Nonfiction (children’s) – Page 4 – Writers’ Federation of Nova Scotia

Pamela Hickman

“It’s neat for kids to read about things, but the best thing is for them to muck around and discover things on their own.” – Pam on why her books are activity-based

Pamela Hickman was born and raised in Mississauga, Ontario. She holds an Honours Bachelor degree in Environmental Studies and Biology from the University of Waterloo. She was the Education Co-ordinator for the Federation of Ontario Naturalists for 7 years. During that period, Pamela wrote several education kits and other natural history material for children. In 1989, Pamela began a freelance writing career and has published over 35 books to date. She moved to Canning, N.S. with her husband and three daughters in 1992. Pamela divides her time between her writing, family and volunteer work in her community.

Pamela won the 1995 Lilla Sterling Memorial Award. In 2007, she also won the Green Prize for Sustainable Literature Award from the Santa Monica Public Library.

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Maureen Hull

Maureen Hull was born and raised on Cape Breton Island. She studied at NSCAD, Dalhousie University and the Pictou Fisheries School. Before and during her formal education she worked in the costume department of Neptune Theatre. Since 1976 she has lived on Pictou Island in the Northumberland Strait. Between 1976 and 1998 she worked as a lobster fisher; for seven of those years she home-schooled her two daughters. She began writing in 1992. She has been a Berton House Writer in Residence and during the fall/winter of 2010 she will be the Pictou-Antigonish Regional Library’s Writer in Residence.

Her fiction and poetry has appeared in numerous magazines and anthologies. Her short story collection, Righteous Living, Turnstone Press, 1999, was short-listed for the Danuta Gleed Award, and several of her stories have been read on CBC radio. Her second picture book, Rainy Days With Bear, 2004, was short-listed for the Ann Connor Brimer and Blue Spruce awards. Her first novel, The View From a Kite was published by Nimbus/Vagrant in September 2006. Her most recent work, Lobster Fishing on the Sea, was published in the spring of 2010 by Nimbus. It was also published as an e-book, as Lobster Fishing on the Susan B, by the River John branch of the Pictou-Antigonish Regional Library.

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K.V. Johansen

Originally from Kingston, Ont., K.V. Johansen studied English and History at Mount Allison, received a Master’s in Medieval Studies from the Centre for Medieval Studies at the University of Toronto, and another Master’s in English, from McMaster. She writes mostly epic fantasy, as well as fantasy and science fiction for young readers; she has also written short stories and literary criticism for adults. Ancient and Medieval history and languages are one of her main interests. Johansen taught workshops at the spring 2010 MASC Young Authors and Illustrators Conference in Ottawa. She has worked with the elementary or elementary/intermediate sessions of Writers in Electronic Residence (WIER) over a number of terms and has visited schools from Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec and Ontario, to Austria and Macedonia. She has in the past written a large number of articles for the Nova Scotia based farm magazines Rural Delivery and Atlantic Beef Quarterly, as well as other non-fiction. She was the editor of Stalin Versus Me, the final volume of the late Donald Jack’s triple Leacock-Award-winning Bandy Papers series (Sybertooth 2005). Johansen currently lives in Sackville, NB.

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A.J.B. (John or Jay) Johnston

A.J.B. (John) Johnston is the author or co-author of books and museum exhibits, as well as articles in scholarly journals, magazines and newspapers. He was made a chevalier of France’s Ordre des Palmes Académiques in recognition of his body of work on Louisbourg and other French colonial topics. The best known of his history books is Endgame 1758, which won a Clio award from the Canadian Historical Assocation and was short-listed for the Dartmouth Book Award.

His two latest books, his 20th and 21st, will appear in 2020. First up will be Kings of Friday Night: The Lincolns (Nimbus). Then it will be Ancient World, New World: Skmaqn—Port-la-Joye—Fort Amherst (Acorn), co-authored with Jesse Francis.

In 2018, John released The Hat, a YA novel that offers a 21st-century take on the Acadian Deportation, and Something True, which was inspired by the real-life adventures of Katharine McLennan in late 19th and early 20th-century Cape Breton and in France during the First World War.

In 2017, he was Writer-in-Residence at the Center for the Writing Arts in Fairhope, Alabama. Back in 2016, John participated as a mentor to emerging writer Linda MacLean in the Alistair MacLeod Mentorship Program. From mid-April to mid-May 2017 he combined with Sal Sawler and Norma Jean MacPhee to offer sessions for the WFNS entitled “So You Want to be Published” in Halifax, Antigonish, Wolfville, Sydney and Yarmouth.

