Writing for Children Competition 2008

THE WRITERS’ UNION OF CANADA ANNOUNCES WRITING FOR CHILDREN COMPETITION 2008

The Writers’ Union of Canada is pleased to launch its 12th annual Writing for Children Competition, which invites writers to submit a piece for children up to 1,500 words in the English language that has not previously been published in any format. A $1,500 prize will be awarded to an unpublished Canadian writer, and the entries of the winner and finalists will be submitted to three publishers of children’s books.

The deadline for entries is April 24, 2008.

Writing for children is one of the most highly competitive genres in literature, and this competition is an entrée into this important field.

“Writing for children helps to craft young minds, and at its best turns them into life-long readers,” says Deborah Windsor, the Union’s Executive Director.

The Union initiated the Writing for Children competition to discover, encourage, and promote new writers of children’s literature. The Competition has grown in popularity since its inception, last year attracting over 650 submissions from every region of Canada.

The Union is proud to announce an esteemed group of jurors for the 2008 Writing for Children Competition. Damien Fière is a former political ghostwriter and advisor who is currently working on a soon-to-be published biography of Eleanor Roosevelt and a novel. Métis writer Jacqueline Guest’s fast-paced sports books feature many main characters of First Nations, Inuit, or Métis background, who in addition to handling sports-related problems, also face issues common to every child such as bullying, blended families, and physical challenges. Multi-award-winning Tim Wynne-Jones is a two-time recipient of the Governor General’s Literary Award for Children’s Literature, and has written numerous works for children, young adults, and adults, from novels to librettos and songs.

To be eligible, submissions must be written by Canadian citizens or landed immigrants who have not been published in book format in any genre and who do not have a contract with a book publisher. Any text, fiction or nonfiction, up to 1,500 words, in the English language, that is original and not previously published in any format, is eligible. A typed, double-spaced entry in a clear 12-point font on white paper, not stapled or exceeding maximum word length, along with an entry fee of $15 (cheque or money order) per submission, should be sent to:

The Writers’ Union of Canada
90 Richmond Street East, Suite 200
Toronto, ON M5C 1P1.

The deadline for submissions is April 24, 2008. Submissions on computer disk or faxes will not be accepted. For complete rules and regulations, please go to http://www.writersunion.ca/cn_writeforchildren.asp.

The Writers’ Union of Canada is our country’s national organization representing professional authors of books. Founded in 1973, the Union is dedicated to fostering writing in Canada, and promoting the rights, freedoms, and economic well being of all writers. For more information, please visit www.writersunion.ca.

For additional information:

Nancy MacLeod, Competitions Coordinator

The Writers’ Union of Canada

416-703-8982 Ext. 226

CBC Sponsors Battle of the Book Clubs

 CBC Radio’s Matt Rainnie hosts the Battle of the Book Clubs held at The Guild on Feb. 20

Five great works of Canadian fiction; five celebrity panellists; one week of heated debates about Canadian literature: that’s what Canada Reads week is about on the CBC.

But this year, PEI took an advance look at those books, with reading clubs from across the Island each championing one of the Canada Reads books in the inaugural Battle of the Book Clubs.

The contenders and the books they championed were:

Beyond Words, Souris and Montague; “Not Wanted on the Voyage” by Timothy Findley
The Society for the Appreciation of Great Literature, Bluefield High School; “Brown Girl in the Ring” by Nalo Hopkinson
The Eptek Book Club, Summerside; “From the Fifteenth District” by Mavis Gallant
The Friday Night Girls, Summerside; “King Leary” by Paul Quarrington
The South Shore Book Club, Argyle to Bonshaw: “Icefields” by Thomas Wharton

The clubs faced off at the Arts Guild in Charlottetown before a live audience on Wednesday, Feb. 20. Matt Rainnie, the host of CBC Radio’s Mainstreet, hosted the evening. 

A member of the Eptek Book Club defends “From the Fifteenth District” by Mavis Gallant.

