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Launch of Island Folk’s Blowing Raspberries

Please enjoy the unveiling of Island Folk Cider House‘s new cider, Blowing Raspberries! This cider takes its name from the poem by Hannah Vincent of Truro, NS, the winner of the Island Folk Micro-Writing Contest.

The Halifax launch was Tuesday, Apr 25 (starting 7pm), at Café Lara (2347 Agricola Street, Halifax). Attendees heard Hannah’s poem (as well as contest entries from six other entrants), read “Blowing Raspberries” from the gorgeous label of its eponymous cider, and sampled the cider’s notes of apple, raspberry, and rose petal. They also had the chance to order the cider from Island Folk Cider House, with next-day delivery offered to most of HRM.

"Blowing Raspberries" by Hannah Vincent, printed on Island Folk label designed by Alison Uhma

A very big thank you to Island Folk’s Jill McPherson, Mike Okell, and Alison Uhma—designer of the label on which “Blowing Raspberries” will appear—for partnering with the Writers’ Federation of Nova Scotia on this contest. Another very big thank you to Café Lara for their partnership in hosting the launch.

And congratulations to Hannah and to the remaining shortlisted writers: Barbara Lounder, Faith Farrell, Jamie Samson, and Sherry D. Ramsey!

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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