Writer-in-Residence
Call for Applications 

Sept. 1, 2009 - June 30, 2010 Residency

Regina Public Library invites applications from Canadian creative writers for the position of Writer-in-Residence. The successful candidate will work with the public through individual consultations, community/school visits, and group workshops or seminars. The Writer-in-Residence will devote 80% of his/her time to personal writing projects. The author must live in Regina or surrounding area during the term of the residency. Experience working with the public, a history of literary publications, and a background in the literary field should be clearly demonstrated in the covering letter or résumé. Please include a résumé, 10 page writing sample, and three letters of reference from members of the writing community. References should include a daytime and evening phone number in their letters. Previous experience as a writer-in-residence or teacher would be an asset. All genres of writing will be considered.

Salary: $26,000/annum (based on availability of grant funds.)

Eligibility Criteria:

Based on the Canada Council for the Arts guidelines.

Application deadline:

Applications must be received by 4 p.m. Friday, Oct. 31, 2008.

Apply to:

Writer-in-Residence Search Committee
c/o Public Relations
Regina Public Library
P.O. Box 2311 (2311 -12th Avenue)
Regina, SK S4P 3Z5

Regina Public Library gratefully acknowledges funding assistance from Canada Council for the Arts.

15 juillet / 15 July (En anglais / In English)

«Voices From the Acadian Deportation of 1758 »

Invité / Guest : Earle Lockerby

22 juillet / 22 July (En français / In French)

« Le parler acadien de Pélagie et Henriette »

Invités / Guests : Alice Richard, Pélagie et Henriette

29 juillet / 29 July (En anglais / In English)

« Le Grand Dérangement : The Arrival of the Gaudet Ancestors on P.E. I. »

Invité / Guest : Jean-Paul Arsenault

5 août / 5 August (En français / In French)

« Les Acadiens de la baie de Malpèque, 1728-1758 »

Invité / Guest : Georges Arsenault

12 août / 12 August (En anglais / In English)

« Restoring an Acadian Pioneer House in Rustico:

An American Woman’s Encounter with her Material Past »

Invité / Guest : Joan Vermette

Entrée gratuite - les dons sont appréciés.

Free admission - donations appreciated.

Stone and Flesh: The Yoga of Lucid Writing

August 7 - 10; From Thursday, Aug. 7 at 7 p.m. to Sunday, Aug. 10 at 1 p.m.

Being awake to “the dialogue of stone and flesh” can lead to lucid writing, a way of writing full of surprise, insight, and a little challenge. Through lucid writing, we attempt to know through our senses what is real without the smudge of preconceptions and judgments. Here, each morning will include a half hour of lucid yoga, appropriate for anybody (& any ‘body’) plus a two-hour-or-so session that will blend yoga tools with writing experiences. Each afternoon will include a two-hour Soul of Craft workshop in which we will discuss facets of craft and share our writings in a safe, honest environment.

Leadership:

Jeff Davis is a workshop leader (Taos Summer Writers Conference; Writers Lab in Skyros, Greece; Block Island Poetry Project), writer, editor, and yoga teacher. He is author of The Journey from the Center to the Page: Yoga Philosophies and Practices as Muse for Authentic Writing (Penguin 2004), and teaches at Marist College. Jeff lives in Woodstock NY, where he tracks wonder and fixes broken steps at his old farmhouse. www.centertopage.com

Gwen Davies is a writer, writing teacher, consultant and founder of Nova Scotia’s summer writing retreat Community of Writers.

Note: enrolment is limited; please visit our website to register early

For more information and to register:
Tatamagouche Centre
1-800-218-2220
www.tatacentre.ca  

Buffalo Runs Press seeks submissions for its inaugural poetry series.The Buffalo Runs 3poets series will be released as pocket-sized books featuring roughly eight to twelve pages of work from three poets from different regions in Canada. The featured poets will be asked to partake in some form of critical conversation with each other, either through writing a critical response to one of the selection of poems in the series or by interviewing one of the other poets. Poets will also be asked to submit a brief description or explanation of the work they submitted.

Submissions to the series should be for 8-12 pages of poetry. At 30 lines per page, this equals a maximum of 350 lines. Please send no more than 400 lines of poetry for review, along with a bio and an artist statement on the works submitted.

Submissions should be e-mailed to info@buffalorunspress.ca, attached as Word documents. Visit www.buffalorunspress.ca for more details.

Join three award-winning authors, a top literary agent, and fellow creative writers at the first annual SeaWords creative writing workshop this summer in beautiful Prince Edward Island. Supported by the Lucy Maud Montgomery Institute and the University of Prince Edward Island, SeaWords takes place the week of August 18-22 in Brackley Beach on the Island’s scenic north shore. Drawing from the energy of local celebrations commemorating the 100th anniversary of the publication of Anne of Green Gables, the theme of this year’s Institute is “Celebrating Canada’s Women Writers.” This theme is fitting as we honour a female author of the past while showcasing some of the best in modern Canadian writing and publishing. SeaWords will not disappoint.

The guest writers need little introduction to those familiar with the current Canadian literary scene. This year’s writing team includes Anne Simpson, an award-winning novelist and poet now residing in Antigonish, NS. In 2004 she won the Griffin Poetry Prize for Loop. Her latest novel is Falling, and her new poetry collection, Quick. Karen Connelly is an internationally acclaimed poet, novelist, and non-fiction writer whose latest novel, The Lizard Cage, won the 2007 Orange Broadband Prize for New Writers. Anne-Marie MacDonald, a multi-talented Canadian star of literature and the stage won the Commonwealth Writers Prize for her first novel, Fall on Your Knees, and the Governor General’s Award for her play, Goodnight Desdemona (Good Morning Juliet). She was also the popular host of CBC TV’s Life and Times from 1996 to 2007. Workshop participants also have the opportunity to meet and learn from Jackie Kaiser, former editor at Penguin Books Canada and currently an agent with Westwood Creative Artists representing some of Canada’s hottest literary talent.

