News

The Performer's Theatre Company of Sackville, NB, welcomes the playwright Adam Z. Robinson for a workshop and forum October 23-24. His play, "The Book of Darkness & Light" will open on October 27 at their community theatre studio. 

GHOST STORY WORKSHOP - Saturday October 23rd - United Church - 10am - 4pm - $60 adults / $20 students. 

There are 20 seats available for this workshop. Adam will share his knowledge and skill as a professional playwright. 

FORUM WITH ADAM - Sunday October 24th - The Studio - 4pm - 5pm - Free.

Meet Adam as he talks about his play, how it came to be written and shares further about his work, as a writer and actor. He will also read from one of his latest plays. There will be time for questions and answers, and the director, along with three of the cast, will be on hand to answer your questions and share about their involvement.

To book for these, and for the play itself, go to our website and follow the instructions: www.performerstheatre.com

Phoebe is a free resource for any NB writer who would like feedback on their work or a conversation about writing.  You can set up an online session with her and get more information about her writing and approach to mentorship at https://www.unb.ca/fredericton/arts/departments/english/student-life.html#writer.

Access Copyright - CALL TO ACTION Share the urgent need to fix fair dealing with the federal government Over the past few months, Access Copyright has worked with a small group of authors to test out a book mailing campaign to push Prime Minister Trudeau and the federal government to reform the Copyright Act so that Canadian creators and publishers are paid for the use of their work by the education sector. You may have seen authors such as Sylvia McNicoll, Robert Rotenberg and Amy Stuart on social media sharing that they mailed one of their books as well as personal letter to the PM.  Many of the authors who have taken part have received letters back from the PM’s office confirming their mailing were getting through and thanking them for sharing their work with the Prime Minister. With that welcome news, it is now time to take this campaign to the next level. That’s where we hope you will get involved. It’s all part of an effort to bring to Ottawa’s attention the urgent need to address the education fair dealing exception, which has resulted in much of the education sector refusing to pay approximately $150 million in royalties for educational copying. The federal government plans to introduce a bill later this year to update the Copyright Act to address its obligations under Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement to extend the term of copyright protection. They are also in the process of conducting a series of consultations around various aspects of copyright law which will inform additional the amendments to the Act. At this time, the government has not indicated any intention to address the harm caused by the education fair dealing exception.  This is deeply concerning as our creative sector has been dealing with the impact of this issue for almost a decade now. That’s why we are asking you to join this campaign today and share your work and your thoughts on what it means to be a Canadian creator with the PM, and why the federal government needs to take action to fix fair dealing. Here is how you can get involved   Mail one your books to Prime Minister Trudeau: Who better than you to share a Canadian story with the PM? Along with a book, include a personal note to him describing what trying to build a living as a professional writer looks like in Canada. How do you make ends meet? What sacrifices do you have to make? How has the loss of royalties from the education sector affected you? The mailing address is:  Right Honorable Justin Trudeau, P.C. , M.P. Prime Minister of Canada  Office of the Prime Minister 80 Wellington Street Ottawa, ON K1A 0A2 Share your mailing on social media: Before you mail out your book, please take a picture and post it to your social media platforms, with an explanation of why you are sending your book to the PM—for example, “I mailed my latest book to Prime Minster Trudeau to remind him what supporting Canadian creators really means.” It’s important that Canadians see the faces behind our stories and their rich diversity.  Here is how to make your message heard Tag Prime Minister Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau), Heritage Minister Steven Guilbeault (@s_guilbeault) and Innovation, Science and Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne (@FP_Champagne).  Use the hashtags #IValueCdnStories & #cdnpoli.  Tag our organization as well as Access Copyright (@AccessCopyright) and I Value Canadian Stories (Twitter: @valuecdnstories; Facebook: @IValueCanadianStories; Instagram: @ivaluecanadianstories).  Please email editor@accesscopyright.ca to let us know you have mailed a book to the Prime Minister. Encourage others to get involved: Help build the momentum by encouraging others in your network to take part. Amplify what others are doing: Share posts related to the campaign. Just search for #IValueCdnStories on Twitter, Instagram in Facebook and then RT, share, like and comment away!  Have questions? We’re here to help. Email Access Copyright at editor@accesscopyright.ca.

