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Danielle Metcalfe-Chenail

BIOGRAPHY
Danielle Metcalfe-Chenail is a multi-passionate, multi-genre author of six books who loves telling  inclusive stories for audiences of all ages.

Danielle’s latest co-authored picture book, Freddie the Flyer came out in Fall 2023 from Tundra Books. It features the life story of Fred Carmichael, the first Indigenous commercial pilot in the Arctic, and illustrations were created by Inuvialuit artist Audrea Loreen-Wulf. It is part of the Dolly Parton Imagination Library, TD Summer Reading Program, shortlisted for the Hackmatack nonfiction award, and won the Atlantic Book Awards Readers’ Choice Award in 2024.

Both Freddie the Flyer and her first picture book, Alis the Aviator, were selected as CBC Books’ best of picture books, and Danielle toured them as part of Canadian Children’s Book Week in spring 2024.

Danielle’s other books include Fever on the Forgotten Coast (Rockwater Books), Polar Winds (Dundurn), For the Love of Flying (Robin Brass Books), and the Canadian bestselling essay anthology In This Together: Fifteen Stories of  Truth and Reconciliation (Brindle & Glass).

Danielle is currently revising a creative nonfiction book called Winterburn with the assistance of Canada Council and Arts NS grants, as well as her first book club project, The 500 Year Flood. She is represented by Elizabeth Copps at Copps Literary, who is finalizing contracts on two kidlit projects in spring 2024.

If you’re a writer looking for a sharp-eyed believing mirror to help you with editing and coaching, Danielle will help you through the writing and publishing journey with empathy and encouragement. Please see testimonials from authors she’s worked with (along with rates) on her website at www.daniellemc.com and contact her directly to discuss whether she’s a good fit for you and your work.

PUBLICATIONS

  • Freddie the Flyer (Tundra Books, 2023)
  • Fever on the Forgotten Coast (Rockwater Books, 2023)
  • Alis the Aviator: An ABC Aviation Adventure (Tundra Books, 2019)
  • In This Together: Fifteen Stories of Truth and Reconciliation (Brindle & Glass, 2016)
  • Polar Winds: A Century of Flying the North (Dundurn, 2014)
  • For the Love of Flying: The Story of Laurentian Air Services (Robin Brass Studios, 2009)
AWARDS
  • Currently shortlisted for the Hackmatack Awards
  • Atlantic Book Awards – Readers’ Choice Award
  • Freddie the Flyer selected for Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library and TD Summer Reading Program
  • Selected author for Canadian Children’s Book Week
  • Recipient of grants from the Canada Council for the Arts, Arts NS, Access Copyright, the Edmonton Arts Council, and the Edmonton Heritage Council
  • 2010 Berton House Writer in Residence
  • Houston Literary Award Finalist
  • Emily Awards YA Romance category finalist
  • Chatelaine Maverick of the Year
  • Avenue Magazine Top 40 under 40
  • Sizzling 20 under 30


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Simultaneous Submissions

The Writers’ Federation of Nova Scotia (WFNS) administers some programs (and special projects) that involve print and/or digital publication of ‘selected’ or ‘winning’ entries. In most cases, writing submitted to these programs and projects must not be previously published and must not be simultaneously under consideration for publication by another organization. Why? Because our assessment and selection processes depends on all submitted writing being available for first publication. If writing selected for publication by WFNS has already been published or is published by another organization firstcopyright issues will likely make it impossible for WFNS to (re-)publish that writing.

When simultaneous submissions to a WFNS program are not permitted, it means the following:

  • You may not submit writing that has been accepted for future publication by another organization.
  • You may not submit writing that is currently being considered for publication by another organization—or for another prize that includes publication.
  • The writing submitted to WFNS may not be submitted for publication to another organization until the WFNS program results are communicated. Results will be communicated directly to you by email and often also through the public announcement of a shortlist or list of winners. Once your writing is no longer being considered for the WFNS program, you are free to submit it elsewhere.
    • If you wish to submit your entry elsewhere before WFNS program results have been announced, you must first contact WFNS to withdraw your entry. Any entry fee cannot be refunded.

Prohibitions on simultaneous submission do not apply to multiple WFNS programs. You are always permitted to submit the same unpublished writing to multiple WFNS programs (and special projects) at the same time, such as the Alistair MacLeod Mentorship Program, the Emerging Writers Prizes, the Jampolis Cottage Residency Program, the Message on a Bottle contest, the Nova Writes Competition, and any WFNS projects involving one-time or recurring special publications.

Recommended Experience Levels

The Writers’ Federation of Nova Scotia (WFNS) recommends that participants in any given workshop 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. The “Recommended experience level” section of each workshop description refers to the following definitions used by WFNS.

  • 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, and writing for children and young adults) 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.

For “intensive” and “masterclass” creative writing 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