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Jo Ann Yhard

BIOGRAPHY
Jo Ann is the author of the Canadian Children’s Bestseller (Quill and Quire), The Fossil Hunter of Sydney Mines, a middle reader mystery.

Jo Ann grew up addicted to Nancy Drew mysteries and cryptoquotes. She has lived in the Maritimes all her life. As an avid lover of beachcombing and playing tourist, she draws on local inspiration for her story settings – from fossil hunting to whale watching. The people and places around her are a treasure trove of ideas. Jo Ann lives in Halifax with her husband, James, where she writes mysteries and other stories on her yellow laptop, Bumble Bee.

AWARDS

“Best Books for Kids and Teens 2011” Canadian Children’s Book Centre; ‘The Fossil Hunter of Sydney Mines’

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“The Year’s Best 2010” Resource Links; ‘The Fossil Hunter of Sydney Mines’

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“The Year’s Best 2011” Resource Links; ‘Lost on Brier Island’

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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