The deadline for the 2023 Artist-in-Residence program is Sunday July 31, 2022.

Submissions must be made by email to info@jogginsfossilcliffs.net.

To submit to the Artist-in-Residence Programme please send:

1. an artist’s statement (maximum 500 words) describing your recent artistic activities and professional development, your work in general, its influences and direction;
2. a brief description of your project (maximum 500 words);
3. technical requirements and/or site specifications if applicable (maximum 1 page);
4. a plan and a working schedule;
5. a biography (maximum 1 page);
6. documentation of your work:
   • visual artists: up to 10 images or 5 minutes of audio/visual material — (JPEG or TIFF @ 300 dpi minimum)
   • writers: up to 25 pages of prose or 10 poems;
   • performers/composers: up to 10 minutes of audio/visual material
7. a current curriculum vitæ;
8. a letter of reference from a peer, mentor or professor (for emerging artists)

Please note

The residency programme is contingent upon funding. Applicants will be notified as soon possible if the residency is not be to offered in a particular year.

For further information contact:

Laurie Glenn Norris M.A.
Education and Outreach Manager
Joggins Fossil Centre
(902) 251-2727, ext 224 or education@jogginsfossilcliffs.net

The 2022 Federal Budget, released yesterday, includes a public statement and commitment to “ensure a sustainable educational publishing industry, including fair remuneration for creators and copyright holders”.  The short statement is found on page 274 of the budget, excerpted here:

Amendments to the Copyright Act

In Budget 2022, the government proposes to introduce amendments to the Copyright Act to extend the general term of copyright protection from 50 to 70 years after the life of the author as agreed under the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement.

The government is committed to ensuring that the Copyright Act protects all creators and copyright holders. As such, the government will also work to ensure a sustainable educational publishing industry, including fair remuneration for creators and copyright holders, as well as a modern and innovative marketplace that can efficiently serve copyright users.

https://budget.gc.ca/2022/home-accueil-en.html

Access Copyright, the Canadian Copyright Licensing Agency, understands that both Minister Rodriguez and Minister Champagne pushed to get the statement included in the budget.  The Prime Minister’s Office and the Privy Council Office are actively monitoring reactions to the budget to assess how to move forward with its content.

Access Copyright has released the following statement in support of the budget commitment. We encourage all our member organizations to publicly celebrate this positive step forward, such as through a public statement and/or on social media. Please be sure to tag Minister Rodriguez and Minister Champagne on any social media posts. 

www.accesscopyright.ca

ArtsLink NB is presenting Dreaming Inventive Futures, its first-ever intensive workshop on anti-oppression in the arts April 23 and 24. This is the first workshop ArtsLink NB has offered that is geared not only towards artists, but also toward professionals working for creative organizations. We would love to have you join us.

I've attached the press release, and the info is also on our website: https://artslinknb.com/blog/2022/04/06/artslink-nb-to-host-anti-oppression-workshop-for-creative-sector/

The intensive workshop will be held virtually via Zoom and is free for members of ArtsLink NB. Sessions will run from 9am to 4pm each day. To register, cultural sector workers should send an email to Jericho Knopp, jeri@artslinknb.com, with their name, their field or organization, and a brief description of why they’re interested in taking the workshop.

Friends, writers, librarians, teachers and their classrooms, are all welcome to attend this virtual conversation with author Valerie Sherrard, who will be chatting about her newest middle grade novel. And of course, there will be prizes and time for Q&A. 

https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/virtual-conversation-valerie-sherrard-on-her-new-book-a-bend-in-the-breeze-tickets-310015453567

March 22, 2022 – The Writers' Federation of New Brunswick (WFNB) and The Fiddlehead have announced the shortlisted titles for the 7th annual New Brunswick Book Awards. The winners will be revealed at an awards ceremony on Saturday, June 4, as part of WFNB’s annual WordSpring writing festival in Fredericton.

The program will celebrate books published in the 2021 calendar year in the poetry, fiction, nonfiction and children’s picture books categories.

The finalists are as follows:

Mrs. Dunster’s Award for Fiction
Judge: Richard Cumyn is the author of nine books of fiction, most recently The Sign for Migrant Soul, and a past fiction editor of The Antigonish Review.

Amber McMillan, The Running Tree (Goose Lane Editions), Fredericton

Beth Powning, The Sister’s Tale (Knopf Canada), Markhamville

Valerie Sherrard, Birdspell (DCB/Cormorant Books), Miramichi

Alice Kitts Memorial Award for Excellence in Children’s Writing
Judge: Author of over 27 books, Dr. Kari-Lynn Winters is a children's author, playwright, performer, and scholar.

Jodie Callaghan, Ga’s The Train (Second Story Press), Campbellton; translated by Joe Wilmot, and illustrated Georgia Lesley

Leo LaFleur, The Errand: The Queen (Simply Read Books), Saint John; illustrated by Adam Oehlers

Riel Nason, Disaster at the Highland Games (Chocolate River Publishing), Quispamsis; illustrated by Nathasha Pilotte

The Fiddlehead Poetry Book Prize
Judge: An editor at Room magazine, Isabella Wang is the author of the chapbook, On Forgetting a Language and her full-length debut, Pebble Swing.