There was trivia, charades, great door prizes and a lot of laughs. All clubs put up a spirited defence of their books, but, in the end, Bluefield High School’s Society for the Appreciation of Great Literature was chosen as the audience favourite for their creative defence of “Brown Girl in the Ring” by Nalo Hopkinson, which included props, costumes and acting.

 Some members of the victorious Bluefield High School Team deliver the team’s victory speech.

Canada Reads is a weeklong radio special that celebrates books. Tune in to CBC Radio One from Feb. 25 to 29 to hear the panellists make the case for why their favourite Canadian fiction should be picked as the Canadian book to read in 2008.

Lawrence Hill Reading & Workshop

The English Department of the University of Prince Edward Island is pleased to announce that novelist and journalist Lawrence Hill returns to the Island as Writer-in-Residence from Feb. 28 - March 12.

Hill’s new novel, “The Book of Negroes” (released in the US as “Someone Knows My Name”), takes readers from an African village to a southern U.S. slave plantation, from the Halifax docks to London mansions. He is also the author of the best-selling memoir, “Black Berry, Sweet Juice: On Being Black and White in Canada,” and the award-winning documentary film, “Seeking Salvation: A History of the Black Church in Canada.”

Hill will give a public reading on Friday, Feb. 29 at 7:30 p.m. in the UPEI Faculty Lounge. All are welcome to this free event.

Hill will also give at workshop on Saturday, March 8, from 1:30 - 4:45 p.m. in the UPEI Faculty Lounge. The workshop will focus on writing fiction and creative non-fiction (e.g. memoir) and approaching literary agents and publishers. All are welcome but the workshop will be aimed at people who have not yet published books. Bring plenty of paper and pens, as the workshop will involve some fun but illustrative writing exercises. Max: 20 participants. Cost: $10 for PEI Writers’ Guild members and students; and $20 for non-members. To reserve a spot or for further information, contact Tracy Johnston, English Dept. secretary at 566-0389.

 

Michael Winter at UPEI Feb. 11, 2008

Newfoundland-raised novelist Michael Winter returns to PEI with his new novel, The Architects Are Here. Winter will give a public reading on Monday, Feb. 11, at 7:30 p.m in the UPEI Faculty Lounge, Main Building. A reception and book signing will follow.

Winter was born in England, grew up in Corner Brook, Nfld., and divides his time between Newfoundland and Toronto. After university, Winter started writing semi-autobiographical fiction about his family and friends and his romantic troubles, some stories set in St. John’s, others in Toronto.

A recurrent main character and alter-ego, Gabe English, emerges in this early fiction and his breakthrough novel, This All Happened (2000), which won the Winterset Award and was nominated for the Rogers Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize.

The Big Why (2004) was loosely based on New York artist Rockwell Kent’s sojourn in Newfoundland in the early twentieth century, and was nominated for Ontario’s Trillium Book Award and the Atlantic Book Awards’ Thomas Raddall Fiction Prize, and long-listed for the IMPAC Dublin Literary Award.

Gabriel English returns in Winter’s new novel, The Architects Are Here. Gabe is drifting into middle age, settling into a domestic idyll with his girlfriend Nell, and being led into trouble by his childhood friend David, a dot.com millionaire. “I think we’re all struck by the moment we realize we are the same age our parents were when they had us. You’ve succeeded in some ways and failed in others,” says Winter about this novel and its main character.

Michael Winter’s reading is part of the Winter’s Tales series sponsored by the UPEI English Department, with support from The Canada Council for the Arts.

Don Hannah at UPEI Feb. 15, 2008

Award-winning and prolific playwright, director, and novelist Don Hannah will give a public reading at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 15, in the UPEI Faculty Lounge, Main Building.

The east coast has long been a focus in the Shediac, NB native’s work. His new novel, Ragged Islands begins in September 2001as 85-year-old Susan Ann Roberts lies dying in a Toronto hospital. Susan resolves to return to the places in the Maritimes that defined her as a girl, wife, and mother. She begins her magical journey at the family farm where she spent childhood summers and then travels to Ragged Islands, N.S., and the house she shared with her husband – pondering why she was given away to relatives at birth, when siblings born earlier and later were kept.

