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Micro-Anthology Series

The Micro-Anthology Series provides publication opportunities and encourages Nova Scotian readers to discover local authors. Micro-anthologies are distributed for free in print and digital formats.

For questions about this program, contact program lead Andy Verboom at communications@writers.ns.ca

Nova Swoons is WFNS’s annual micro-anthology of romance fiction by Nova Scotian writers. Published each February, it is distributed for free in print and digital formats.

To be first published in 2026, Nova Swoons expands on the work of WFNS’s Nova Swoons event, a special edition of our Nova Reads series that was co-presented by Romance Writers of Atlantic Canada and that shone a light on eight established and professional Nova Scotian authors of romance fiction.

Submissions accepted Dec 16, 2025, to Jan 22, 2026

For the inaugural (2026) edition of the Nova Swoons micro-anthology

For the inaugural Nova Swoons micro-anthology, we welcome submissions of romance micro-fiction (up to 750 words) and excerpts from longer romance fiction works (up to 750 words) written by current residents of Nova Scotia, regardless of their writing or publication experience.

Submissions will be assessed by a selection committee composed of WFNS staff and members of the Romance Writers of Atlantic Canada (RWAC). Publication in this micro-anthology is not compensated.

To submit to the Micro-Anthology Series, writers must meet the following criteria.

  • You must be a current resident of Nova Scotia, meaning that you live in Nova Scotia on the date of submission.
    • Seasonal residents are eligible, including any post-secondary student from another province or country who is a current student of a Nova Scotian institution and a current resident of Nova Scotia.
  • You must be 19 years of age or older by the current submission deadline.

To be eligible for publication, submissions must meet the following criteria.

  • Your submission must be no more than 750 words. The submission title does not count toward word length.
    • Add a very brief postscript(up to 50 words) if your submission is an excerpt (in which case include the title and synopsis of the longer work) and/or if your submission is previously published (in which case include the publisher and year of the previous publication).
  • Your submission must be submitted via the form below.
  • 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 submissions do not apply to multiple WFNS programs. You are always permitted to submit the same unpublished writing to multiple WFNS programs and special publications at the same time.

Entry form

Declarations of eligibility

By submitting to the Micro-Anthology Series, you make each of the following declarations:

• I am a current resident of Nova Scotia.
• I am 19 years of age or older.
• My submission is 100% human-created. No part of my submission has been generated or modified by so called "AI," including LLMs (large language models) and other exploitative, copyright-violating algorithmic technologies.

If it is discovered that any of the above declarations is false, your submission will be ineligible.
Please enter the name you commonly use or publish under. We do not require your legal name.
Must include city/town, province, and postal code.
If your submission is selected, this bio will be published alongside it. This bio may be edited for clarity, brevity, or formatting (e.g., italicization of book titles).
Please enter a URL where readers can find more information about you, more of your writing, or a social media profile. If your submission is selected, this URL will be published alongside it.
Exclude the submission title and any postscript.
Drag & Drop Files, Choose Files to Upload
Upload a single submission of no more than 750 words (excluding title) as a single .DOC or .PDF file.

Add a very brief postscript (up to 50 words) if your submission is an excerpt (in which case include the title and synopsis of the longer work) and/or if your submission is previously published (in which case include the publisher and year of the previous publication).

Terranova Scotia is WFNS’s annual micro-anthology of speculative fiction (sci-fi, fantasy, horror, and related genres) by Nova Scotian writers. Published each September, it is distributed for free in print and digital formats.

To be first published in 2026, Terranova Scotia expands on the work of WFNS’s 2024 and 2025 Hal-Con Zines, which were available only to attendees of the Hal-Con Sci-Fi & Fantasy Convention.

Submissions will be accepted in late spring of 2026

For the inaugural (2026) edition of the Terranova Scotia micro-anthology

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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 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