WFNS logo ltrmark sticky 100px
WFNS logo ltrmark sticky 100px

Dian Day

BIOGRAPHY
Dian Day is the author of the award-winning novels The Clock of Heaven (Inanna, 2008) and The Madrigal (Inanna, 2018). Her third book, Shy Cat, is the first in a graphic novel series for middle grade readers, with artist Amanda White (Second Story Press, 2026). Dian recently completed a doctoral degree in Cultural Studies at Queen’s University in work focused on the portrayal of poverty and food insecurity in children’s fiction.

Dian is at work on her first YA book, Air Holes, and her fourth novel for adults, Reason. She lives and writes in Nalikitquniejk/Antigonish.

PUBLICATIONS

    • The Clock of Heaven. Toronto: Inanna, 2008. ISBN 098088222
    • The Madrigal. Toronto: Inanna, 2018. ISBN 1771334932
    • Shy Cat I: Shy Cat and the Stuff-the-Bus Challenge. Toronto: Second Story Press, 2026. ISBN 978-1-77260-445-0
    • Mama’s Stories. Toronto: Second Story Press, forthcoming 2027.
    • Shy Cat II: Shy Cat and the Museum of Lost Plastic. Toronto: Second Story Press, forthcoming 2028.

 

 

AWARDS

The Clock of Heaven won a silver medal in the Literary Fiction category of the Independent Publisher Book Awards (the IPPYs), 2009

The Clock of Heaven also made Jim Bartley’s top fiction list in the Globe and Mail in 2009 and was one of the CBC’s All In a Day Book Panel picks.

Shy Cat is a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection and received a starred review from the School Library Journal.

Scroll to Top
WFNS logo ltrmark sticky 100px

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