Poetry session in ROM

Here’s an interesting experience for all of you poets out there; Inkslingers is offering Rhymes at the ROM, a day of poetry workshopping held at Ontario’s premier museum on Sept. 21.

To quote from their site: The Royal Ontario Museum is a gorgeous storehouse of anthropological, geological, and paleontological information and artefacts…Poets will be given prompts and exercises and encouragement throughout the day designed to help you engage with the bones of your material and your craft.

At the end of the day, workshop members will head to a local restaurant for an optional reading inspired by their day at the museum.

The workshop is planned for Sat. Sept 21, runs 10:30 a.m. — 4:30 p.m.  Cost for the day is $70 and includes museum entry fee, all workshop activities and a free drink at the reading afterward. To register, go to their site at:  http://inkslingers.ca/inkslingers/rhymes-at-the-rom/?fb_source=pubv1

Inkslingers is the brainchild of James Dewar and Susan Reynolds. Both are published authors who offer regular writing workshops through their Inkslingers business.

Simcoe County writers meet

In honour of National Poetry Month, the Writers’ Community of Simcoe County (WCSC) is featuring writer Barrie Dempster at their Apr. 21 meeting. Barrie’s topic is Giving the Muse Office Hours. He’ll discuss a variety of ways of going deeper into the writing and appreciation of poetry.

Barrie has published 16 books and been nominated twice for the Governor General’s Award. His collection, The Burning Alphabet, won the Canadian Authors’ Association Chalmers Award for Poetry in 2005. He is also Acquisitions Editor for Brick Books. Brick Books is a small, London Ont. publisher that deals exclusively in poetry. They have been in operation for nearly 40 years.

WCSC meets on the third Sunday of the month (Apr. 21 this month) from 11:30a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the Lions Gate Banquet Hall, 386 Blake St. in Barrie.

Cost for non-members is $25. Here is the link for Brunch information and to register: http://simcoewriters.ca/simcoe/lunch-reservation/

Radio writer to speak at WCDR

This Saturday, April 13, the Writers’ Community in Durham Region (WCDR) will feature writer, producer and columnist, Erin Balser discussing media writing. Erin’s work has appeared in CBC’s As It Happens, Q, The Next Chapter, Metro Morning, Fresh Air, and Here and Now; Radio Two’s Shift; and Radio 3′s R3 Weekend. She also produces CBC Books online.

WCDR is a long-standing writing organization (born in 1995) with a large and active membership so you must pre-register to make sure of a seat and adequate food. To pre-register go to their page: http://wcdr.ca/wcdr/breakfasts/ or call 905-686-0211. They want you to register by Wed. April 10 so, at this point, you might want to make the call, rather than digitally registering.

Cost for guests and non-members is $25. WCDR meetings run from 8:30 a.m. to 11:00 at the Ajax Convention Centre, 550 Beck Crescent, Ajax.

For more on WCDR’s activities, such as their post-meeting mini workshops, go to: http://wcdr.ca/wcdr/

Malahat Review’s short story contest opens

The Malahat Review, a long-standing Canadian literary magazine produced by the University of Victoria, has opened its annual short story contest.

Deadline for the Far Horizons Award for Short Fiction is May 1.  The winner will receive $1,000 and publication in the Fall issue of Malahat Review. That person will also be interviewed and the interview will appear in Malahat Lite, the magazine’s e-newsletter.

Every contestant receives a one-year subscription to The Malahat Review either for themselves or a friend. (You set that up in your entry form.)

Maximum length is 3,500 words and you can enter through an on-line process or use regular mail. Eligibility is limited to writers who have not yet published in book form. You can send more than one short story but each must be sent separately and be accompanied by a separate entry fee. Standard formatting applies whether you send by email (.doc or docx files, or PDF) or by regular mail.

Entries already published, accepted, or submitted elsewhere (no simultaneous submissions) are ineligible. Check out the details using the URL at the end of this blog; Malahat is very specific on what “published elsewhere” means.

The cost for you to enter depends on your location: for Canadian entries it’s $25 CAD; for American entries, $30 US; or for entries from Mexico and outside North America it’s $35 US. (Your fee pays for the subscription.)

Entry and payment are on-line, although you can only pay by using a credit card. if you opt to enter and pay using snail mail, the price is the same.

The stories will be blind judged and the final judge is Alissa York. Alissa studied English literature at McGill University and the University of Victoria. She is a faculty member at the University of Toronto’s School of Continuing Studies and regularly teaches at the Banff Centre for the Arts. She lives in Toronto. Her novel, Fauna, was short listed for the Giller prize and her short stories have won the Journey Prize and the RBC Bronwen Wallace Award.

To get more information on this contest or to enter go to: http://www.malahatreview.ca/contests/far_horizons_fiction/info.html.  if you submit on-line, entering is a multi-step process; you need to pay your fee first.

Poetry publisher offers prize & publication

Four Way Books, located in New York City, is looking for some quality poetry through their annual contest. Four Way is a non-profit literary press that publishes about a dozen books of poetry and short stories annually. They’ve been operating for about 20 years.

Their 2013 Four Way Book Levis Prize in Poetry (absurdly long name) offers $1,000 and publication to the winner, as well as a featured reading in New York City. Not a bad deal.

Fee: Entry fee is $28(US) and you can submit either online or through snail mail. Entry is a two-step process; first you pay for your entry, then you register and submit your work. (When you submit, you need a confirmation number that you receive when you pay.)

