Fredericton, New Brunswick, June 3, 2013 — Award winning author and filmmaker Shandi Mitchell headlines the Maritime Writers’ Workshops this coming July. She will be instructing Fiction Writing 101, a full day workshop on Monday July 9^th that introduces the world of fiction writing. Participants will explore various approaches to developing character, setting, theme, point of view and structure to help reveal the voice that best serves the story. The focus will be on creativity, your writing fears, and how to let your playfulness and wildness come through in your writing. Come to this workshop prepared to write.

Shandi Mitchell’s debut novel Under This Unbroken Sky was simultaneously published by Penguin Canada, Weidenfeld & Nicolson (UK) and Harper Collins (US). It sold in nine countries, including translation rights for Chinese, Hebrew, Dutch and Italian. Under This Unbroken Sky won the 2010 Commonwealth regional Prize for First Book (Canada/Caribbean), the Thomas Head Raddall Fiction Award, the Margaret and John Savage First Book Award, and the 2012 Kobzar Literary Award. It has also longlisted for the IMPAC Dublin Literary Award. Her first feature film The Disappeared, a full-length film about sailors adrift off the coast of Nova Scotia was released in April to critical and audience acclaim.

Fiction Writing 101 is only one of the twelve writing workshops offered by the Maritime Writers’ Workshops from July 8 to 12 that cover poetry, fiction writing, life writing, getting started, reviewing and marketing your book.

For information on full list of Maritime Writers’ Workshops and available scholarships check out the website at:

www.unb.ca/cel/programs/creative/maritime-writers/index.html or call (506) 458-7106.

Register on line at: go.unb.ca/celmwwsummer13 or by phone at 453-4646 or 1-866-599-4646.

The registration deadline for all Maritime Writers’ Workshops is July 5. 2013.

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Laurie Glenn Norris

Coordinator

Maritime Writers’ Workshops

(506) 458-7106

laurie.norris@unb.ca

We are down to the final category in our 2013 Literary Competition – the Sheree Fitch Prize!  This year we asked young writers (to the age of 18) to send us their short fiction.  The award, which is supported by the Sheree Fitch, has first, second and third place cash prizes, and did not require an entry fee.  This year the category was adjudicated by Jennifer McGrath Kent, who is the author of Chocolate River Rescue, White Cave Escape, Gadzooks the Christmas Goose (all with Nimbus Publications).  McGrath Kent will appear at WordsSpring, giving a workshop on story arc and plotting and reading from her work.

And the Sheree Fitch Prize goes too….

Sheree Fitch Prize for Writers to 18 years, Judge Jennifer McGrath Kent, NB

1^st, Cait Gautron, Fredericton, NB, “Households”

2^nd, Kate Van Buskirk, Fredericton, NB, “The Feeding of the Wolves”

3^rd, Nancy He, Fredericton, NB, “Between the Silent Spaces”

Honourable Mention

Mariah Donnelly, Irishtown, NB, “Upside Down Roses”

Ashleigh Belyea, Saint John, NB, “Marley”

Congratulations to these terrific young writers!

Our Awards Soiree, featuring readings from competition winners in attendance (there will be several) and guest authors Riel Nason and Sheree Fitch, will take place on May 11, during WordsSpring in the Kennebecasis Valley.  It’s a great program in a beautiful spot.  For the details see:

http://www.wfnb.ca/events/wordsspring-2013-may-10-12-kennebecasis-valley/

We have the penultimate prize to announce (the Sheree Fitch Prize will be announced on Monday).  It’s a goal of many a New Brunswick writer to take home the David Adams Richards Prize for Fiction.  This year we had 36 complete and partial book-length manuscripts submitted for the prize, a stunning amount for a relatively small province.  In early March two very heavy boxes were sent to the category’s adjudicator, novelist Ian Colford of Halifax, who must’ve wondered what he had agreed to take on.  Colford, the author of The Crimes of Hector Tomas (Freehand Press) and Evidence (Porcupine’s Quill), remarked on the overall strength of the submissions.