Since its inception in 1998, the Lorenzo Society at UNB Saint John has had the privilege of hosting Canadian authors from across the country. These readings were typically in person, however, with the uncertainty surrounding COVID-19, we’ve been challenged to pivot to hosting virtual events.

In September 2020 we launched the Lorenzo Virtual Book Club (LVBC). We feature authors on the third Wednesday every month; and for the 2020-2021 season, we hosted authors such as Emma Donoghue, Uzma Jalaluddin, Janie Chang, and many others.

In November we will be hosting Genevieve Graham as we discuss her bookLetter Across the Sea. This discussion will take place on Wednesday, November 17 at 7:30PM (ADT).  Participants must register in advance.  Please email lorenzo@unb.ca to register.

In December we will be hosting Lesley Crewe as we discuss her book The Spoon Stealer.  This discussion will take place on Sunday, December 5^, at 2:00PM (ADT).  Participants must register in advance.  Please email lorenzo@unb.ca to register.

All Lorenzo events are listed in our printed program.  To get a copy of our fall and/or winter program, email us with your name and address and the program(s) will be mailed to you.

This year's judges are Selina Boan, Matthew Gwathmey and Susan Musgrave. 

Get your submissions in by December 1 for a chance to win the $2000 prize for best poem!
Click here for more information: https://thefiddlehead.ca/contest

We're hosting a workshop on Saturday starting at 11:30 Atlantic Time that might be of interest to some of your members. Registration is limited, but we've reserved 30 seats for non-members at a price of $20 a ticket.

Tickets are available here:

https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/fall-virtual-mini-retreat-tickets-170066047125

Here is the itinerary: 

Saturday, Oct 2 - Mini Fall Virtual Retreat

1130 AM -1:00 PM - Using Character Emotion to Wow Readers: Becca Pugilsi, co-author, The Emotion Thesaurus

1:00-2:00 Lunch break (we'll leave the meeting live for people to chat informally)

2:00-3:00 Q&A with Literary Agent Paige Wheeler, Creative Media Agency

Pottersfield Press is again looking for submissions from writers who can provide a manuscript of 30,000 to 150,000 words in any of the following categories: history, memoir, autobiography, biography, literary journalism, political or social commentary, travel writing or virtually any existing or new category that uses the nonfiction medium to tell a story or put forward an idea.

The First Prize winner will receive a contract for the publication of the winning book along with a $1000 advance on 10% royalty for all sales. The Second Prize winner will also see the publication of the book and a $800 advance on 10% royalties. Deadline is April 30, 2022 but early submissions are encouraged.

Submit your manuscript electronically as a double-spaced basic Word document to: pottersfieldcreative@gmail.com and include on the title page your name, address and email address.

Entry fee is $25 (includes HST) and can be paid by Interac Transfer (also to pottersfieldcreative@gmail.com) or by cheque made out to Pottersfield Press mailed to 248 Leslie Road,  East Lawrencetown, NS  B2Z 1T4 Canada  after the manuscript has been submitted by email.

The winners of the Fourth Annual Pottersfield Prize for Creative Nonfiction have been determined. They are Jules Torti of Lion’s Head, Ontario in first place, and Beth Ann Knowles of Riverport, Nova Scotia in second place.

The top winning entry was Been There, Ate That: A Candy Coated Childhood by Jules Torti, a memoir about “edible memories that will transport readers back to a time and place that no longer exists but lingers dormant in our taste buds.” Jules is the former editor-in-chief of Harrowsmith and writes about “the best things in life: birds, books, burgers, beaches and beer (in no particular order).”

The second place winner, The Kimchi Experiment by Beth Ann Knowles, is “a humorous and charming story of adventure of miscommunication, discovery, frustration, and growth for two Canadian newlyweds as they spend a year teaching in rural South Korea.”

