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An Evening with the Alistair MacLeod Award Nominees

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The Cabot Trail Writers Festival is delighted to host a reading, conversation and audience Q&A with the three authors nominated for the 2026 Alistair MacLeod Prize for Short Fiction: Geoff Butler (We, the Ancestors), Shelley Thompson (Winter Sky: Stories for the Season) and Heidi Wicks (Here). The evening will be hosted by author and comics artist Kate Beaton. We’re […]

Wikipedia Edit-a-thon for Indigenous History Month

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Presented in partnership with the Master of Information Program & Department of Information Science at Dalhousie. Dalhousie Libraries is hosting a Wikipedia Edit-a-thon in the Ko’jua Okuom on Wednesday, June 3, for National Indigenous History Month! An edit-a-thon is an event where editors and users edit and improve a specific topic or type of content. […]

Celebrating our Best Published Books!

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The Atlantic Publishers Marketing Association’s Best Atlantic-Published Book Award is presented annually to the Atlantic Canadian publisher whose book, published in the preceding year, best exemplifies excellence and achievement in all aspects and phases of the publishing process. Join us for readings, mingling, and celebrating these beautiful books! Cinq à sept (readings at 6pm) at Trident Bookseller […]

Atlantic Poetry Reading

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Don’t miss the chance to meet the 2026 J. M. Abraham Atlantic Poetry Award nominees at The Carleton at 7 pm, Wednesday, June 3rd. Poets will be reading from their nominated books! Bookmark will sell the nominated titles, and authors will be available for book signings. Featuring: Leigh Faulkner, Yes Is The Only Word the Earth Understands, Owl’s […]

Fiction Fête!

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Join us for Fiction Fête! as we celebrate Atlantic fiction authors with a showcase of readings from the Atlantic Book Awards nominees! Five Atlantic Canadian authors are nominated for the highly coveted Thomas Raddall Atlantic Fiction Award, a book prize valued at $30,000. Joining us this afternoon to read from their nominated works are: Renée […]

dartspeak Open Mic

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We invite writers in all genres to give a five-minute reading before an audience of supportive peers. The first Thursday of the month; check our Instagram or Facebook group to confirm. Sign up for your turn at the mic when you arrive. Accessible space at the East Dartmouth Community Centre. A fun night to test […]

Atlantic Book Awards Gala

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Paul O’Regan Hall, first floor The Atlantic Book Awards Gala celebrates authors and books from the four Atlantic provinces with the presentation of a number of awards, including: Ann Connor Brimer Award for Atlantic Canadian Children’s Literature APMA Best-Published Book Award J.M. Abraham Atlantic Poetry Award Thomas Raddall Atlantic Fiction Award As well, we’ll present […]

Latte Lit Open Mic

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Join us at Open Book Coffee (3660 Strawberry Hill St.) on the first Friday of every month for a writers’ open mic – a chance to share works in progress with fellow authors in a welcoming setting. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. and readings start at 7 p.m.

The Tenth Donald Sedgwick Reading Series

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Venue room: Paul O’Regan Hall Lost families, lost history, a flair for fashion, and the challenges of raising a disabled child – these are the subjects of new books by four graduates of the University of King’s College Master of Fine Arts in Creative Nonfiction program, who will be celebrated during the Tenth Donald Sedgwick […]
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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, writing for 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.

Occasionally, WFNS uses the phrase “emerging and established writers/authors” to mean ‘writers and authors of all experience levels.’

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 info, strategies, and skills that suit their experience. 

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 uncertain about your experience level with respect to any particular workshop, please feel free to contact us at communications@writers.ns.ca