The Globe & Mail wrote of Hannah’s first novel, The Wise and Foolish Virgins, that “[his] novel uses sprawling energy and a dozen colourful characters to break the pattern of ‘dour’ and ‘morose’ Maritime fiction.”

Hannah’s first plays, The Wedding Script (Winner of the Chalmers Award), Rubber Dolly, and In the Lobster Capital of the World, were produced at Toronto’s Tarragon Theatre. The Wooden Hill, based on the journals of L.M. Montgomery, won the AT&T OnStage Award. In 2002, Hannah was nominated for the prestigious Simonovitch Prize for Outstanding Playwright.  

Hannah has been Writer-in-Residence at the Tarragon and Canadian Stage theatres, the University of New Brunswick, and for the Yukon Library System. He is founding member of the Playwrights Atlantic Resource Centre and, for the last eight years, has directed the Tarragon Theatre’s Young Playwrights Unit. He is Associate Program Dramaturge for the Banff PlayRites Colony, and works in the playwriting department at the National Theatre School of Canada.

Hannah’s reading is part of the Winter’s Tales series sponsored by the UPEI Department of English with support from the Canada Council of the Arts.

Laureate Launches PEI Poetry Website

Photo by David Helwig from poetrypei.com website.

PEI’s new Poet Laureate, David Helwig, has launched the Prince Edward Island Poet Laureate Community Website at www.poetrypei.com. The site has information about the PEI Poet Laureate Program; current and historical PEI poets; and poetry resources, events and podcasts.

PEI Writers’ Guild members are invited to submit a poem to be published on the website, or list poetry events. Send information to addapoem@poetrypei.com

Indie Book Awards Seek Entries

Calling all indie authors and publishers - including small and mid-size independent publishers, university presses, e-book publishers, and self-published authors. Enter the 2008 Next Generation Indie Book Awards now to have your book considered for cash prizes of $1000, awards, exposure, and recognition as one of the top independently published books of the year! With 70 award categories, the 2008 Indie Book AwardsT honors authors with books published in 2007 and 2008 across the literary spectrum the chance to win cash, prizes and recognition. Awards include:* $1,000 Cash Prize and trophy for the best Fiction Book

* $1,000 Cash Prize and trophy for the best Non-Fiction Book

* $500 Cash Prize and trophy for the second place Fiction Book

* $500 Cash Prize and trophy for the second place Non-Fiction Book

Most importantly, the best 70 of the 2008 Indie Book Awards book entries will be reviewed by leading New York literary agent, Marilyn Allen, with a chance to be represented to some of the industry’s leading publishers.

Visit www.IndieBookAwards.com for more information and to enter.

On-line Magazine Seeks Submissions

 Cahoots is a Canadian magazine freshly re-designed for the web for women who want more than the “same old, same old” from a women¹s magazine. Cahoots is a magazine for the creative, engaged, curious, soulful woman in all women. Editors are seeking submissions of articles, visual art, creative writing, and proposals for regular reviews and columns about things that really matter (and it’s not bee-stung lips!). “Conspire to inspire.” the editors say. Visit www.cahootsmagazine.com  for full submission guidelines. Deadline for the Herstory issue: Feb. 15, 2008.

David Helwig New PEI Poet Laureate

The PEI Council of the Arts welcomes David Helwig as PEI’s new poet laureate.

Carolyn Bertram, PEI’s Minister of Communities, Cultural Affairs and Labour, announced Wednesday that the author of more than 20 books of fiction and poetry would replace Frank Ledwell, who held the title for three years.

Frank was known across the Island for his encouragement of fellow writers and his love for presenting his poetry to young people while he served as poet laureate.

Helwig will serve a two-year term. He has worked in journalism, TV drama, radio drama and as a university lecturer. Helwig has also been a full-time writer since 1980.

The founder and longtime editor of the annual Best Canadian Stories, and his most recent poetry book, The Year One, won the Atlantic Poetry Award for 2004.

Helwig’s new poetry book, The Sway of Otherwise, will be out in the fall.

The poet laureate doesn’t have any fixed duties, but he or she is expected to advocate for literacy and arts awareness.

