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Help us build the Second-Wave Relief Fund

So we’re all indoors once again — limiting our contact by staying home, waving hello to the computer at Zoom meetings, and planning for a quiet holiday season. COVID-19 and its lockdowns have been bearable for many of us but — as we all know — much more difficult for some of our fellow writers. Publishing dates have been delayed. Part-time jobs have dried up. And money for living expenses is running short.

This Giving Tuesday, the Writers’ Federation of Nova Scotia is asking for help with our Second-Wave Relief Fund — newly established to help writers in precarious financial circumstances with immediate, non-deferrable living expenses, such as utility and phone bills, housing costs, groceries, and fuel. Beginning in January, 2021, the fund will provide applying writers with one-time disbursements of up to $250.

We have set aside some funds in the WFNS budget for this relief program — as well as for an annual assistance fund, which is still in development. We hope, with your donations, we can collectively help as many writers in need as possible. If you feel able at this time, please consider directly supporting our efforts. Whether $100, $50, or $20 — any amount will help, and any gift of $10 or more will qualify you for a charitable tax receipt.

Donate Now

If you are a writer in need of financial assistance, please keep an eye out for the launch of the Second-Wave Relief Fund in early January.

Yours Truly,

Lorri Neilsen Glenn
President
Writers’ Federation of Nova Scotia 

Marilyn Smulders
Executive Director
Writers’ Federation of Nova Scotia

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Simultaneous Submissions

The Writers’ Federation of Nova Scotia (WFNS) administers some programs (and special projects) that involve print and/or digital publication of ‘selected’ or ‘winning’ entries. In most cases, writing submitted to these programs and projects must not be previously published and must not be simultaneously under consideration for publication by another organization. Why? Because our assessment and selection processes depends on all submitted writing being available for first publication. If writing selected for publication by WFNS has already been published or is published by another organization first, copyright issues will likely make it impossible for WFNS to (re-)publish that writing.

When simultaneous submissions to a WFNS program are not permitted, it means the following:

  • You may not submit writing that has been accepted for future publication by another organization.
  • You may not submit writing that is currently being considered for publication by another organization—or for another prize that includes publication.
  • The writing submitted to WFNS may not be submitted for publication to another organization until the WFNS program results are communicated. Results will be communicated directly to you by email and often also through the public announcement of a shortlist or list of winners. Once your writing is no longer being considered for the WFNS program, you are free to submit it elsewhere.
    • If you wish to submit your entry elsewhere before WFNS program results have been announced, you must first contact WFNS to withdraw your entry. Any entry fee cannot be refunded.

Prohibitions on simultaneous submission do not apply to multiple WFNS programs. You are always permitted to submit the same unpublished writing to multiple WFNS programs (and special projects) at the same time, such as the Alistair MacLeod Mentorship Program, the Emerging Writers Prizes, the Jampolis Cottage Residency Program, the Message on a Bottle contest, the Nova Writes Competition, and any WFNS projects involving one-time or recurring special publications.

Recommended Experience Levels

The Writers’ Federation of Nova Scotia (WFNS) recommends that participants in any given workshop have similar levels of creative writing and / or publication experience. This ensures that each participant gets value from the workshop⁠ and is presented with information, strategies, and skills that suit their career stage. The “Recommended experience level” section of each workshop description refers to the following definitions used by WFNS.

  • New writers: those with less than two years’ creative writing experience and/or no short-form publications (e.g., short stories, personal essays, or poems in literary magazines, journals, anthologies, or chapbooks).
  • Emerging writers: those with more than two years’ creative writing experience and/or numerous short-form publications.
  • Early-career authors: those with 1 or 2 book-length publications or the equivalent in book-length and short-form publications.
  • Established authors: those with 3 or 4 book-length publications.
  • Professional authors: those with 5 or more book-length publications.

Please keep in mind that each form of creative writing (fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and writing for children and young adults) provides you with a unique set of experiences and skills, so you might consider yourself an ‘established author’ in one form but a ‘new writer’ in another.

For “intensive” and “masterclass” creative writing workshops, which provide more opportunities for peer-to-peer feedback, the recommended experience level should be followed closely.

For all other workshops, the recommended experience level is just that—a recommendation—and we encourage potential participants to follow their own judgment when registering.

If you’re uncertain of your experience level with regard to any particular workshop, please feel free to contact us at communications@writers.ns.ca