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WFNS Calendar

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Thu
16

Jampolis Cottage Self-Directed Retreats

calendar-day
Application deadline (11:59pm) for one- and two-week, solo and group retreats in summer/fall of 2026.

Fiction Intensive: The Short Story (virtual) with Sharon English

at - calendar-day
5-week workshop begins.

Speculative Realism (Halifax) with David Huebert

at - calendar-day
3-night workshop begins.

Shelf Indulgence book club (virtual) with Jon Tattrie

at - calendar-day
Free virtual book club, with guest host Jon Tattrie leading discussion of Charles R. Saunders’s Imaro.

Trans Writers Fiction Intensive (virtual) with K.R. Byggdin

at - calendar-day
5-week workshop begins. Registration open & free for NS trans, non-binary, & Two-Spirit writers.
Thu
07

Blue Lobster Detective Agency (Micro-Anthology Series)

calendar-day
Submission deadline for inaugural micro-anthology of crime & mystery fiction.
Thu
14

50 for 50 Contest #2

calendar-day
Entry deadline for Contest #2 in the 50 for 50 Contest Series.
Fri
15

Blue Nose Giv’er Charity Challenge

- calendar-multiday
Thu
08

Alistair MacLeod Mentorship Program

calendar-day
Application deadline for WFNS’s annual mentorship program.
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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