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Events

Poetry reading live at The Carleton

Date:
Time:
-
Venue:
The Carleton
Location:
1685 Argyle Street, Halifax. More info
Link:
https://www.thecarleton.ca/events/poetry-reading-jun4/?
Calendar:
Community event

Don’t miss the chance to meet the J. M. Abraham Atlantic Poetry Award nominees and the Maxine Tynes nominees! Poets will be reading from their nominated books! Bookmark will sell the nominated titles, and authors will be available for book signings.

Alice Burdick, Ox Lost, Snow Deep, Anvil Press

Clare Goulet, Graphis Scripta / Writing Lichen, Gaspereau Press

Annick MacAskill, Votive, Gaspereau Press

Johanna Skibsrud, Medium, Book*hug Press

Bren Simmers, The Work, Gaspereau Press

Tickets are $15.

Poetry reading live at The Carleton Read More »

Fiction Fête

Date:
Time:
-
Venue:
Chester Playhouse
Location:
22 Pleasant Street, Chester. More info
Link:
https://purchase.chesterplayhouse.ca/EventAvailability?EventId=3401
Calendar:
Community event

Celebrate Atlantic fiction authors with a showcase of readings from the Atlantic and Nova Scotia Book Awards nominees, including the authors nominated for the highly coveted Thomas Raddall Atlantic Fiction Award, a book prize valued at $30,000.

Hosted by Sarah Hampson and featuring:

Carol Bruneau, Threshold
Mark Blagrave, Felt
Charlene Carr, We Rip the World Apart
Lesley Crewe, Death & Other Inconveniences
Jessica Ilse, The Majestic Sisters
Shawn Lawlor, Boom Road
Susan LeBlanc, The Nowhere Places
Susie Taylor, Vigil

That’s not all! Tyler Leblanc of Good Dog Books will be on hand with all the titles.

All are welcome! Tickets are $15

Fiction Fête Read More »

Soirée littéraire en compagnie de l’auteur louisianais Chase Cormier

Date:
Time:
-
Venue:
Halifax Central Library
Location:
5440 Spring Garden Road, Halifax. More info
Link:
https://atlanticbookawards.ca/june-4-soiree-litteraire-en-compagnie-de-lauteur-louisianais-chase-cormier/
Calendar:
Community event

Découvrez l’univers de Mal (Éditions Perce-Neige, 2024), lors d’une lecture de l’auteur Chase Cormier et d’un entretien animé par Simon Thibault. Activité présentée avec le relais de l’Alliance française d’Halifax (partenariat de communication).

Au fin fond de la prairie des Opelousas grandit Perroquet. Alors que ses parents se séparent, il trouve refuge tantôt dans la cuisine pleine d’odeurs de sa grand-mère, tantôt dans la boucherie bruyante de son grand-père Mal. Pour ce dernier, le bonheur se trouve dans les choses simples, dans la découpe de la viande, les plats préparés et la satisfaction du travail bien fait. Pour Perroquet, ce n’est pas aussi limpide. Son père a refusé de travailler dans la boucherie, a refusé de parler français. Descendant d’une longue lignée de francophones en Louisiane, Perroquet cherche donc sa place. Son identité. Jusqu’à ce qu’il trouve l’écriture et qu’il se mette à collectionner les mots, en les sélectionnant soigneusement comme les ingrédients d’une recette encore et toujours à améliorer.

Soirée littéraire en compagnie de l’auteur louisianais Chase Cormier Read More »

An Evening of Short Stories hosted by Alexander MacLeod

Date:
Time:
-
Venue:
Inverness County Centre for the Arts
Location:
16080 Nova Scotia Trunk 19, Inverness. More info
Link:
https://atlanticbookawards.ca/june-3-an-evening-of-short-stories-hosted-by-alexander-macleod/
Calendar:
Community event

The Cabot Trail Writers Festival hosts an annual Cape Breton event featuring the finalists, as part of the Atlantic Book Awards Festival, celebrating the legacy of Alistair MacLeod and the work of the generations of writers following after him. Featuring 2025 nominees Allison Graves (Soft Serve), Amanda Peters (Waiting for the Long Night Moon) and Susie Taylor (Vigil), and hosted by author Alexander MacLeod.

$15 suggested donation

An Evening of Short Stories hosted by Alexander MacLeod Read More »

YA! Meet The Authors

Date:
Time:
-
Venue:
MacPhee Centre for Creative Learning
Location:
50 Queen Street, Dartmouth. More info
Link:
https://atlanticbookawards.ca/june-3-ya-meet-the-authors-at-the-macphee-centre-for-creative-learning/
Calendar:
Community event

YA! Meet The Authors at The MacPhee Centre For Creative

Learning Hosted by Nova Scotian Youth Ambassador Jorja Walker

Tuesday, June 3rd, 4 pm to 6 pm

Come hear the shortlisted authors of the Ann Connor Brimer Award! Each nominated author will be reading snippets from their novels, there will be time to ask questions, and even some breakout activities to get your writing juices flowing! There will be snacks!! Register in advance to save a spot!

