WFNS logo ltrmark sticky 100px
WFNS logo ltrmark sticky 100px

Genre

Barbara Emodi

My background is in journalism, political communications, and teaching. I have over a decade of experience teaching creative non-fiction in the Department of Communications at Mount Saint Vincent University. Currently I am a panelist on CBC Halifax radio’s longest running political panel “The Spinsters.”

I write non-fiction and fiction, primarily cozy mysteries set in Nova Scotia. I work with a US-based publisher who thinks this province is “exotic.”

I have extensive experience working as a developmental editor with a wide variety of new and emerging authors across many genres. I have learned so much from other writers. With my own experience teaching writing and in the traditional publishing industry, I enjoy helping other authors bring out the best in their own work.

Barbara Emodi Read More »

Heidi Tattrie Rushton

Heidi Tattrie Rushton has been a freelance reporter, event planner, international recruiter, and preschool teacher. Like her Pet Tales protagonist, she has experience working at an animal shelter, was a kid-activist through her writing, and rides the roller coaster of life with anxiety. She lives with her husband, two children, and a menagerie of tiny pets, including a cat-sized dog, two fish, and a snail.

Heidi Tattrie Rushton Read More »

Tina Capalbo

As a teacher, writer, mom, and life-long creative, Tina Capalbo has written everything from lesson plans, blogs, stories, and plays, to volunteer manuals, educator packs, and architectural proposals.

Tina completed her Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Education degrees at Western and her Master of Arts degree at Dalhousie. She has taught high school English and Drama in London and Halifax, English as an Additional Language in Tokyo, Toronto and Halifax, and thousands of writing classes online.

As a WITS author, Tina loves exploring stories with students and offers two workshops: (1) ‘Ari and the Very Loud Bird!’ is a workshop with early elementary students (grades P-3), featuring Ari, an upbeat, non-binary kiddo, who loves to sleep in. The workshop includes a lively reading, a visit with Ari the puppet, and a book chat. Students create a songbird, invent a bird call, and become a noisy chorus of birds. (2) ‘Main Character Energy’ is a creative nonfiction writing workshop for secondary students (grades 10-12). Students engage in life-writing, exploring elements of journaling, memoir, personal essay, personal monologue, and phase autobiography.

Tina Capalbo Read More »

Jen Colclough

Jen Colclough is a Pushcart-nominated poet, novelist, and digital artist from Nova Scotia. She is the author of the poetry collection Our Little Agonies, published in 2025 by Montreal Publishing Company. She holds a Master of Arts in Classics from Western and a Bachelor of Arts from Acadia University. Her writings have been featured in numerous publications including CRAFT Literary, Tabula Rasa Review, Porch to Porch: A Maritime Haiku Anthology, Heimat Review, ionosphere, MORIA, and Free the Verse. In 2023, her graduate research appeared in the Journal of Ancient History.

In Winter 2024, Jen Colclough held the Shannon Residency at Beinn Mhàbu in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. She is currently querying an historical fiction novel and developing a serial drama for a major streaming service.

 

Freelance editing services available.

Jen Colclough Read More »

Cory Lavender

Cory Lavender is a poet of African Nova Scotian and European descent living in the Kespukwitk district of Mi’kma’ki (Southwest Nova Scotia). His chapbooks are Lawson Roy’s Revelation (Gaspereau Press, 2018) and Ballad of Bernie “Bear” Roy (knife | fork | book, 2020). His work has appeared in journals such as Grain, Prairie Fire, Riddle Fence, and The Fiddlehead, and in Watch Your Head: Writers and Artists Respond to the Climate Crisis (Coach House Press, 2020). His full-length collection of poems Come One Thing Another (Gaspereau Press, 2024) won the 2025 Maxine Tynes Nova Scotia Poetry Award.

Cory Lavender Read More »

RC Shaw

Travel Writing Workshop for Young People 

With RC Shaw

When we think of travel writing, we often conjure up tales of exotic, far-away lands. The reality is that some of the best adventures happen in our own backyards! Why not write them down?

