Events

Basma Kavanagh at Canning Library

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9806 Main St, Canning. More info
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Join poet and essayist Basma Kavanagh for a contemplative reading of prose and poetry honouring the natural world. Reading followed by Q & A. Everyone welcome.

Basma Kavanagh is a Lebanese Canadian artist whose multidisciplinary practice includes writing, drawing, printmaking, artist’s books, textiles, land-based explorations, and performance. She has published three volumes of poetry, Ruba’iyat for the Time of Apricots (Frontenac House, 2018), Niche (Frontenac House, 2015) and Distillō (Gaspereau Press, 2012). She recently completed an MFA in Creative Nonfiction from University of King’s College, Halifax.

This event is part of the Canning Library’s 2024-2025 Literary Series which provides free readings and workshops funded by Arts Nova Scotia’s Artists in Communities Program.

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Tricia Snell launches Not The Same Road Out

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Location:
125 Montague Street, Lunenburg. More info
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Please join authors Tricia Snell and Bev Vincent when they will be reading from their short stories featured in the brand new anthology, Not The Same Road Out – Trans Canada Stories (Tidewater Press, edited by K.J. Denny).

Not The Same Road Out is a collection of thirteen stories by acclaimed writers from across the country, one from each province and territory along the world’s longest trail system. These are stories of estrangement and engagement, mystery and melodrama, quiet horror and loud disasters.

Tricia Snell writes fiction, poetry, and nonfiction and lives in Lunenburg, NS. Publication highlights include “Out to the Horses,” longlisted for the 2019 CBC Short Story Prize and published in Room Magazine, and “A Glass of Vodka,” read by actor Barbara Rappaport on the PEN Syndicated Fiction Project / NPR show, The Sound of Writing. Tricia recently published two chapbooks, Nellie: An Imagined History (fiction) and Rooted (poetry) both with the Little Books Collective, Lunenburg, NS, as well as stories in a variety of journals. Tricia also runs a series of online writing and literature classes.

Bev Vincent is the author of several books, including The Road to the Dark Tower and Stephen King: A Complete Exploration of His Work, Life, and Influences. He co-edited the anthology Flight or Fright with King and has published over 140 stories, with appearances in such places as Ellery Queen’s, Alfred Hitchcock’s and Black Cat Mystery magazine. His work has been published in twenty languages and nominated for the Stoker (twice), Edgar, Locus, Ignotus, Rondo Hatton Classic Horror and ITW Thriller Awards. Originally from northern New Brunswick, he is a graduate of Dalhousie University and now lives in Texas.

Enjoy an evening of readings followed by conversation with the authors!

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An Introduction to Narrative Voice with Habiba Diallo

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Location:
5440 Spring Garden Road, Halifax. More info
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RBC Room | Floor 3

Narrative voice is the foundation of a story. It is what makes the story compelling and holds the reader’s attention throughout. It is a crucial element of storytelling, yet often overlooked.

In this two-part workshop, participants will work with Habiba Diallo’s short story, Desert Blues, shortlisted for the 2020 Bristol Short Story Prize, to understand how narrative voice functions in the story.

Participants will be guided through a series of presentations and exercises to help them appreciate the importance of narrative voice in fiction writing and will be given the opportunity to practice narrative voice.

Participants will also have fun delving into the work of renowned African fiction writers to gain exposure to different styles of narrative voice.

Register to attend through Halifax Public Libraries (link above).

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Pottersfield Prize Author Meet & Greet

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1187 Cole Harbour Road, Dartmouth. More info
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Join us for an informal Saturday morning author Meet & Greet with the Potterfield Prize Winners for Creative Nonfiction!

The first-place winners of the Seventh Annual Pottersfield Prize for Creative Nonfiction were co-authors James MacDuff and Mirriam Mweemba for The Illogical Adventure, and second-place was Matthew R. Anderson for Someone Else’s Saint.

The Illogical Adventure recounts the story of an unlikely cross-cultural, cross-continental romance between two independent-minded travellers during the Covid pandemic and beyond. Mirriam Mweemba is from the small village of Batoka in Zambia, and James MacDuff is a Maritimer who grew up in Moncton and has called Halifax home for over twenty years. The memoir is told from each of their perspectives in an alternating fashion.

In Someone Else’s Saint, seasoned walker and historian Matthew Anderson, hoping to uncover the elusive Saint Ninian, treks the traditional Scottish pilgrim ways associated with the saint, only to find that the trail leads to Nova Scotia, where Ninian’s story intertwines with Acadian, Mi’kmaw, Loyalist, and Gaelic history. Matthew R. Anderson grew up in Swift Current, Saskatchewan, spent almost 35 years in Montreal and now lives in Pomquet, Nova Scotia.

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Doretta Groenendyk at Canning Library

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Location:
9806 Main St, Canning. More info
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Join beloved children’s book author and illustrator Doretta Groenendyk for a family-friendly reading and discussion. Little ones and the young-at-heart are welcome!

Artist, educator, and children’s book author Doretta Groenendyk has written and illustrated more than a dozen books for children and her unmistakable, whimsical paintings can be found in galleries and private collections throughout the Maritimes.

This event is part of the Canning Library’s 2024-2025 Literary Series which provides free readings and workshops funded by Arts Nova Scotia’s Artists in Communities Program.

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Locally Authored Book Club Exchange

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1187 Cole Harbour Road, Dartmouth. More info
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Our next book club meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, July 23rd, at 6:30 p.m. Please keep in mind the date change: it is the 4th Wednesday of the month and not the usual 3rd.

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

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NS Writers for Palestine – Come Create With Us!

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Location:
127 Portland Street, Dartmouth. More info
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NS Writers for Palestine – Come Create with Us!

As part of @inclusivestorytime‘s NS Grief and Solidarity for Palestine Quilt, create a written word square to be included in the NS Writers for Palestine Quilt. The resulting artwork will be raffled off, with proceeds going to aid funds for Palestinians. You can drop off a square you made at home, or come create one in a collaborative community space.

Poetry or prose can be transferred to fabric via embroidery, fabric markers, heat transfer paper, or other mechanisms. We will have some supplies onsite, but feel free to bring supplemental:

  • Fabric (precut into 10″ by 10″ blocks, or not)
  • Pens/markers/paint
  • Embroidery thread/needles
  • Irons, heat transfer paper
  • Letter stencils, buttons, sequins, felt, fuse
    fabric
  • Fabric shears, rotary cutters, cutting mats, rulers
  • Typewriters
  • Scrap paper, pens, pencils

Contact Lindsey Harrington (@lindseyharringtonwriter or lindseyharrington@tutamail.com) for more info!

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Dean Jobb at Canning Library

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9806 Main St, Canning. More info
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Bestselling historical true crime writer Dean Jobb kicks off our summer series! Join us for a lively reading followed by a Q & A. Everyone is welcome; no registration required.

Dean Jobb’s latest book, A Gentleman and a Thief, is a national bestseller and a New York Times Editors’ Choice. He is the author of The Case of the Murderous Dr. Cream, the story of a Victorian-era serial killer, and Empire of Deception, the tale of a fugitive swindler on the lam in 1920s Nova Scotia. He has won the CrimeCon and Crime Writers of Canada awards for best true crime book and was a finalist for the Hilary Weston Writers’ Trust Nonfiction Prize.

This event is part of the Canning Library’s 2024-2025 Literary Series which provides free readings and workshops funded by Arts Nova Scotia’s Artists in Communities 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 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