Events held by other NS literary & arts organizations, festivals, indie bookstores, and other groups
Come share your works in progress with fellow writers in a safe and welcoming space on the first Friday of every month.
Feel free to come by for a drink and to just listen to other writers read, too.
Each reader is allotted up to 7-10 minutes of reading time, depending on turnout.
Latte Lit Open Mic Read More »
Join us with true crime author Kayla Hounsell and her book Second Degree: From Med School to Murder, The Story Behind the Shocking Will Sandeson Trials. We will be discussing her book. There will be a Q&A, a short reading, and a book signing at the conclusion of the event. This is her first appearance in Cole Harbour and her only event during this holiday season.
In 2017, a jury found Will Sandeson guilty of first-degree murder in the death of Taylor Samson. A “good kid” from a good family, Sandeson was about to start classes at Dalhousie University’s medical school when Samson disappeared. The trial exposed a dangerous world of drugs, greed, and misplaced loyalties—including a private investigator accused of switching sides. Sandeson was ultimately sentenced to life in prison.
He immediately appealed; in 2020, Sandeson’s conviction was overturned, and a new trial was ordered. In a shocking twist, Sandeson finally took the stand, detailing in four days of explosive testimony how and why he killed Samson, and for the first time offering an explanation of what he’d done with Samson’s body.
An updated and expanded follow-up to award-winning journalist Kayla Hounsell’s First From Med School to Murder, Second Degree features all-new chapters and never-before-published material. Accented with 19 colour photos, this riveting work tells the powerful story of a drug deal gone terribly wrong and examines the crime, the courts, and the killer’s crusade for freedom.
Second Degree With Kayla Hounsell Read More »
Come share your works in progress with fellow writers in a safe and welcoming space on the first Friday of every month.
Feel free to come by for a drink and to just listen to other writers read, too.
Each reader is allotted up to 7-10 minutes of reading time, depending on turnout.
Latte Lit Open Mic Read More »
Emma Května is taking us through the steps needed to self-publish.
Emma Května is a writer, poet and author. Her work has appeared in Filling Station, Bell Press, and Planisphere Quarterly. She is a self-published author and has helped others through the process during her time with FriesenPress.
Please call 902-752-5181 or email trenton@parl.ns.ca to register as seats are limited.
Steps to Self-Publishing Read More »
Join us for an informal Saturday morning author Meet & Greet with a few of OC Publishing’s Children’s authors: Author & Illustrator E.M. Gales (Orange Kitty and the Mouse Parade), Barbara Ann Miller (Zig Zag Zeffy), and special guest Zeffy!
Orange Kitty and the Mouse Parade is a playful, colourful, vibrantly illustrated, counting and rhyming children’s picture book about a sleepy cat that snoozes through a lively parade with fifty-five marching, cheering, trumpeting, baton-twirling mice, who tumble out from a “little blue door just an inch from the floor.” Each dramatic page brings increasing numbers of little furry performers, from ONE marching maestro, through the final FIFTY-FIVE mice, spilling onto the page in a joyful splash of fun and frolics. Little readers will be charmed by the costumed revelers and will delight in counting the mice on each page and learning and recognizing the numbers emblazoned on each of their tiny costumes. Adult readers will love the read-aloud rhythm and help spark a love of learning, while counting along with their little ones, and helping spot the numbers.
Zig Zag Zeffy is a heart-warming story of a Hu-Mom who adopts an energetic, fun-loving Puggle named Zeffy. It’s a rhyming narrative that follows the pair as they develop an unbreakable bond. From Zeffy’s adoption as a puppy, through a few growing pains, to obedience training and exploring the wide world outside, Zeffy and his Hu-Mom learn about each other, and about boundaries, and loving and living life. It’s the first in a planned series that will teach themes such as inclusion and self-esteem with fun and rhythmic story-telling that ignites a child’s passion for reading, while developing knowledge and enhancing social interaction with animals as well as people.
Meet & Greet with OC Publishing’s Children’s Authors Read More »
BMO Room
Join host Gillian Turnbull, Director of Writing & Publishing, in conversation with Emma Kuzmyk, editor of This Wasn’t on the Syllabus.
This Wasn’t on the Syllabus: Stories from the Front Lines of Campus Activism Against Sexualized Violence is both a record and an act of protest, progress, and survival located within Canada’s post-secondary landscape. The collection features personal accounts which articulate not only the prevalence of sexualized violence on campus, but how these acts inspire students to activism. The book is a call to value and prioritize the voices of student activists, who are often among those most impacted by sexualized violence, and who are key participants in driving change.
MFA Author Talks: Emma Kuzmyk Read More »
Save the date! The Opaat Press Second Anniversary Poetry Bash will take place at the Central Branch of the Halifax Library (in Paul O’Regan Hall) Saturday, November 22, from 2-4 pm. 2 hours, 20+ poets from across Atlantic Canada, event free and open to all. Supported by the League of Canadian Poets, The Writers’ Union of Canada, Canada Council for the Arts, and Halifax Public Libraries.
Including poets Lisa McCabe, Anna Quon, Clare Goulet, Alice Burdick, Nolan Natasha, Jaime Forsythe, Margo Wheaton, Nanci Lee, Tiffany Morris, Matt Robinson, Allison LaSorda, Johanna Gibson, Ben Gallagher, Anna Swanson, Cory Lavender, Andreae Callanan, Ambrose Albert, Jimmy T Cahill, Sappho, and Alison Smith.
Opaat Press Second Anniversary Poetry Bash Read More »
Grab a drink and join a lively discussion about our November book club pick, Danica Roache’s Five Seasons of Charlie Francis.
Just bring yourself, your copy of Five Seasons of Charlie Francis, and your thoughts!
Open Book Club chats Five Seasons of Charlie Francis Read More »
Are you a Black Nova Scotian aged 16+?
Do you have an experience, point of view, or story of mental health, mental illness/ Madness/ addiction, and/or mental health care that you’d like to share in poetry?
On November 20th from 7-9pm, we’re holding a virtual event for Black writers called Mental Health Selfie Poems co-facilitated by Anna Quon and Asiah Sparks. The workshop was created by HRM Poet Laureate, Anna Quon, to help inspire and encourage participating writers to create poems around their feelings, experience and/or perspectives on mental health, mental illness or Madness, and mental health care.
In this two-hour workshop we will:
This workshop is a safe container to work and play with words, express ideas, and create meaning from our lived experience. Bring a poem, share a poem, write a poem.
Registration is free!
If you have questions or need support, email us programs@dbdli.ca
Mental Health Selfie Poems Read More »
Our next book club meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, November 19th.
Our book club is unique. Please read the following:
• Each participant will bring a locally authored or published novel they have recently read and can part with. Locally authored will be defined as an author living within the Atlantic Bubble.
• During the meeting, each person will take a turn telling everyone what they liked about the book they brought and why the others should read it.
• Each book will go into a basket, and at the end of the meeting, if a book sparked your interest, you’ll be able to take it home to read.
• If there is more than one person interested in reading the book, it will be brought back to the next meeting for another person’s turn.
• We may even host an author occasionally, and Dartmouth Book Exchange may even seed the basket once in a while.
• All are welcome to come and listen during the meetings, but only the people who brought a book will be guaranteed to leave with a book.
Our Book Club aims to promote local authors, their books, and the writing of reviews. #supportlocalauthors
Locally Authored Book Club Exchange Read More »
The Writers’ Federation of Nova Scotia (WFNS) uses the following terms to describe writers’ experience levels:
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