Mr. Helwig said he was looking forward to his term as poet laureate. “It’s a great honour to be offered this position, and I hope I can use it to bring attention to Island poets.”

The post of Poet Laureate does not have fixed duties and previous holders of the post have used a variety of approaches to making poetry a more central part of the lives of Islanders. Mr. Helwig indicated that he would be exploring ways of using an internet web page to make the excellent work being done by Island poets better known.

When making the announcement about the new poet laureate, Carolyn Bertram paid tribute to Frank Ledwell who has completed his term. “I want to thank Frank Ledwell for his service throughout the past three years as the Prince Edward Island Poet Laureate. He has been an inspiration to writers in the province for more than a generation and I know he will continue to contribute to the literary heritage of our province.”

The Provincial Poet Laureate Program:

The Poet Laureate Program was established in Prince Edward Island in 2002. Past Poet Laureates are John Smith (2002 - 2004) and Frank Ledwell (2004 - 2007)

Objectives of the PEI Poet Laureate Program include the following: to celebrate Prince Edward Island and its people, to raise the profile of Prince Edward Island poets and poetry in general, to promote a higher standard of literacy, and to provide for the expression of culture and heritage through the literary arts.

Selection of the Poet Laureate is based on criteria including the following: active and recognized as a poet of stature who has published at least one volume of poetry within the last ten years with a reputable publishing house, or whose body of work over the years has brought honour to themselves and the province, a full-time resident of Prince Edward Island and have been a resident of the province for at least the five years preceding the appointment. Poetry produced in either the English or French language is considered in making the selection of poet laureate but age, gender and ethnic background are not considered.

Island Literary Awards Open for Submissions; Deadline March 7

Prince Edward Island’s premiere literary awards event celebrates its 21st birthday this year.

For over two decades now, the ILAs have encouraged and rewarded some of the province’s best writers in their craft with cash awards and recognition. The PEI Writers’ Guild and the PEI Council of the Arts, sponsors of the event, are excited to announce that the 2008 ILA competition is now open for submissions.

Submissions are invited to competitions for creative writing for Island youth, children’s literature, poetry, fiction and creative non-fiction in the following categories:

The Aliant Creative Writing Awards for Young People
Students may write on the topic of their choice and submit in one of four sub-categories: Early Elementary, Late Elementary, Junior High and Senior High. A maximum of five pages of poetry, or a five-page short story, will constitute an entry. Longer submissions will NOT be accepted. There is no entry fee. Prizes: First: $100; Second $75; Third $50 will be awarded in EACH sub-category.

The Department of Education Young Writer’s Award
Students attending intermediate school (grades 7– 9 inclusive) may enter a story, a poem or a series of poems on a topic of their choice. A maximum of 10 pages will constitute an entry. There is no entry fee. Prizes: First $75; Second $50; Third $25

Student Participation Award
The school with the highest number of student submissions will be recognized with a certificate at the Awards Ceremony.

Lucy Maud Montgomery* PEI Literature for Children Award
The manuscript must be a story written for children ages five through twelve years. One children’s story (maximum length 60 pages), will constitute an entry. Illustrations may be submitted with the story. Entry fee for each submission is $15. Prizes: First $500; Second $200; Third $100.
(*L.M. MONTGOMERY IS A TRADEMARK OF THE HEIRS OF L.M. MONTGOMERY INC.)

Milton Acorn Poetry Award
One entry consists of eight (minimum) to 10 pages (maximum) of poetry. Entry fee for each submission is $15. Prizes: First $500; Second $200; Third $100.

Short Story Award
One short story, maximum length 2500 words, will constitute an entry. Entry fee for each submission is $15. Prizes: First $500; Second $200; Third $100.

Creative Nonfiction Award
This is a nonfiction category that includes humour writing, memoir, biography, essay (including personal essay), travel writing and feature articles. It involves writing about real events, people, or ideas, conveying your message through the use of literary techniques such as characterization, plot, setting, dialogue, narrative, and personal reflection. In works of creative nonfiction, the writer’s voice and opinion are evident. The work should be accessible to a general reading audience (i.e., not written for a specialized or academic audience). Maximum length: 2500 words. Entry fee for each submission is $15. Prizes: First $500; Second $200; Third $100.

