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Writers In The Schools

The Writers In The Schools (WITS) programs offers both in-person and virtual author visits to elementary and secondary schools in Nova Scotia, as well as extracurricular Creative Writing Day Camps and the WITS Originals series of on-demand creative writing videos.

Applications for the 2025/2026 school year will open in September, 2025.

For questions about this program, contact program lead Linda Hudson at wits@writers.ns.ca

Overview

Writers In The Schools (WITS) is the most public educational outreach program of the Writers’ Federation of Nova Scotia (WFNS), bringing award-winning Nova Scotian authors into elementary and secondary schools to provide presentations, workshops, and readings for students of every grade. The program encourages students’ enjoyment of reading and writing and engages them in the development of literacy skills.

Sandra Bartlett <br>Armbrae Academy (Halifax, NS)
Sandra Bartlett
Armbrae Academy (Halifax, NS)
"Our school has been involved with WITS for many years. For students from grades primary to 12, it's been a wonderful opportunity for students to meet and engage with amazing local authors, enjoying and learning from the experiences. It was great to be able to pivot to online visits over the past year!"
Terri-Lynn Fancy <br>Ridgecliff Middle School (Beechville, NS)
Terri-Lynn Fancy
Ridgecliff Middle School (Beechville, NS)
"WITS allows our middle school students to see the amazing future opportunities in writing and illustrating while also appreciating the dedication and hard work involved in the creative process. After Andre Fenton's visit, one grade 8 student said he "inspired me to pick up my notebook and start writing again."
Cheryl Steeves <br>Lockeport Elementary (Lockeport, NS)
Cheryl Steeves
Lockeport Elementary (Lockeport, NS)
"Through WITS, author Marsha Pierce-Harding shared her Secrets of Sable Island, taking the class on a journey that danced between ghost story and historical fiction. Her photographs and actual artifacts brought the novel to life. The students were engaged and thrilled to be meeting a local author. We would strongly recommend WITS to other schools, and we are excited to participate again."
Michelle Dey <br>George P. Vanier Junior High (Fall River, NS) <br>& Waverley Memorial Elementary (Waverley, NS)
Michelle Dey
George P. Vanier Junior High (Fall River, NS)
& Waverley Memorial Elementary (Waverley, NS)
"The buzz in the building when an author visits is like a wave of energy, gradually spreading throughout the day from the morning 'welcome' announcement to class changes and breaks, as staff and students alike discuss their experience. The inspiration, ideas, connection, networking, and our lunch together are a highlight. I personally benefit greatly from our author visits, which are motivational professional development!"

All WITS authors are members of WFNS’s Writers’ Council and are able to cover a variety of topics, such as creative writing, research, journalism, illustration, and comic books.

WITS is a co-pay program: WFNS covers the entirety of an author’s mileage as well as a portion of the author’s fees. The hosting school covers the remainder of the author’s fees: $87.50 for a half-day visit (up to two 45- to 55-minute sessions), $175 for a full-day visit (up to four 45- to 55-minute sessions).

In-person visits: Many WITS authors are open to suggestions and amenable to working with teachers, librarians, and principals to ensure their visits complement school curricula.
     In-person visits may incur additional costs: WFNS covers all author mileage, but an author may require a lunch (if booked for a full-day), overnight accommodations (if travelling 2+ hours for a visit), and/or travel by bus or car-share (if without access to a vehicle), to be provided at the expense of the hosting school.

Virtual visits: Many of our authors have adapted their presentations for synchronous delivery to the classroom through video conferencing software.
     Virtual visits are an excellent option for schools with access to a stable internet connection.

Apply
for WITS Visits
Register
for Day Camps
Watch
WITS Originals
Guide for
WITS Authors

Investors and Partners

The Writers’ Federation of Nova Scotia recognizes the Province of Nova Scotia’s support for our Writers In The Schools (WITS) program. We are pleased to offer this program with investments from the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development and from Arts Nova Scotia. We are also grateful to Cabot Trail Writers Festival, Hackmatack Children’s Choice Book Award, and Read by the Sea’s Writing on Fire program for their recurring partnership in providing opportunities for WITS authors.

1113 Marginal Road

Halifax, NS B3H 4P7

902 423 8116

contact@writers.ns.ca

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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.

© Writers’ Federation of Nova Scotia, 2025. All rights reserved.

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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 first, copyright 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