Nova Writes survey

The Programs Committee of the Writers’ Federation of Nova Scotia (WFNS) Board of Directors is seeking input from Nova Scotian writers on the Nova Writes Competition for Unpublished Manuscripts (or ‘Nova Writes’).

Background

Nova Writes supports the development of emerging Nova Scotia writers (as well as established writers exploring new genres) who have not published books in the categories they choose to enter (short fiction; poetry; short creative nonfiction, writing for children/young adult fiction, a category that alternates annually; and French-language short forms).

Nova Writes is usually launched in December and closes in January, with category winners notified in May. All entrants receive written comments on their manuscripts, and category winners receive $250 and the opportunity to read at the Celebration of Emerging Writers in the spring following each competition period. The fee to participate is $36 per writer per category (or $29 for WFNS members).

Survey aim

WFNS is re-evaluating the annual Nova Writes Competition to ensure it is meeting member and public needs and WFNS’s aims as an organization. Input is welcome from all NS writers, including past Nova Writes participants, other WFNS members, and non-members alike.

Survey responses are anonymous. You may include your email address for a chance to win a book pack, but it will be removed from your survey responses before results are shared with WFNS’s Programs Committee.

Survey closes October 10, 2024

The Writers’ Federation of Nova Scotia is based in Kjipuktuk, in Mi’kma’ki, the ancestral and unceded territory of the Mi’kmaq People. This territory is covered by the “Treaties of Peace and Friendship,” which Mi’kmaq and Wolastoqiyik (Maliseet) Peoples first signed with the British Crown in 1725. The treaties do not deal with surrender of lands and resources but in fact recognize Mi’kmaq and Wolastoqiyik (Maliseet) title and establish the rules for an ongoing relationship between nations.

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

Nova Writes survey

Survey closes October 10, 2024

Nova Writes survey form

Operational Investors

Recommended Experience Levels