Requirements:

• Material in your manuscript may have been published previously in a chapbook, magazines, journals or anthologies, but the work as a whole must be unpublished
• Translations and previously self-published books are not eligible
• There are no length requirements but they note that book-length collections of poetry usually run between 45 and 80 pages of text
• The contest is open to any poet writing in English

Deadline is March 31.

For more information or to get details on where to submit go to:  http://fourwaybooks.com/contest.php

WCDR offers concrete poet

Writers’ Community of Durham Region (WCDR) is another large and well established organization that serves the eastern portion of the GTA. It has spawned several GTA writing groups including a number mentioned regularly in this blog.

WCDR’s March 16 meeting features poet Daniel Scott Tysdal. Daniel has authored two books of poetry, The Mourner’s Book of Albums (published by Tightrope in 2010) and Predicting the Next Big Advertising Breakthrough Using a Potentially Dangerous Method (Coteau in 2006). Predicting received the ReLit Award* for Poetry (2007) and the Anne Szumigalski Poetry Award (2006).  His work is experimental and includes concrete poetry, pieces shaped like the stories they’re telling — for one of his pieces, you actually have to fold the page in order to decipher the poem.

Daniel is presently a lecturer in creative writing at U of T’s Scarborough campus.

WCDR holds its meetings at Ajax Convention Centre, 550 Beck Crescent, Ajax. Members may pay in advance online, $20, or $25 at the door. Non-members must  pay in advance online, $25. In all cases, advance registration is necessary to ensure sufficient seating and food. Registration closes at 9 a.m. on Wed., March 13.  If you’d like to attend, go to WCDR’s registration page and scroll down: http://wcdr.ca/wcdr/breakfasts/

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* Canada’s ReLit Award was founded to acknowledge the best new work released by independent publishers. The recipients get a gold ring. We have a couple hundred independent and regional publishers in Canada, viable alternatives who are willing to take a chance on new writers. ReLit was started by Kenneth J. Harvey in 2000 as an alternative to mainstream award programs like Giller and Governor General’s Awards. Harvey is internationally acclaimed with his books being published in 16 countries. His work has been nominated twice for the Giller prize. 

The life of a literary agent

Meghan MacDonald will talk about her work as a literary agent at Writers Community of York Region’s March 10 meeting. She represents adult fiction and non-fiction projects at Transatlantic Agency, and is exploring innovative digital publishing opportunities for the agency’s clients.

Meghan as been with the 20-year-old, Toronto-based agency since 2009 and as part-time literary agent and publishing consultant since 2010. Previously, she was Executive Assistant to David Grossman at the David Grossman Literary Agency in the UK. Her particular interests are in literary fiction, mystery novels, well researched historical fiction, and persuasive and/or polemic non-fiction.

From what I have been able to gather, Transatlantic and Meghan are actively seeking new authors. So, if you want to know what they are looking for or to find out if you even need an agent, plan to drop in on WCYR’s meeting.

The date is Sunday, Mar. 10. Registration & networking start at 12:30. To ensure sufficient seating and food they need you to register by Mar. 7:  http://wcyork.ca/york/reserve-your-spot-for-our-next-lunch/.   Advance registration is $20 for members, $25 for non-members. Unregistered walk-ins are charged an additional $5.

Location is: Newmarket Community Centre and Lions Hall, 200 Doug Duncan Drive in Newmarket.

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I’ll have more on Transatlantic in my next post.

Author talks about getting short stories published

Several of the GTA’s large writing groups have regular monthly meetings in which they feature knowledgeable speakers in the writing, editing and publishing fields. Some of these groups are: Writers & Editors Network (WEN), Writers Community of Durham Region (WCDR), Professional Writers Association of Canada – Toronto Branch (PWAC), Canadian Author’s Association (CAA), Writers Community of Simcoe County (WCSC) and Writers Community of York Region (WCYR).  This week I’m featuring WEN’s March meeting.

The Writers & Editors Network meets monthly (except August) in Toronto’s West End at Canadiana Restaurant. WEN has about 100 members and has been operating for more than a decade.

On Saturday, March 16, Andrew Borkowski will speak to their audience. Unfortunately, WEN doesn’t say exactly what Andrew’s topic is. However, his critically acclaimed short story collection, Copernicus Avenue, published by Cormorant Books, won the 2012 Toronto Book Award and was shortlisted for the 2012 Danuta Gleed Literary Award for short fiction.

And WEN’s meetings generally allow for plenty of questions afterwards so, if you’re interested in short story collections or even getting published in magazines, Andrew would be a good resource. In addition to his published short works (appearing in Grain, New Quarterly and Storyteller among other publications), he has a long international list of non-fiction publishing and editing credits in arts, travel, and human interest journalism.

Writers & Editors Network meet on the third Saturday of most months (No meeting in August, December’s is a movable feast). Registration starts at 9:30 a.m. with the meeting running until 11:30. you get a full buffet breakfast and plenty of networking.

Canadiana Restaurant and Banquet Hall is located at 5230 Dundas St. in the Six Points Plaza, near Kipling Subway Station.

Cost is $20 for non-members and $15 for members. You can pay at the door. However, Breakfast Coordinator Anna Stitski-Gemza would like everyone to pre-register so she can ensure enough food and seats to go around. Email: breakfasts@wenetwork.org.