Date, 2007:  
Events / Markets / Contests / Announcements / Recommendations
 

Writing Events and Classes

• Sat. July 14. SFU's Symposium on the Book - Teen and Young Adult fiction. $75 for the full-day of presentations also gets you a copy of a book by each of the five presenters.

• Nov 2-4. Robert McKee's Story Seminar comes to Vancouver. 'For over 15 years, Robert McKee's Story Seminar has been the world's ultimate writing class for over 40,000 screenwriters, filmmakers, TV writers, novelists, industry executives, actors, producers, directors and playwrights.'
   

Calls for Submissions

Contests

• Deadline Fri. Aug. 3. Surrey International Writers' Conference contest. $1,000 top prize in each of the four categories: Short story, poetry, nonfiction and writing for children. Note the earlier deadline that usual. Note: LPwordsolutions is one of the prize sponsors of the nonfiction category.
   

Announcements

• Surrey writer and writing mentor Ed Griffin has announced the publication of his third novel Veto. Order it from Ed, or from Amazon. Details here.

Recommendations of the week

• The British website The Short Story includes all kinds of resources for fiction writers including listings of short story contests and articles about the genre. Many contests welcome overseas submissions, and pay in UK pounds, so are well worth considering.

May 12, 2007:

• Saturday, May 26, 1-5 p.m. Having Your Say: Writing Personal Essays and Opinion Pieces. Vancouver, BC. Details here.

• Saturday, June 2, 9 a.m. - 4 p.m. Fiction Fundamentals.
  Johnston Heights School. Surrey, BC. Details here.

• Douglas College Print Futures Program offers four courses in its Best Practices series in July and August. Details here.

• Poetry and prose by Surrey, BC writers sought for the Arts Council of Surrey Spotlight.
  Guidelines here. Pays in 3 copies + $25 honorarium.

• Slice Me Some Truth: A Canadian Anthology of Creative Nonfiction. Categories include memoir, literary travel, personal essay, nature writing, lyric essay, literary journalism, rhetoric. Info here. Deadline July 31.

• The Canadian magazine for women Cahoots seeks submissions of poetry, artwork, essays, features, humour, and travel pieces. Themes: Laughter (deadline: June 1, 2007); Herstory (deadline: September 1, 2007). Check the magazine's website for more info.

• The paying online magazine Common Ties seeks personal stories 750-3,000 words. Check their website for themes, dates, and further info.

• Deadline May 30 - The New Zealand Poetry Society 2007 International Poetry Competition. www.poetrysociety.org.nz.

• Deadline June 1 - Praise for Papa Short Story Contest sponsored by the 3rd. Annual Ernest Hemingway Festival. $500 top prize, and publication. Details here.

• Deadline June 30 - The Writer Magazine Short Story Contest. Stories 2,000 words max eligible to win $1,000 / $300 / $100 US. Details here.

• Deadline June 30 - Britain's Bridport Prize - open to writers everywhere. Significant prizes in poetry (42 lines max.) short stories (5,000 words). Guidelines here.

• Holley Rubinsky hosts the Writers' Show on Kootenay Coop Radio every Monday night at 6 p.m. You don't have to live in the Kootenays to enjoy it. Hear it online here.

• We'd love to include your publication and contest announcements, so send us a little BSP (Blatant Self-Promotion) telling us what you've won or published, where, and when.

• If you're interested in writing for children, check out the June issue of the Writer Magazine.

• Read this classic for motivational and inspiration. If You Want To Write: A Book About Art, Independence and Spirit by Brenda Ueland. ISBN 1-55597-260-8 Pub. Gray Wolf Press.

• Editors love date-related material - and sometimes the more offbeat the better. Check out the Daily Globe Archive for extensive listings

April 10, 2007:  

• Upcoming workshops and courses presented by Lois Peterson include Writing From Life (April 24 - May 29), Marketing 101 (Sat. May 12), Having Your Say – Writing personal essays and opinion pieces (May 26 for the Federation of BC Writers), and Fiction Fundamentals (Sat. June 2). Details here.

• Also April 19, South Surrey Writers Heidi Greco and Leona Gom will be reading Future (In)Tense works at the White Rock Arts Council Gallery 7:30 p.m. #90, 1959 152nd Street (Windsor Square Mall) (parking out back, off 20th Avenue),

• Wed. May 2 – Naomi  Wakan shares her experiences as an older writer, ‘offering insights that will amuse, inform and encourage you to get writing’. Vancouver Public Library Central branch. 350 W. Georgia. 7 pm. Free.

• Mon. May 28 – World Poetry. Vancouver Public Library Central branch. 350 W. Georgia. 7 pm. Free.

• BookLand Press seeks novels and bios of Canadian athletes.

• May 31 deadline - Burnaby Writer's Society annual contest - this year "The High Middle Age' open to BC residents aged 40+.

• May 26 deadline - BC Environmental Network poetry contest.

• July 1 deadline: Foreign Affairs: Travel Stories with a Twist, sponsored by the Federation of BC Writers.

• Aug 4 deadline - the Surrey International Writer's Conference contest offers $1,000 top prize in each of four categories: short stories, nonfiction, poetry, writing for young people.

• Thurs. April 19 - Poetry Readings on the Theme of the Sari.
  Surrey Arts Centre, 7:30-9 pm. Details here.

• Art Down Under workshop for young artists age 12-14. Deadline to apply to participate April 23. Offered by the Surrey Public Library.

• Book: If you're serious about poetry and want to understand the demands of subject, style, craft, and form, check out Michael Bugeja's book The Art and Craft of Poetry. 

• A good read: If you love to travel, read about real traveler's story, and/or just like a pretty book, check out Penguin's new Great Journeys series (spotted at Wendell's in Fort Langley this week). Check out the full list and see their lovely covers here.

