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Author spotlight: Jan Fancy Hull

Jan Fancy Hull lives in Lunenburg County. Prior to being awarded the 2022 Rita Joe Poetry Prize, her poetry was published in The Antigonish Review, and in an anthology, Gathering In (Windywood). She has also published two collections of short fiction, three mysteries in a series of twelve, and a non-fiction book (Moose House Publications).

As the title “Moss Meditations” suggests, your winning entry for the 2022 Rita Joe Poetry Prize reflects on nature. What are some of your favourite outdoor spots in Lunenburg County?

I wrote “Moss Meditations” as my personal response to an experience which excited my imagination. I live 100 feet from the shore of a small Lunenburg County lake. Looking out my windows, I watch the seasons, the weather, and the lake change a dozen times every day. In summer, I take my small boat on the water and just drift. Nature is awesome.

How did you prepare to enter “Moss Meditations” in Nova Writes? Did you revise the piece on your own or did you seek out feedback from others before the submission deadline?

All the above. I shared the initial version with a couple of trusted readers, then submitted it hither and yon, including to a previous Nova Writes. The great value of NW is the commentary that all entries receive. My poem received praise and suggestions, but no prize—OW. I knew it had good bones. I implemented (most of) the suggestions, submitted it again—WOW!

If you could only read three books of poetry for the rest of your life, which collections would you choose and why?

I’d choose three thick anthologies of diverse poets from diverse periods of time including the most recent. For the variety, and the possibility of finding new favourites with every turn of the page.

You’re also a member of WFNS. What spurred you to sign up?

I wanted to be part of / benefit from / support the provincial writing community. By the end of this year I will have published six books of prose published by Moose House Publications. I learned about MHP in a WFNS newsletter, so membership paid off bigtime!

What’s one thing you can’t write without?

A tinfoil hat, naturally. Also: For prose I need virtual hiking boots so I can navigate the rocky story trail without twisting an ankle.  For poetry, I need a virtual shovel to unearth extraordinary meanings hidden in ordinary things.

For more about the Rita joe Poetry Prize, see our Nova Writes Competition for Unpublished Manuscripts.

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Experience Levels

The Writers’ Federation of Nova Scotia (WFNS) uses the following terms to describe writers’ experience levels:

  • 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, writing for children and young adults, and others) 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.

The “Recommended experience level” section of each workshop description refers to the above definitions. A workshop’s participants should usually 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. 

For “intensive” and “masterclass” 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