Past Booktoberfests

Booktoberfest 2024 was held at Halifax Central Library on October 5, 2024.

The literary fair (in Paul O’Regan Hall) featured 33 vendor tables, including 58 Nova Scotian authors and 9 Nova Scotian publishers.

Four free creative writing workshops (in the BMO Community Room) were offered by authors N.L. Blandford, Lorri Neilsen Glenn, donalee Moulton, and Tricia Snell.

All Booktoberfest participation (attendance, vendor registration, and workshop participation) was free.

Authors:

  • Joanne Abrahams
  • Oluwatoyin Aguda
  • Leslie Allen
  • Katie Arthur
  • Nino Balistreri
  • N.L. Blandford
  • Claudette Bouman
  • Thomas Bouman
  • Brittni Brinn
  • Carol Bruneau
  • Tina Capalbo
  • Laura Churchill Duke
  • Carol Ann Cole
  • R.F. Cook
  • Tim R Covell
  • Marie-Eve Dawood
  • Jane Doucet
  • Barbara Emodi
  • Jan Fancy Hull
  • Deanna Foster
  • Cathryn Fox
  • John Graham-Pole
  • Sheila Graham-Smith
  • Lindsey Harrington
  • Michelle Hébert
  • Steven Holloway
  • Martine Jacquot
  • Alan Kemister (Phil Yeats)
  • Ketan Kulkarni
  • Reeva Kulkarni
  • Shawn Lawlor
  • Lubov Leonova
  • Corinne Lewandowski
  • Nancy MacNairn
  • Allison Maher
  • Vanessa McKiel
  • Barbara Ann Miller
  • donalee Moulton
  • Christopher Murphy
  • Lorri Neilsen Glenn
  • Nicole Northwood
  • Berdene Owen
  • Cat Rector
  • RC Shaw
  • Lana Shupe
  • Mark Shupe
  • Anne M. Smith-Nochasak
  • Tricia Snell
  • Heidi Tattrie Rushton
  • Brenda J Thompson
  • Shelley Thompson
  • Andy Tolson
  • Jody Trainor
  • Catherine Walker
  • Yvette Ward MacDonald
  • Dawn Web
  • Kimberley Williamson
  • John Wonnacott

Publishers:

  • Askance Publishing
  • HARP The People’s Press
  • Moose House Publications
  • OC  Publishing
  • Pottersfield Press
  • Riddle Fence Publishing
  • Somewhat Grumpy Press
  • Spot of Poetry
  • Visual Arts News

The second annual Booktoberfest was a public reading and book fair celebrating authors who released books from October of 2022 to December of 2023. Readings and signings were held in Paul O’Regan Hall, Halifax Central Library, on December 21, 2023.

The books of 47 local authors and 10 local publishers were featured and available for sale:

Authors:

  • Donna Alward
  • Marcia E. Barss
  • Bruce W. Bishop
  • Heather & Nick Blackburn
  • Jill Martin Bouteillier
  • Geoff Butler
  • Ian Colford (featured reader)
  • Sarah Jane Conklin
  • Jane Doucet
  • Rosemary Drisdelle
  • John Elliott
  • Heather Fegan (featured reader)
  • Deanna Foster
  • Kathleen Foster-Alfred
  • EM Gales
  • Darlene Hawes
  • Michelle Helliwell
  • Andrea Hubley
  • Jan Fancy Hull
  • Karen Kelloway
  • Krista Keough
  • Janice Landry
  • Anne Launcelott
  • Garry Leeson
  • Bretton Loney
  • Chad Lucas
  • Jill MacLean (featured reader)
  • Vanessa McKiel
  • Noel McLellan
  • Danielle Metcalfe-Chenail (featured reader)
  • Barbara Ann Miller
  • Grant Edward Miller
  • Whitney Moran
  • Louise Piper
  • Anna Quon
  • David Ross
  • GA Ruck
  • Anne M. Smith-Nochasak
  • M. E. Strautmanis
  • Pat Thomas
  • Jane Thornley
  • Steve Vernon (featured reader)
  • Darryl Whetter (featured reader)
  • David A. Wimsett
  • DJ Wiseman
  • Hui Zhou

Publishers:

  • Askance Publishing
  • Bradan Press
  • Cape Split Press
  • Nevermore Press
  • Nimbus Publishing
  • Nummist Media
  • OC Publishing
  • Purple Porcupine Publishing
  • Somewhat Grumpy Press
  • WindyWood Publishing

The first annual Booktoberfest was a public reading and book-signing celebrating authors who released books during the first two years of the COVID-19 pandemic (from early 2020 to late 2022). Readings and signings were held in Paul O’Regan Hall, Halifax Central Library, on October 24, 2022.

The books of 44 local authors were featured and available for sale by the authors and courtesy of Woozles Children’s Bookstore and Bookmark Halifax:

Authors:

  • AJB Johnston
  • Alyda Faber
  • Andy Tolson
  • Ann Whynot
  • Anna Quon
  • Anne Emery (featured reader)
  • Anne Simpson (featured reader)
  • Aren Morris
  • Becca Babcock
  • Brenda MacLennan-Dunphy
  • Briana Corr Scott
  • Brittni Brinn
  • Carol Bruneau (featured reader)
  • Caroline Nicholson
  • Chad Lucas (featured reader)
  • Donna Morrissey (featured reader)
  • Jacqueline Halsey
  • Jan Fancy Hull
  • Jane Doucet
  • Jim Morrison
  • Jo Treggiari (featured reader)
  • Joseph Howse
  • Kate Inglis (featured reader)
  • Kim Meechan
  • Lauren Soloy (featured reader)
  • Louise Michalos
  • Marcia Barss
  • Margo Wheaton
  • Martine Jacquot
  • Melanie Mosher
  • Michelle Wamboldt
  • Mike and Kristen Ryan
  • Monica Graham
  • Nancy Regan
  • Nicola Davison
  • Ronan O’Driscoll
  • Rose Poirier
  • Sean Bedell (WFNS President and emcee)
  • Stephens Gerard Malone (featured reader)
  • Susan MacLeod
  • Teigan Bond
  • Tyler LeBlanc (featured reader)
  • Vivien Gorham

Event photos courtesy of Nicola Davison’s Snickerdoodle Photography.

Scroll to Top

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