Welcome seasoned English teacher and travel writer, RC Shaw, as he takes your students on an energetic writers’ workshop journey, from note-taking to planning to crafting a unique and personal travelogue. He will share tips and tricks from his own practice, and challenge students to write in a low-stakes series of travel-based prompts. Students will walk away with a fresh perspective on how to capture their own adventures in words.

RC Shaw has taught middle and high school English and science for over 15 years. He has experience crafting activities that meet a diverse array of curriculum outcomes, and he looks forward to tailoring his workshop to meet your students’ needs.

RC Shaw Read More »

Judie Oron

Judie Oron is a Canadian/Israeli journalist and award-winning author. Born in Montreal, she lived and worked in Israel for nearly 4 decades and now lives in Halifax, NS. After completing her BA in Anthropology at McGill University and academic research in African Studies at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, she worked as a feature writer at The Jerusalem Post, including a 4-year stint as a weekly columnist. Her articles have appeared in Lifestyles Magazine, The Canadian Jewish News, Weekly Press Pakistan, The Jerusalem Report, Hawarya Canadian/Ethiopian Press, and the Australian editions of Christian Woman, Christian Daily.

Judie left the newspaper to recruit and direct an unofficial rescue unit that assisted Jews to find their way from Ethiopia to Israel. During that period, she returned to war-torn Ethiopia to search for a missing Ethiopian Jewish slave named Wuditu. She located the child, released her from captivity and took her into her family. Cry of the Giraffe tells the story of Wuditu’s 4 years in slavery.

“I paid cash and was handed a human being,” Judie explains, “that experience changed my life.” Since publication, Judie has been speaking out about child slavery, bride kidnapping and obstetric fistula in 2 languages and on 3 continents, in hopes of driving these tragic circumstances onto a wider public consciousness. “Wuditu was trapped into a form of slavery we would call debt bondage,” Judie reports. “My current novel in progress is focussed on another form of child slavery that is also wide-spread in Ethiopia, bride kidnapping.”

Judie Oron Read More »

Megan Coffin

Megan Coffin, a proud resident of Nova Scotia is an author known for her captivating children’s books. Born on May 22, 1986, Megan has faced and triumphed over numerous challenges, including her battle with breast cancer, which has further fueled her passion for storytelling.

Megan’s journey into the world of writing began at a young age, thanks to her father’s extraordinary gift for spinning tales. His captivating stories about Sneaky the Snake and friends left a lasting impression on Megan, and she soon discovered her own love for writing. In her teenage years, Megan started exploring poetry, enjoying the experience of putting her thoughts and emotions onto paper.

It was after her father’s passing that Megan decided to honor his memory by sharing their favorite stories with their loved ones. Inspired by his handwritten versions of Sneaky the Snake’s adventures, Megan took on the challenge of revising and expanding these tales, completing her highly admired series, “The Adventures of Sneaky the Snake.” These stories take readers on captivating journeys, filled with thrilling twists and heartwarming moments, all set against the backdrop of Megan’s childhood experiences in Nova Scotia.

Her dedication to preserving her father’s legacy and creating charming tales has earned her a growing readership. The illustrations in her books hold a special significance as they are all based on the cherished places, she grew up in. Each detail, from her grandmother’s fields and home to the family tractor and the local farm where she and her brothers played, adds an authentic and nostalgic touch to her stories.

As a Nova Scotia resident, Megan has an inherent understanding of the region’s natural beauty and rich landscapes. She weaves these elements seamlessly into the fabric of her stories, creating a sense of familiarity and fondness for readers of all ages.

Through her engaging storytelling and heartfelt narratives, Megan Coffin continues to enchant audiences young and old alike. Her ability to transport readers to a world of imagination, while honoring her father’s legacy, showcases her passion and talent as a writer. Megan’s books remind us of the power of cherished memories and the importance of preserving our roots for future generations.

Megan Coffin Read More »

Scroll to Top
WFNS logo ltrmark sticky 100px

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, writing for 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.

Occasionally, WFNS uses the phrase “emerging and established writers/authors” to mean ‘writers and authors of all experience levels.’

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