GENERAL RULES:

Deadline for entries: Friday, March 7, 2008. Entries must be postmarked or submitted by hand to the PEI Council of the Arts, 115 Richmond Street, Charlottetown, PE, CIA IH7 by 4 p.m., Friday, March 7, 2008. Those postmarked or delivered later will not be eligible. There are absolutely NO exceptions.

Participants may submit as many entries as they wish in one or all categories. A writer may only win one prize per category, and each text may be submitted to only one category.

For each manuscript entered, participants must complete a separate entry form.

Eligibility

Open to individuals who have been residents of PEI for six months preceding March 7, 2008.

Authors who have published a book are not eligible to submit in the genre(s) in which they have been published. (A book is defined as having at least 48 printed pages [with the exception of children’s books, which must contain at least 24 printed pages], a print run of at least 500 copies [exceptions are poetry collections, with a required minimum of 400 copies, and stage plays, with a required minimum of 350], be published principally in English, French or one of Canada’s Aboriginal languages, and must carry an ISBN from Library and Archives Canada.)

Winners of 2007 ILA first prize awards are not eligible to enter this year in the category in which they won first prize, EXCEPT in the student categories.

The work must be original and unpublished.

Prize-winning work from any other competition is not eligible for entry.

FEES

A $15 entry fee is required for EACH entry EXCEPT the Aliant Creative Writing Awards for Young People and the Department of Education Young Writer’s Award. Payment is by cheque or money order made out to the PEI Council of the Arts. DO NOT SEND or BRING CASH. NSF cheques will result in the submission being disqualified. Participants may submit as many entries as they wish, however, EACH must be accompanied by a $15 entry fee, excepting the two young writers’ categories listed above.

Format

Writers MUST submit THREE copies of each entry. PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS INCLUDES STUDENT ENTRIES. The three copies are required so that we may retain one copy in a central location for ILA records and give each of the two category judges a copy of each entry. Please retain either the original or a copy for yourself. Entries will be disqualified if three copies are not supplied.

With ONE exception, entries shall be typed, in 12 point font, with reasonable margins, double-spaced (except for poetry), and on one side of the page. The EXCEPTION is the Aliant Creative Writing Awards for Young People category entries for Grades 1 – 6, which may be written by hand (double-spaced).

Pages MUST be numbered, and it would be appreciated if the title of the submission appeared on each page.

No fax or e-mail entries will be accepted.

All submissions are final: no changes or substitutions are allowed. Entry fees are non-refundable and non-transferable.

Entries will not be returned and editorial comments will not be given on the entries.

Acknowledgement of receipt will be sent via email to those who provide a valid email address. If you want to receive acknowledgment by regular mail, please include a self-addressed stamped envelope with your entry.

EACH entry MUST include:
(a) An entry form/covering page which lists the title of the entry, the category, author’s name(s), address and telephone number. For the Aliant Creative Writing Awards for Young People, this covering page must also contain the school’s name and the grade of the author(s). Please check the PEI Council of the Arts ILA webpage (www.peica/ila) for a sample entry form which can be downloaded, or, if desired, entry forms may also be picked up at the PEI Council of the Arts office.

(b) A title page which lists only the title of the entry and, if desired, an author’s note.

The appearance of the author’s name(s) or other identification mark on the entry, other than on the entry form/covering page, shall DISQUALIFY THE ENTRY. Students – your name(s) must appear ONLY on the covering page or your submission will be disqualified.

Authors are advised to notify the Program Officer at the PEI Council of the Arts at (902) 620-3417 or toll-free at 1-888-PEI-ARTISTS should they change their address and/or telephone number after submitting.

This information is also available on the PEI Arts Council website: www.peiartscouncil.com/ila/

Please address entries and correspondence to:
Island Literary Awards
PEI Council of the Arts
115 Richmond Street
Charlottetown, PE
CIA IH7
E-mail ila@peiartscouncil.com

Phone: 902.620.3417