Drum roll… fanfare…

David Adams Richards Prize for Fiction, Judge Ian Colford, NS

Honourable Mention

 Leanne Petrin, Oromocto, NB, “The Heart of the Watermelon: My Mennonite Gradma & Me”

 Shaun Cunningham, Sackville, NB, “Four Stories”

 Richard Toth, Bathurst, NB, “Nothing Stays the Same: A Novella”

Finalists:

Allison Calvern, Fredericton, NB, “Edmundston, etc.”

Edward Lemond, Dieppe, NB, “Equal Affection”

Winner

Jerrod Edson, Rothesay, NB/Mississauga, ON, “The Moon is Real”

Our Awards Soiree, featuring winners in attendance and guest authors Riel Nason and Sheree Fitch, will take place on May 11, during WordsSpring in the Kennebecasis Valley.  It’s a great program in a beautiful spot.  For the details see:

http://www.wfnb.ca/events/wordsspring-2013-may-10-12-kennebecasis-valley/

_________________________________

OK, another day and another prize to announce, this time it’s the Writing for Children award, which was adjudicated by Lisa Dalrymple of Fergus, Ontario, who first came to NB when she placed second in our competition in 2010.  Since then Lisa has won the Writers’ Union of Canada’s Writing for Children Award and has gone on the publish her first two books for children, If It’s No Trouble… A Big Polar Bear (Tuckamore Books) and the forthcoming Skink on the Brink (Fitzhenry & Whiteside).  We’re thrilled to have Lisa back in NB, too, as she’s one of our featured guests at WordsSpring!

But back to the prize.  Fanfare!

Writing for Children (age 4 – 8), Judge Lisa Dalrymple, ON

Honourable Mention

Karen Davidson, Elgin, NB, “A Doggish Good Day”

Kelly Trevors Picard, Passekeag, NB, “Sarah’s Soup”

Finalists:

Kim McAdam,  Grand Bay-Westfield, NB, “There’s a Monster in My Closet”

Kelly Trevors Picard, Passekeag, NB, “The Star of Bethlehem”

Winner

Jane Fritz, Fredericton, NB, “No More Worms for Supper”

http://www.wfnb.ca/events/wordsspring-2013-may-10-12-kennebecasis-valley/

Day three of releasing the results of our 2013 Literary Competition!  Today we’ve already released the results of the Alfred G. Bailey Prize for Poetry, and now it’s time for the award for Creative Non Fiction, which this year was adjudicated by Nova Scotia writer Sandra Phinney, author of several travel guides and Pierre Elliott Trudeau: the prankster who never flinched.

Trumpet blare…

Creative Non-Fiction, Judge Sandra Phinney, NS

Honourable Mention

Rhonda Bulmer, Moncton, NB, “My Brother and I and Bikes”

Carlena Munn, Fredericton, NB, “Lessons from a Beaver”

Finalists:

Geoff North, Fredericton, NB, “A Year with Henry”

Neil Sampson, Durham Ridge, NB, “Twelve seconds and…. forty years later”

Winner

Gwen Martin, Yoho, NB, “The Landscape of Loss”

http://www.wfnb.ca/events/wordsspring-2013-may-10-12-kennebecasis-valley/

Day three of releasing the results of our 2013 Literary Competition!  Today we’ll have two announcements, the first being the Alfred G. Bailey Prize for Poetry, a prize that goes back to the competition’s and the federation’s beginning.  Looking over the past winners is like browsing through a who’s-who of NB and Canadian poetry.  This year, we received more than double the submissions from last year, making it a tough decision for the adjudicator, Newfoundland poet Kerri Cull, author of Soak (Breakwater Press).

Drum roll…

Alfred G. Bailey Prize for Poetry, Judge Kerri Cull, NL    

Honourable Mention:

Jane Tims, Rusagonis, NB, “Within Easy Reach- Growing and Gathering Local Foods”

Shari Andrews, Fredericton, NB, “Waltzing the Mirror”

Finalists:

Sneha Madhavan-Reese, Ottawa, ON, “Observing the Moon”

Elena E. Johnson, Vancouver, BC / Alma, NB, “Edge Effect”

Winner:

Kerry-Lee Powell, Moncton, NB, “Inheritance”

http://www.wfnb.ca/events/wordsspring-2013-may-10-12-kennebecasis-valley/