Triny Finlay,Myself a Paperclip (Goose Lane Editions), Fredericton

Rebecca Salazar, sulphurtongue (McClelland & Stewart), Fredericton

Jane Tims, a glimpse of waterfall (Indie published), Rusagonis

Writers’ Federation of New Brunswick Nonfiction Award
Judge: Julie Sedivy is a language scientist, editor, and award-winning writer of nonfiction whose work crosses and recombines scientific and literary genres.

Michael Boudreau and Bonnie Huskins, Just the Usual Work: The Social Worlds of Ida Martin, Working-Class Diarist (McGill-Queen’s University Press), Fredericton

Janet Coulter Sanford,Memories on the Bounty: A Story of Friendship, Love, and Adventure (Nimbus), Moncton

Martha Vowles, Senior Management: Parenting My Parents (Nevermore Press), Grand-Bay Westfield

The New Brunswick Book Awards are open to traditionally published and self-published authors who have lived in the province for three of the last five years, including the award year.

The book awards program represents a partnership between the Writers’ Federation, which for more than 30 years has passionately supported the development of home-grown writers at all stages of development, and The Fiddlehead, Canada’s oldest literary magazine, which has nurtured New Brunswick's literary culture for more than 75 years.

I'd like to invite your organization to participate in our 2022 writing contest, offering a $200 prize. The contest judge is the amazing Pamela Painter. Details for entry are here:

https://brilliantflashfiction.com/2022/01/05/welcome-2022-writing-contest/#more-5044

Please send us your flash,

Dawn Lowe, Editor

Brilliant Flash Fiction is a nonprofit located in Colorado, USA

Wendy McLeod MacKnight presents a workshop on writing great stories and books for children. Go to Frye.ca to register! At $15, it's a great value for WFNB members, $25 for non-members.

The Writers’ Federation of New Brunswick (WFNB) is delighted to welcome Brigitte Rivers as their new Executive Director.

Rivers has been a freelance writer since 2006, and is a published author and illustrator (under her pen name Brigitte Marsden). She has a background in publishing, marketing and web communications, as well as being an educator. A long-time member of WFNB, Rivers has supported the non-profit in a volunteer capacity as a regional representative.

“I am really excited to take on this key role in the Writers’ Federation,” Rivers said. “I have really appreciated their support , inputs and encouragement as a writer, especially launching out into unfamiliar territory as a children’s author. As well, through WFNB I learned about opportunities to connect with my audience in different ways thanks to the Writers in Schools Program and the Artists in Residency in Schools Program. I’m looking forward to working with a great team of dedicated board members and volunteers helping support other writers in reaching their goals.”  

WFNB is the only organization in New Brunswick devoted solely and passionately to supporting writers and storytellers at all stages of development and in all genres. Their vision is to create community through words, and they offer writers of all levels of experience a welcoming and supportive home.

The WFNB community includes memoirists, corporate writers, poets, mainstream writers, short story writers, magazine editors, novelists, screenwriters, newsletter creators, high school students, book editors, university students, book club readers, spoken word artists, playwrights, and journalists.

Founded in 1985, WFNB began as a few friends gathered in a writer’s living room. Today, it is a province-wide organization with members living in every corner of New Brunswick, and across Canada.

WFNB’s mandate is to help New Brunswick writers to write, and to acquire the professional skills to achieve financial self-sufficiency as writers. They also aim to raise public awareness of literary culture by showcasing works of New Brunswick and other writers.

The non-profit accomplishes these goals through their core programs: WordSpring and WordsFall – which feature workshops on the craft and business aspects of writing – as well as the NB Writing Competition and the NB Book Awards, and other programming and events.

"Brigitte Rivers brings a wealth of enthusiasm and a breadth of experience in art, writing, teaching, and non-profit work that will serve her well as Executive Director of the WFNB,” Interim Executive Director Rhonda Bulmer said. “After two years of pandemic restrictions, the board and executive is hopeful that the coming year will bring a restoration of the community-based activities New Brunswick writers value. We are confident that Brigitte's leadership will help us make this a time of growth for our organization, and our members."

Rivers feels the federation’s logo reflects the nature of the organization.

“The WFNB logo features a vibrant tree that I think beautifully illustrates who we are: strongly rooted here in New Brunswick, resilient through challenging times, and continuing to grow and expand. I see in the leaves the different backgrounds, aspirations, genres and styles expressed in our members.”

The AX Reading Series is pleased to welcome current UNB Writer in Residence, poet Phoebe Wang, for an online reading and workshop. 

On Friday, January 21, at 7:00 p.m. Wang will read from her collected works before taking questions from the audience. The following morning, Saturday, January 22, Wang will host a publishing workshop. 

The reading is free, and the workshop is being offered at a discounted rate of $25, thanks to grants from the provincial and federal governments.

Visit the AX Literary page to get a link for the reading, and the AX Workshop page to register for the Intuitive Publishing workshop.