Participating writers:
– Chad Lucas, You Owe Me One, Universe, Harry N. Abrams
– Rebecca Phillips, The End of Always, Second Story Press
– Hannah D. State, Journey to the Dark Galaxy, Glowing Light Press
– Gloria Ann Wesley, Shovels not Rifles, Formac Publishing Company

YA! Meet The Authors Read More »

Nova Scotia Book Awards Gala

Join with us as we celebrate books written and published in Nova Scotia. We’ll present several Nova Scotia book awards, including the Maxine Tynes Nova Scotia Poetry Award, the Evelyn Richardson Non-Fiction Award, the George Borden Writing for Change Award, the Dartmouth Fiction Award, and the Margaret & John Savage First Book Awards (Fiction and Nonfiction).

King’s Co-op Bookstore will be on site with all nominated titles. Cash bar.

Nova Scotia Book Awards Gala Read More »

Dartmouth Writers’ Circle with Charlene Carr

Date:
Time:
-
Venue:
Alderney Gate Public Library
Location:
60 Alderney Drive, Dartmouth. More info
Link:
https://atlanticbookawards.ca/june-1-dartmouth-writers-circle-with-charlene-carr/
Calendar:
Community event

This writer’s circle is open to anyone (emerging to established) of any genre! During the Atlantic Book Awards and Festival, we spend a lot of time celebrating the final stages – this event will focus on those first steps! So, if you’re a writer working on something new, want to hear and give feedback on new work, come and share with other writers in the same boat! Attendance is free, but please register in advance at the link provided.

Hosted by Dartmouth Book Award Nominee, Charlene Carr!

Charlene Carr studied literature, attaining a BA and MA in English, including a study program at Oxford. She has published eleven novels, and her first agented novel, Hold My Girl, sold to HarperCollins Canada and three international publishers. It was named one of the Best Books of 2023 by CBC, shortlisted for multiple awards, and has been optioned for adaptation to the screen. Charlene received grants from Arts Nova Scotia and Canada Council for the Arts to write and revise her most recent novel, We Rip The World Apart. She lives in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia with her husband and daughters.

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Silent Reading with the Atlantic Book Awards

Date:
Time:
-
Venue:
The Dart Gallery
Location:
127 Portland Street, Dartmouth. More info
Link:
https://atlanticbookawards.ca/may-30-silent-reading-at-the-dart-gallery/
Calendar:
Community event

With this many stellar Atlantic Canadian books, we’ve got a lot of reading to do! Bring your current read and sit in silence to read among fellow literary lovers (surrounded by the visual art offerings at The Dart Gallery!).

Silent Reading with the Atlantic Book Awards Read More »

Janice Landry Meet and Greet

Date:
Time:
-
Venue:
Dartmouth Book Exchange
Location:
1187 Cole Harbour Road, Dartmouth. More info
Link:
https://dartmouthbookexchange.ca/events/
Calendar:
Community event

Every Little Thing: How Small Acts of Kindness Make a Big Impact.

Please join us for our first-ever morning author Meet and Greet with Janice Landry. Come sit and chat with us at this informal get-together.

Author Janice Landry was diagnosed with Lyme disease during the summer of 2023. Following her recovery, Landry realized that a small thing, a tiny tick, has had a big impact on her life. The author has deliberately woven the theme of small versus big throughout Every Little Thing via heartwarming stories of acts of kindness and connection. Landry proves in the end that the little things really are the big things.

Janice Landry Meet and Greet Read More »

Book launch: In Search of Puffins

Date:
Time:
-
Venue:
Writers' Federation of Nova Scotia
Location:
1113 Marginal Rd, Halifax. More info
Link:
https://nimbus.ca/store/in-search-of-puffins-stories-of-loss-light-and-flight.html
Calendar:
Member event

Join Marjorie Simmins for the launch of In Search of Puffins: Stories of Loss, Light and Flight (Pottersfield Press, 2025). The event includes a reading and book signings with cash sales.

In Search of Puffins: Stories of Loss, Light and Flight is the third memoir in a series that began with Coastal Lives and Year of the Horse. In it, author Marjorie Simmins honours her late husband, Silver Donald Cameron, and all those who recreate themselves after loss. It’s also a profoundly optimistic book, believing in the healing powers of friendship, laughter, and time.

Marjorie Simmins is an award-winning author, journalist, and teacher. She has written five nonfiction books and has written for newspapers and magazines across Canada and in the United States. Now based in Truro, Nova Scotia, Simmins offers writing workshops in person, around the Maritimes and across Canada, as well conducting as Zoom workshops, from Coast to Coast (always hoping to find Northern writers).

The Writers’ Federation of Nova Scotia office is a wheelchair-accessible venue with a wheelchair-accessible, non-gendered washroom. For assistance finding the WFNS office door, see our map of the area.

Book launch: In Search of Puffins Read More »

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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