial Exhibition Centre in Fredericton on November 7th, thanks to the hard work of Dog Eared Books. Between these two bookends, Let me take a moment with Thanksgiving this past weekend, to say how very grateful I am for each of you who help achieve our mission of creating community through words. Finally, prepare yourselves for a haunting good time on the 31st.

Best,

Don Bourque, WFNB President, PO Box 23038, Moncton, NB E1A 6S8

Member News

Lynn Davies is inviting everyone to two events in October for her picture book -  Saturday, October 24 - Book launch for “The Graveyard Cat”, a picture book for children 4 - 8, in the Chickadee Room at the Fredericton City Library, 11 am - 1 pm. A story-time and colouring sheets. Cat faces to decorate and cat cookies to eat. Everyone welcome. Thanks Nimbus Publishing!

Saturday, October 31 - A Hallowe’en book signing for “The Graveyard Cat” at Westminster-Bookmark in downtown Fredericton, 11 am.

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Brigitte Marsden is delighted to announce her new book, Karate Kit and the WereCoyote, due to be published next month (October) by Chapel Street Kids, an imprint of Chapel Street Editions. Buckle up for a wild ride as our intrepid hero faces fresh challenges and her biggest mystery yet in this adventure-packed middle grade novel, the first sequel to Kit and the Calico Cat.

Follow Brigitte Marsden, author and artist, on Facebook for more information and events. 

Brigitte has two book launch events scheduled for October 31:

1. KARATE KIT AND THE WERECOYOTE BOOK LAUNCH @ the library 

Saturday October 31, 2026 at the LP Fisher Library, 679 Main Street, Woodstock, NB, E7M 2E1 – 506-325-4777

10:00 am–11:30 am – Activities (ages 7-11, registration required)

11:30 am–12:00 pm – Author signings and book sales

Do you love reading? Getting creative with crafts?? Showing your dramatic side??? Unleash your imagination as author and illustrator Brigitte Marsden launches her brand-new adventure novel, Karate Kit and the WereCoyote, with your help – just in time for Halloween!

2. KARATE KIT AND THE WERECOYOTE BOOK LAUNCH @ the book store

Author readings and book signing

Flourish & Fiction, 617 Main Street Woodstock, NB, E7M 0K9

Meet the author and book signings from 1:30 to 3:00 pm.

Author readings at 2:00 pm and 2:30 pm.

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Andrew MacLean has released the fifth book in his Backyard History series, 'Wartime Stories From The Maritimes,' another collection combining The Maritimes’ classic storytelling tradition with meticulous archival research. The series, which began as a pandemic project, now runs as a weekly column in more than 20 Atlantic Canadian newspapers and has spawned a podcast and a television mini-series; the first book recently reached national bestseller status. MacLean has also just released 'Histoires de Chez Nous: Contes Oubliés du Nouveau-Brunswick,' his first book in French, collecting translated highlights from the series. All his books are available at backyardhistory.ca

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Frederick Mundle is pleased to announce publication of two new books, which will be available at Pages in the Province on November 7: The Restigouche River Review, and The One Star Hotel.

UPCOMING FESTIVALS

Fog Lit is this coming weekend! If you live in the Saint John region, there's plenty of great activities to enjoy. 

Instagram: @foglitfestival

Facebook: facebook.com/FogLit

The Fog Lit Festival returns on October 14, 2026, affirming its position as one of New Brunswick’s notable literary events. This year’s festival features a stellar line-up of visiting authors and publishers from across the province to share their work and experience in Uptown Saint John.

The 2026 programme features four days of literary events and activities. First, visitors can join novelist Nicholas Herring, Giller-shortlisted author of Your Breath in Charcoal, on October 14 at 7pm at the Saint John Arts Centre. This free event is presented in collaboration with the University of New Brunswick’s Lorenzo Society.

The following evening at 7pm at the Arts Centre, Fog Lit presents Poets in Conversation, featuring Nick Thran, author of four collections of poems, including his second collection, Earworm, which won the Trillium Book Award for Poetry; Sue Sinclair, author of seven collections of poetry, including most recently New-Fangled Rose, nominated for the Pamela Paige Porter Poetry Prize; and Michi (Nhung An), a widely published and award-winning poet and local barista.

There will be Fog Lit Literary Trivia, hosted by Neil Bonner on Friday, October 16, at the Write Cup Bookstore Café at 7pm.

On Saturday, October 17, Fog Lit will host a kids’ event at the Saint John Free Public Library’s Central Branch at 2pm with Mike Bravener and his book Lumberjack’s Alphabet. Aspiring writers will want to take note: there will also be a Pitch the Publisher event happening at 4pm that day at the Write Cup Bookstore Café. The programme will conclude with author Michael Rancic bringing his book, A Nation of Tinkerers: A History of Electronic Music in Canada from 1945 to 1985 to the Port City. This is a must-attend for music fans or anyone who loves a good book. This event will be held at Five and Dime at 7pm.

Fog Lit Co-Chair, Lindsay Jacquard, says, “We are so pleased to have brought this festival back at a time when literacy and literature matter more than ever, in New Brunswick and beyond. Now, in the third year since our relaunch, the support of the local community reminds us just how important Fog Lit is for our region.”

Fog Lit Festival is grateful for the support of the Government of New Brunswick, City of Saint John, the Saint John Community Arts Board, as well as the Brunswick Credit Union.

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The Creative Nonfiction Collective (CNFC) is a volunteer-run national non-profit and registered charity promoting creative nonfiction through workshops, webinars, writing contests, and annual festivals. The theme of this year’s festival is “Courage and the Writing Life,” and will be held online from November 4 to November 6.

