Instagram Facebook Bluesky Youtube

Writers' Council

Writers’ Council membership is a special, permanent designation for Writers’ Federation of Nova Scotia members who (1) have produced a professional body of work and (2) have developed the literary skills to provide literary instruction, assessment, and/or mentorship.

Writers’ Council members are eligible for numerous competitively compensated opportunities through WFNS programs.

Writers’ Council members retain this designation for life and are eligible for all Writers’ Council benefits whenever their General Membership is active.

More details and compensation rates are provided in our Great Call.

To be considered for Writers’ Council membership, the applying writer must meet the eligibility requirements.

  • You must be a current General Member of WFNS. You may check the status of your General Membership at any time in the “Memberships” tab of your Member Account page.
  • You must be a Canadian citizen or permanent resident.
  • You must be 19 years of age or older.
  • You must be a full-time resident of Nova Scotia or have a significant connection to Nova Scotia (such as recurring seasonal residency or past full-time residency).
  • You must demonstrate, through your professional body of work and your literary experience, that you can contribute to at least one of the following forms of programming:
    • Instruction: developing and leading workshops
    • Peer assessment: evaluating applications, submissions, and entries to programs, awards, and prizes
    • Mentorship & advice: serving as a literary mentor, reviewing manuscripts, or providing literary career advice

To satisfy the final eligibility requirement, the applying writer must earn a minimum of 12 points across the categories listed in our Writers’ Council Application Guide—at least 5 points from the first category, and at least 3 points from the second and/or third category.

  1. Publication & Performance of Original Work
  2. Instructional & Editorial Work
  3. Literary Education & Recognition
  4. Production of Other Works, which includes scriptwriting

For each points-earning experience selected in your application, you must provide the required support material through an application portfolio (a single PDF or DOC file).

Applications are reviewed by our Membership Committee, which recommends those applicants who have met requirements for formal approval by our Board of Directors.

This review and approval process usually takes from three to six weeks. However, applications submitted in July or August are not considered until September.

Upon notification of your application’s approval, you will be eligible to create a publicly accessible Writers’ Council profile on the WFNS website. You may then complete or update your Writers’ Council profile at any time in the “Writers’ Council / WITS profiles” tab of your Account page

Applications accepted at any time

To complete the application form correctly,
you must consult the Writers’ Council Application Guide.

View Writers' Council
Application Guide (PDF)

Writers' Council application form

Declarations of eligibility

By applying to join the Writers' Council, you make each of the following declarations:

• I am a current General Member of WFNS.
• I am a Canadian citizen or permanent resident.
• I am 19 years of age or older.

Category 1: Publication & Performance of Original Work

You must earn at least 5 points in Category 1.
Non-cumulative: select only one variant.
Non-cumulative: select only one variant.
Non-cumulative: select only one variant.
Non-cumulative: select only one variant.

Category 2: Instructional & Editorial Work

You must earn at least 3 points across Categories 2 and/or 3.
Non-cumulative: select only one variant.
Non-cumulative: select only one variant.
Cumulative: select all that apply.

Category 3: Literary Education & Recognition

You must earn at least 3 points across Categories 2 and/or 3.
Cumulative: select all that apply.
Cumulative: select all that apply.

Category 4: Production of Other Works

No points are required in Category 4, but points earned in this category count toward the total requirement of 12.
Non-cumulative: select only one variant.
Non-cumulative: select only one variant.
Drag & Drop Files, Choose Files to Upload
• Upload your portfolio as a single PDF or DOC file. Please name the file as follows: "[Your Name] - Writers' Council Portfolio."
• Your portfolio must contain all required supporting documentation (as outlined in the Writers' Council Application Guide) for the points-earning criteria you've selected above.
• If you need assistance combining multiple files, consider using the free online resource SmallPDF to merge files of various formats into a PDF and to compress that PDF before uploading it (each link opens in a new tab).
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 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