The week unfolds with workshops based on writing submitted in advance by the participants, and a variety of lectures exploring aspects of the publishing industry, including effective proposal-writing, “getting published” strategies, and insight into the agent-author relationship. These learning experiences will prove invaluable to all the participants, whether novice or established. The workshop also provides ample opportunity for discovery and relationship-building among participants and authors. To ensure this, each participant has one-on-one time with faculty members to network and discuss their work. Other opportunities for personal growth include private writing time, social activities to network with other authors, and the option to give or hear a short reading from their own work.

With the National Park and its sandy beaches just a short walk away, taking time to relax and reflect will undoubtedly be part of the experience. The quiet and gentle pace of Prince Edward Island will refresh the senses and give writers a much-desired creative atmosphere. This is an opportunity not to be missed!

Visit the SeaWords 2008 website (www.seawords.ca) to view further details and to register. Apply soon as space is limited. A special reduced “early bird’ price ($850) is available for those who apply before June 13. See you on the Island this summer!

WHAT: A New Angle on Life-Writing: A Day-long Workshop with Deirdre Kessler
WHEN: 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.; Sunday, July 27, 2008
WHERE: Sir Andrew Macphail Homestead,Orwell
FEE: $75

Participants will experiment with a number of structures for writing memoir, autobiography, family stories, including a technique Deirdre Kessler has found to be downright dam-busting.

There will be a working lunch, so participants can bring their own lunch or purchase lunch at the Macphail tea-room.

Registration limited to 12 people.

Writers at all levels of experience welcome.

Contact: Deirdre Kessler
or tel.: 902-892-6334.

For additional summer 2008 writing workshops, including workshops for young people offered by the Prince Edward Island School of Writing, contact kessler@upei.ca.

The 21st annual Island Literary Awards were held April 27, 2008 at the Guild. Island humourist Patrick Ledwell hosted a glittering array of guests, including PEI Poet Laureate David Helwig; PEI Lt.-Gov. Barbara Hagerman; Provincial Minister of Communities, Cultural Affairs & Labour, Carolyn Bertram; and Charlottetown City Councillor Kim Devine. Author Deirdre Kessler presented selections from the journals of Lucy Maud Montgomery and writer/publisher/weaver Libby Oughton gave memories of artist Hilda Woolnough, to whom this year’s ILAs were dedicated. It was a great afternoon, punctuated with wonderful readings from our first place winners and Patrick’s quick-witted humour with over 100 people in attendance.

The winners were:

STUDENT AWARDS

Dept. of Education Young Writer’s Award

Third Place - Nathan Jordan Rainnie
Second Place - Keegan Marr
First Place - Meagan McCardle

Aliant Creative Writing Awards for Young People

Early Elementary Third Place - Kendall Perry
Early Elementary Second Place - Nicholas Koughan
Early Elementary First Place - Laura Sharpe

Late Elementary Third Place - Nadia McNairn
Late Elementary Second Place - Charlotte R. Sullivan
Late Elementary First Place - Jessica Walsh

Junior High Third Place - Olivia Callbeck
Junior High Second Place - Sidney Cushman
Junior High First Place - Meagan McCardle

Senior High Third Place - Maggie DaFonseca
Senior High Second Place - Parker Baglole
Senior High First Place - Morgan Wagner

SHORT STORY AWARDS

Honourable Mention - Amanda Morrison
Third Place - Shirley Limbert
Second Place - Tom Marshall
First Place - Malcolm Murray

L.M. MONTGOMERY PEI LITERATURE FOR CHILDREN AWARDS

Third Place - Joan Sutton
Second Place - Jodi Hawkins
First Place -Orysia Dawydiak

THE MILTON ACORN POETRY AWARDS

Honourable Mention - Steve Mayoff
Third Place - Victoria Coulson
Second Place - Paul Vreeland
First Place - Kirstie MacCallum

CREATIVE NON-FICTION AWARDS

Third Place - Margo Connors
Second Place - Daniel Bay
First Place - David Speare

THE RÉSHARD GOOL AWARD

Kati Ross & Mathew Henderson

AWARD - FOR DISTINGUISHED CONTRIBUTION TO THE LITERARY ARTS OF PEI

Dianne Morrow

 The Confederation Centre Public Library & the PEI Writers’ Guild present a reading & book talk with Halifax writer Susan Cameron. Cameron will talk of
her latest novel, These Four Walls, which  chronicles the lives of  two sisters orphaned in depression-era Halifax, and their subsequent coming of age amid the chaos of the second world war.
All are welcome to this free event; which will be held Tuesday, May 13 at 7 p.m. at the Confederation Centre Library. There will be books available for
purchase.

All members of the PEI Writers’ Guild and those interested in joining are cordially invited to our Annual General Meeting, which will be held Saturday, May 3 at the Faculty Lounge on the UPEI campus. Activities get underway at noon with a potluck, followed by the business meeting and then an open mic.

The agenda:

Chair’s Report, Financial Status Report, PEIWG Charitable Status, Island Literary Awards, French Island Literary Awards, Blog, Nominating Committee Report, Goals/Plans for 2008