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Donna Kane

BIOGRAPHY

Donna Kane is the author of four books of poetry–Asterisms (Harbour, 2024), Orrery (Harbour, 2020), a finalist for the Governor General’s Literary Award, Erratic (Radiant Press, 2007) and Somewhere, a Fire (Radiant Press, 2004)–a chapbook, Pioneer 10, I Hear You (Jackpine Press, 2016), and a non-fiction book, Summer of the Horse (Harbour, 2018). Her poems, short fiction, essays, and reviews have been published widely in journals such as Today in Science, Scientific American, The Walrus, The Fiddlehead, and The Malahat Review as well as in several anthologies.

PUBLICATIONS

2021: British Columbia Medal of Good Citizenship
2021: Finalist for the 2020 Governor General’s Literary Award for Poetry
2020: Honorary Associate of Arts Degree from Northern Lights College “for her passion towards the literary arts and her ongoing ability to inspire others.”
2009: Aurora Award of Distinction: Arts and Culture for her contributions to the arts in northeast BC.

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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