Prizes will be £2,000, £1,000 & £500, & a chance to read online with judges Linda Gregerson & John McAuliffe on Monday 6th December! Details below:

Troubadour international poetry prize 2021 

judged by john mcauliffe & linda gregerson

• first prize £2,000

• second prize £1,000

• third prize £500

• plus 20 commendeds

• plus winners read with judges at Troubadour international poetry prize 2021 prize-night celebration online on Monday, December 6.

judges

• Linda Gregerson studied at Oberlin, Northwestern, Iowa Writers Workshop & Stanford, is Professor of English at University of Michigan, a Renaissance scholar, a classically trained actor & a Chancellor of the Academy of American Poets: her poetry collections range from The Woman Who Died in Her Sleep (Houghton Mifflin, 1996) to Prodigal: New and Selected Poems (Mariner, 2015)

• John McAuliffe (b. Listowel) has published five collections with Gallery Press including The Kabul Olympics (2020), is Professor of Poetry at Manchester University, where he directs the Centre for New Writing & Literature Live, founder & co-editor of Manchester Review, assoc. editor at Carcanet Press, & was chief poetry critic at the Irish Times (2013-2020) where he founded & chaired the Irish Times Poetry Now Award.

Judges read all poems submitted

• Poems: Poems may be submitted from any country & must be in English, must each be no longer than 45 lines, must show title & poem only, must not show poet’s name, must be the original work of the entrant (no translations) & must not have been previously published; no text alterations accepted after submission; no limit on number of poems or number of subsequent submissions.

• Submission: Email only, no postal entries: email your poems as attachments (.doc, .docx, .pdf, .rtf only) to poems@coffeehousepoetry.org; include in email: Poet’s Name & Address, Phone Number, List of Titles, Number of Poems, Total Fees, & PayPal Receipt Number.

• Fees: £5/€6/$7 per poem (Sterling/Euro/US-Dollars only); payment via PayPal (see below, PayPal account not required).

• Timeline: Submit by midnight (your local time) on Mon 27 Sep 2021; prize-winners will be contacted in week commencing Mon 22 Nov 2021.

• Acknowledgement/Results: Submissions acknowledged within 14 days of receipt; results posted on website after our Mon 6 Dec 2021 prize-night event; judges’ decision is final; no correspondence entered into.

• Email Address: By including email address you agree to receiving emails regarding annual Troubadour International Poetry Prize.

submit via email by Monday, 27 September, 2021

“Atlantic Vernacular” — Poetry and Craft Exhibition — Call for Poets

*La version française de l’appel suit la version anglaise

A call for poets with ties to Atlantic Canada. The 2021 theme for Craft NB’s biennial exhibition is Atlantic Vernacular. This multi-genre project presents a rare opportunity for poets to participate in a high-calibre online exhibition that seeks to define what contemporary craft and poetry mean on the East Coast.

What counts as Atlantic vernacular? Is there more to us than lobsters, lighthouses and I’se da bye? Whose ways of talking are Atlantic vernacular? What regional clichés are ripe for re-examination? What impacts have tourism, the climate crisis or immigration made on Atlantic vernaculars? 

Of course you may be asking, “What is a ‘vernacular’ anyway?” It’s usually thought of as a kind of local speech or language (Chiac, anyone?), but you can also consider it more generally as a local style or way of being in a particular place.

Jenna Lyn Albert, former Poet Laureate of the City of Fredericton, and Sue Sinclair, poet and Director of Creative Writing at the University of New Brunswick, are curating the poetry for Craft NB’s upcoming exhibition. We are looking for poets who have a route into the above or related questions, and who are willing to create poems in direct response to visual works of art by craftspeople responding to the same theme.

The call that went out visual artists is here: https://www.craftnb.ca/atlantic-vernacular-travelling-craft-exhibition-call-for-work/. It also contains a link to a poem by Albert that was offered to the visual artists as a jumping-off point.

Poets who are selected to participate will be given a small selection of visual works to choose from and will have the month of October to write a 20-25-line poem in response to one of the works. If poets and artists are in each other’s close vicinity, we will set up in-person meetings; otherwise the artists will connect with the poets via video to display the work. We will pay each poet $200 for their original poem.

We would be delighted to consider submissions from writers who intend to write in languages other than English. We would also love to receive submissions from Indigenous writers, writers of colour, LGBTQAI2S+ writers, writers with disabilities and other equity-seeking writers. We invite applicants to identify themselves as such if they choose.

To be considered for this project,please submit a max 100-word literary biography citing any previous publications AND two sample poems (not necessarily on the current theme) to atlanticvernacular@gmail.com.

DEADLINE:  September 22, 2021.