EVENTS

WRITERS’ OPEN MIC
Sunday, October 18th
3:00 - 4:00 pm
Bill Johnstone Memorial Park Activity Centre
70 Main Street, Sackville, NB

The Writers’ Open Mic is a free, monthly event open to all. Come out and read your poems, short stories, comics, novels, essays, stand-up comedy, etc. Or just come to listen. A projector will be set up for those with comics or other images or videos they want to share. Files can be brought on a USB or emailed in advance. Accessibility concerns and general questions can be directed to laurawatsonartwork@gmail.com.

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The Canadian Children's Book Centre is organizing a webinar called The Business of Writing: Selling Your Books, Selling Yourself, taking place on November 7, 2026 from 12:00 pm - 1:30 pm ET. The webinar is aimed at both aspiring and established authors.

WFNB members can use a discount code to receive 15% off General Admission. The discount code can be found on the members-only page of wfnb.ca

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CANSCAIP’s annual conference, Packaging Your Imagination (PYI)

For anyone interested in writing for children and young adults, this is a can’t miss event. It’s a full day of insights from children’s publishers, agents, authors and illustrators who share their experiences and industry knowledge.

I’m writing to you today to as I believe your members will be interested to know about the conference, especially now that we’ve added an exciting new attendance option. PYI is now available through livestream!  No longer is attendance restricted to attendees in the Toronto area — anyone across the country can attend in real time on their computer. 

And that’s not just for the conference sessions but One-to-One evaluations are also available through livestream. A One-to-One is a 15-minute meeting with a publishing professional in which verbal feedback is provided on 1,000 words of the writer’s picture book, middle grade or young adult manuscript. 

This year’s PYI Schedule includes: 

• An opening and closing keynote,
• Four jam-packed sessions throughout the day,
• Four topics in each session - attendees pick one topic from each session to watch, 
• Recordings of all twelve topics presented and the keynotes at no extra charge!

PYI LIVESTREAM is just $250 for non-members, and One-to-One evaluations are an additional $85.

CANSCAIP has hosted this highly regarded professional development conference for more than 40 years. We invite your members to join us for this inspiring day of craft, business, and networking.

COMPETITIONS

The Manitoba Writers' Guild welcomes submissions from across Canada for the 4th annual Manitoba Writers’ Guild Rabindranath Tagore Poetry Competition, sponsored by Dr. Kamal Malaker. Tagore’s works often celebrated dualities — the finite and the infinite. This year’s theme is Finding Freedom. For this poetry contest, submissions are acccepted in English only. Find information here: https://mbwriters.ca/programs/rabindranath-tagore-poetry-competition/

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The Fiddlehead's 2026 Ralph Gustafson Prize for Best Poem is now open for submissions! The best poem will win $2000 and be published in Issue 311 of The Fiddlehead. The judges this year are Farah Ghafoor, Fawn Parker, and Patricia Young! The deadline for submissions is December 1, 2026. Find out how to submit here: thefiddlehead.ca/poetry-contest 

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Third Annual Toby Award

 The third annual Toby Award is open for submissions from self-published Canadian mystery authors until December 15, 2026. 

The Toby Award, the first of its kind in Canada, recognizes excellence in self-published mystery novels by Canadian mystery authors. This year’s award is open to novels released in trade paperback format in 2026 and is sponsored by Barbara Crook (Ottawa), and ReBound Press (Ashton, Ontario). The award aims to spotlight Canadian authors navigating the evolving publishing landscape.

 The winner will receive the Toby Award statue—a unique metal sculpture of a dog reading a book, created by acclaimed Ontario artist Carol Nasvytis (Soul Metal), with silver eyeglasses designed and crafted by Ladysmith, B.C. silversmith Vonda Croissant and Evan Taylor of Silver Spoons in Perth, Ontario.

Last year’s winner was Ottawa author, C.J. (Chris) Fournier, for his novel, THE PATH-FINDER. He says “Winning the Toby was a huge deal for me. It not only boosted sales, but also my self-confidence. The Toby arrived as a rare moment of validation to let me know I was on the right path. I am deeply grateful to Peggy Blair for her energy and vision in creating the Toby, and to Barbara Crook for her generous financial support.”

Award founder Peggy Blair, an internationally recognized mystery author and owner of ReBound Press, established the Toby Award to celebrate the talent of self-published authors. “The Toby Award recognizes the risk-taking, creativity, and perseverance of Canadian mystery writers who choose to publish outside the traditional system. Our goal is to help readers discover exceptional books that deserve a wider audience and terrific Canadian authors they may not have heard of before.”

For more information on eligibility criteria, please visit https://tobyaward.wordpress.com/

WRITER IN RESIDENCE

The Anne Mitton Memorial Writer in Residence Program honours the life and legacy of Fredericton educator, author, playwright, mentor, and storyteller Anne Mitton (1940–2026). Throughout her distinguished career, Anne inspired generations of learners and writers through her work as a teacher, literacy specialist, writing instructor, and published author. This residency reflects her lifelong commitment to nurturing creativity, encouraging emerging voices, and building community through the written word.

The successful applicant for this residency program will receive an $8,000 bursary to support their work over a six month period. One artist will be chosen each year for a fall-spring residency (November to April).  During the residency, the Writer in Residence will:

-Focus primarily on the development of their own creative writing project.
-Lead one six-week community writing series designed for emerging writers or writers new to the craft.
-Facilitate one weekend intensive workshop on a writing topic of their choice.
-Participate in a public reading and celebration showcasing both their work and selected work from workshop participants.

Given Anne's interdisciplinary writing career, this residency is open to a broad range of literary practices: Applications are welcomed from writers working in:

• Fiction
• Creative nonfiction
• Poetry
• Playwriting

Deadline is October 16, 2026. Here's all the info to apply: https://www.charlottestreetarts.ca/anne-mitton 

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