• Website: The Power of Words has been publishing writing tips by the staff of The Providence Journal almost every week since August 1997. Useful for anyone contemplating writing for newspapers.

April 1, 2007

• Upcoming workshops and courses presented by Lois Peterson include Writing From Life (April 24 - May 29), Marketing 101 (Sat. May 12), Having Your Say – Writing personal essays and opinion pieces (May 26 for the Federation of BC Writers), and Fiction Fundamentals (Sat. June 2). Details here.

• Sat. April 14 - YA Fiction Workshop with Sheryl McFarlane presented by the Federation of BC Writers. 1 to 5 pm. Alliance for Arts & Culture, 938 Howe Street, Vancouver. Instructor:  Sheryl McFarlane.
  $50 for Fed members, $75 for non-members. Ino at www.bcwriters.com.

• Sign up for the Sat. April 21 fiction workshop presented by Keith Maillard, author of Motet and Light in the Company of Women. Info at the Canadian Author's Association website.

• Wed. May 2 – Naomi  Wakan shares her experiences as an older writer, ‘offering insights that will amuse, inform and encourage you to get writing’. Vancouver Public Library Central branch. 350 W. Georgia. 7 pm. Free.

• Mon. May 28 – World Poetry. Vancouver Public Library Central branch. 350 W. Georgia. 7 pm. Free.

• Descant seeks stories, essays, or poems for its upcoming themed issues.
  Send work about hotels by June 1, 2007, and about cats and dogs
  by July 1. 

• May 31 deadline: Antigonish Review – Sheldon Currie fiction prize.
  $20 entry fee (includes one-year subscription to TAR). Prizes $500 / $400 / $20
  plus publication.

• Chilliwack writer Ken Loomes is wanting to find or form a writing group in his area. Email him or call 604-824-4865.

• The Cecelia Lamont Writing Contest awards ceremony took place on Wed. March 21. Prose winners were: Michael Bennett, Libby Kennedy, Pamela Garrity, Dana Ramstedt, & Theresa Moleski. Winners in the poetry category included Patricia Smekal, Valerie Laub, and Madeline Nattrass. Judges were Miranda Pearson for poetry, and Lois Peterson for prose. 
  Sponsored by the White Rock and South Surrey Writers' Group. Welcomes new members. For more info. email Carol Sharpe or call 604-501-0934 

• Book: Make Your Words Work by Gary Provost. By all accounts a master teacher, Gary Provost's invaluable book was reissued in 2004. Readily available.

• A good read: Picked up at a recent library book sale, Earth and Heaven
  by Sue Gee. Set between the two World Wars, it follows the life of an artist in rural England, in the context of the British art world of the time. Elegiac. Stunning evocation of time and place.

• Website: Editors love  topical pieces for full-length articles or fillers, often the more arcane and unusual the better. Check out the various calendars at The Calendar Zone for lots of article ideas.

March 18, 2007

• Tues. March 27 – CBC Bookclub comes to Surrey Arts Centre featuring Vikram Chandra, author of Sacred Games. Visit the CBC website to enter to win a ticket to this event.

• Sat. March 31 – Writer’s Express. A full day of presentations – information / inspiration / motivation. 9 a.m. – 4 pm. At Johnston Heights School. $84 includes lunch and a useful handbook.

• Sat. Mar. 31 – Starting and Sustaining Your Editing Career – presented in Vancouver by the BC Branch of the Editors Association of Canada. 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. $145 for non-members / $90 for members.

• Sat. April 15 - YA Fiction Workshop with Sheryl McFarlane presented by the Federation of BC Writers. Sat. April 15, 1 to 5 pm. Alliance for Arts & Culture, 938 Howe Street, Vancouver. Instructor:  Sheryl McFarlane.
  $50 for Fed members, $75 for non-members.

• Sign up for the April 21 fiction workshop presented by Keith Maillard, author of Motet and Light in the Company of Women. Info at the Canadian Author's Association website.

• Upcoming workshops and courses presented by Lois Peterson include Writing From Life (April 22 - May 29) , Marketing 101 (Sat. May 12), and Fiction Fundamentals (Sat. June 2). Details here.

• The Gull Lake Visitor Guide and Pigeon Lake Visitor Guide (AB) seeks stories and articles relevant to summer tourists: swimming, boating, golfing, fishing, antiques, camp cooking, traveling with kids, etc. Length: 300-1200 words. Payment: $.04/word plus hard copy. Emailed submissions preferred.

• Senior Living Magazine seeks Vancouver-area writers and photographers. Any age. Issues posted on their website so you can see the kind of work they publish. No mention of pay rates.
• Sumac Press will publish Cleavage an anthology about mothers and daughters and body image. Submit by June 15. Pays $75 plus one copy b/ 40% off additional copies.
• Canadian women writers are invited to contribute to an anthology of impressions of books that have made a difference in their live. Info. at Bookmark stories.

• April 24 deadline: Writers' Union Writing for Children Competition Entry fee $15 / First Prize: $1,500

• May 1 deadline: Canadian Stories short story and poetry contest. . Prizes $400 / $200 / $75
• Lois Peterson’s short article Flush! Appears in the April issue of West Coast Editor.
• Book: Turning Life Into Fiction by Robin Hemley. Pub. Story Press 1555974449

• Website: Freelance Writing Organization-International. Searchable databases for markets, articles, contests and more.

• A good read: I read mysteries, police procedurals and thrillers at bedtime.
  Just this week discovered British author Michael Robotham, author of Lost
  and Suspect. His third is coming out soon. Great characterization and dialogue.

 Se 

Imprint
February 2007 ~  January 2007   ~ October '06
July / August '06 ~ June/July  '06 ~ May '06
April '06 ~March '06 ~ February '06