Successful applicants will be contacted by October 1, 2021. Please direct any questions to Sue Sinclair or Jenna Lyn Albert at atlanticvernacluar@gmail.com

« Vernaculaire d’Atlantique » – Exposition métiers d’art – appel d’oeuvres

Un appel aux poètes ayant des liens avec le Canada atlantique. Le thème de 2021 de l’exposition biennale de Métiers d’art NB est le « Vernaculaire d’atlantique. » Ce projet multi-genres offre aux poètes une rare opportunité de participer à une exposition de haut calibre qui cherche à définir ce que signifie l’artisanat contemporain et la poésie sur la côte Est.

Qu’est-ce qui compte comme le vernaculaire d’atlantique? Y a-t-il plus pour nous que les homards, les phares et I’se da bye? Qui parle le vernaculaire d’Atlantique? Quels clichés régionaux méritent d’être réexaminés? Quels impacts le tourisme, la crise climatique ou l’immigration ont-ils fait sur les vernaculaires de l’Atlantique?

Bien sûr, vous vous demandez peut-être ce qu’est un « vernaculaire? » C’est habituellement considéré comme une sorte de discours ou de langue locale (Chiac est un exemple), mais vous pouvez également le considérer plus généralement comme un style local ou une façon d’être dans un endroit particulier.

Jenna Lyn Albert, ancienne poète lauréate de la Ville de Fredericton, et Sue Sinclair, poétesse et directrice de la création littéraire à l’Université du Nouveau-Brunswick, sont les commissaires de poésie pour l’exposition de Métiers d’art NB. Nous sommes à la recherche des poètes pour explorer ces questions ci-dessus et qui sont disposés à créer des poèmes en réponse directe à des œuvres d’art visuelles par des artisan répondant au même thème.

L’appel qui a été lancé aux artistes visuels se trouve ici : https://www.craftnb.ca/fr/vernaculaire-datlantique-exposition-metiers-dart-en-tournee-appel-doeuvres/. L’appel contient également un lien pour le poème d’Albert qui a été offert aux artistes visuels comme point de départ.

Les poètes qui sont sélectionnés pour participer recevront une sélection limitée d’œuvres visuelles parmi lesquelles ils peuvent choisir et auront le mois d’octobre pour écrire un poème de 20-25 lignes en réponse à l’une des œuvres. Si les poètes et les artistes se trouvent à proximité l’un de l’autre, nous organiserons des réunions en personne; sinon, les artistes se connecteront avec les poètes par vidéo pour présenter l’œuvre. Chaque poète recevra 200 $ pour leur poème original.

Nous accueillons les soumissions d’auteurs qui ont l’intention d’écrire dans des langues autres que l’anglais. Nous aimerons également recevoir des soumissions des poètes autochtones, des poètes de couleur, des poètes LGBTQAI2S+, des poètes handicapés et d’autres poètes en quête d’équité. Nous invitons les candidats à s’identifier comme tels s’ils le désirent.

Pour être considérer pour ce projet, veuillez soumettre une biographie littéraire de 100 mots maximum citant des publications antérieures ET deux exemples de poèmes (pas nécessairement sur le thème) à atlanticvernacular@gmail.com.

DATE LIMITE : le 22 septembre 2021

Les candidats retenus seront contactés d’ici le 1^er octobre 2021. Veuillez adresser vos questions à Sue Sinclair ou à Jenna Lyn Albert à atlanticvernacluar@gmail.com.

Members, here's a reminder for your publishers regarding these three Atlantic awards with a November 1 deadline: the J.M. Abraham Atlantic Poetry Award, the Ann Connor Brimer Award for Atlantic Canadian Literature, and the Thomas Raddall Atlantic Fiction Award.

The Brimer Award alternates between YA and children’s books – this year we are looking for children’s books.

Speaking of the Thomas Raddall Atlantic Fiction Award, the Writers' Federation of Nova Scotia will hold a special event in celebration of the 30^th anniversary of the award. The Zoom event features readings by Anne Simpson, Don Hannah, John Steffler, Lisa Moore, Linda Little and Michael Crummey. Alexander MacLeod will be the host.

As well, Thomas Raddall III will be making a special announcement at the event. Yay – I love drama!

It takes place on Thursday, Sept. 23, 7:30 pm (Atlantic) on Zoom. Here’s the link to register: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_4x7IDP6CRle2a4BHvox6hw

And here’s the full info on the event: https://writers.ns.ca/award/a-literary-conga-line/