Organizations for Writers

Member-based Organizations

Atlantic Publishers Marketing Association (APMA)
APMA is an “industry-support organization representing book publishers located in Atlantic Canada” with the aim of “growing and maintaining a strong Canadian-owned book publishing industry in Atlantic Canada.” Voting membership is open to publishers based in the Atlantic region and at least 80% owned by Canadian citizens or residents.

Editors Nova Scotia
Created in 2011, Editors Nova Scotia is a provincial “twig” of Editors Canada, a non-profit organization that fosters editors’ professional development, networking, and collaboration and “promotes and maintains high standards of editing through certification and reference publications.” Membership is open to editors at all career stages, whether salaried/in-house or freelance.

Playwrights Atlantic Resource Centre (PARC)
Founded in 1991, PARC offers support for pre-production script development and “programs in play development, playwright development, and play and playwright promotion.” Membership is open playwrights and dramaturges at all career stages, producing theatre companies in the Atlantic region (and those “interested in Atlantic Canadian plays”), and “theatre lovers and supporters.”

Prince Edward Island Writers’ Guild (PEIWG)
Founded in 1989, PEIWG is a non-profit that seeks “to unify literary programs such as writing workshops and readings, to create a formal intersection for discussion and action, and to speak periodically as one voice for the Island’s literary community.” Membership is open to writers at all career stages and “‘non-writers’ in the community.”

Romance Writers of Atlantic Canada (RWAC)
Created in 2000, RWAC is an independent non-profit professional organization that “offers a supportive environment and opportunity to learn about the romance publishing industry and the craft of writing.” Please contact RWAC regarding membership.

WritersNL
Founded in 1987 as the Writers’ Alliance of Newfoundland and Labrador, WritersNL is a non-profit that supports the province’s writers, fosters their public recognition, advocates for their well-being, and “promotes the enhancement of the literary arts in the province and beyond.” Membership is open to writers at all career stages.

Writers’ Federation of New Brunswick (WFNB)
WFNB’s mandate is to “help New Brunswick writers to write” and “acquire the professional skills to achieve financial self-sufficiency as writers” as well as to “raise public awareness of literary culture by showcasing works of New Brunswick and other writers.” Membership is open to writers at all career stages.

Writers’ Federation of Nova Scotia (WFNS)
Founded in 1976, WFNS is a non-profit that fosters creative writing and the profession of writing in the Province of Nova Scotia; provides advice and assistance to writers at all stages of their careers; encourages greater public recognition of writers and their achievements; and enhances the literary arts in our regional and national culture. Membership is open writers at all career stages, with special membership in the WFNS Writers’ Council available to professional writers.

Funding & Awards Organizations

Atlantic Book Awards Society (ABAS)
ABAS is a registered non-profit organization with the mandate “to promote and acknowledge excellence in Atlantic Canadian writing and book publishing through an annual awards ceremony and related events.”

Arts Nova Scotia (ArtsNS)
ArtsNS is a provincial funding agency that provides support to professional artists and arts organizations, arts education programs, and a number of arts awards and prizes.

Dartmouth Book Awards
Established in 1988, the Dartmouth Book Awards represent four of the six provincial book awards for Nova Scotian authors, specializing in fiction and nonfiction titles.

New Brunswick Arts Board (ArtsNB)
Established in 1991, ArtsNB is an independent, bilingual, arm’s-length organization that supports professional artists, rewards excellence, raises awareness of the arts, and embraces diversity through the administration of funding programs (for individuals and arts organizations), development of awards programs, and promotion of the arts.

Newfoundland and Labrador Arts Council (ArtsNL)
Established in 1980, ArtsNL is a non-profit Crown agency that supports dance, film, multidiscipline, music, theatre, visual art, and writing in the province.

Society for the Nova Scotia Book Awards (SNSBA)
The SNSBA produces an annual event, the Nova Scotia Book Awards, which brings together the Dartmouth Book Awards and the provincial awards administered by the Writers’ Federation of Nova Scotia.