John has written three novels in the Thomas Pichon series: Thomas, A Secret Life in 2012; The Maze in 2114 and Crossings in 2015.

Back in 2013, Ni’n na L’nu: The Mi’kmaq of Prince Edward Island (Acorn), won three awards: “best-published Atlantic Book”, best PEI Non-Fiction, and a PEI Heritage Award. The French version of the book, Ni’n na L’nu: Les Mi’kmaq de l’Ile-de-Prince-Édouard, is now available from La Grand Marée (Tracadie Sheila, NB).

Released in 2015 was Grand Pré, Landscape for the World (Nimbus), co-written with Ronnie-Gilles LeBlanc.

Most of his books are available as e-books.

John writes exhibits as well, including the “Vanguard: 150 Years of Remarkable Nova Scotians” for the Nova Scotia Museum and the ground floor of the Black Cultural Centre. The award-winning travelling exhibition Ni’n na L’nu: The Mi’kmaq of Prince Edward Island opened at the Confederation Centre in Charlottetown and then travelled to the Museum of Canadian History in Gatienau, Quebec and other subsequent venues. More recently, John developed the storyline and texts for the revitalization of the Colchester Historeum in Truro. That exhibit opened officially in early 2016.

More information on John can be found at ajbjohnston.com and on Facebook at A J B Johnston, Writer. John is on Twitter at @ajbjohnston and on Instagram at AJBJohnston.

John donates his papers to the Beaton Institute of the Cape Breton University.

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Sylvia Gunnery

Sylvia Gunnery has published many books for teens and children as well as professional resources for teachers of writing. A recipient of a Prime Minister’s Teaching Award, she has presented at conferences, libraries, and schools across Canada. She also enjoys working virtually with adult writers and students through workshops, mentorships, and WITS visits. Road Signs That Say West is her most recent YA novel. Sylvia lives at Crescent Beach on the South Shore of Nova Scotia where she’s working on a YA series of linked stories, what I know about next. https://sylviagunnery.ca

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Pamela Ditchoff

Pamela Ditchoff was born in Lansing, Michigan on September 21, 1950. She received a BA in Communication Arts from Michigan State University (1982), and an MA in English/Creative Writing from Michigan State University (1985). In the mid-1980s, Ditchoff worked at WFSL-TV47 in Lansing as head copywriter/creative consultant and then as a Graduate Teaching Assistant at Michigan State University.During this period, her early fiction and poetry was published in various literary magazines. She taught in elementary and secondary schools with the Writer’s In Schools program, and Interact Press published two of her texts for teachers. In 1993, Ditchoff was recognized in Who’s Who in Writers, Editors & Poets: United States & Canada, 1992-1993 for her significant literary contributions. Ditchoff moved to Liverpool in 2006, and has conducted classes there with WFNS and SCANS.

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Deirdre Dwyer

Deirdre Dwyer has been writing poetry since her teacher taught her about haiku in grade six. In the meantime, she’s worked as an English as a Second Language teacher in Tokyo, a Creative Writing instructor in Halifax, a Sessional Instructor of English in Windsor and a bookseller. Deirdre holds an MA in English and Creative Writing from the University of Windsor, and was a founding member of the Bourbon Street Poetry Society. She has worked with the Hope for Wildlife Society, a wildlife rehabilitation facility on the Eastern Shore. Deirdre was also Coordinator of the Musquodoboit Harbour Farmers’ Market. She was chair of the Musquodoboit Harbour and Area Community Association, and has been writing prose about her three years in Japan and her subsequent travels; and a writing workshop in Iceland in 2019.

When she visits schools, she can talk about the differences between Japanese culture, discuss Nova Scotian wildlife, show pictures of some of the wildlife she met at Hope for Wildlife, do writing exercises relating to either prose or poetry connected to these discussions, and read and discuss her own work with the students. She can also discuss life in Iceland, publishing books and in journals.

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Jill Bryant

Jill Bryant is a writer who specializes in children’s non-fiction. Born in Toronto, Ontario, Jill grew up in Elora and Eden Mills, Ontario. She holds an Honours Bachelor of Arts degree with a major in English (Applied Studies option) and a minor in Drama from the University of Waterloo in Waterloo, Ontario. After university, she spent ten months travelling overland from England to India with her now-husband, Daryn. A year later, Jill and Daryn travelled to South-East Asia for three months and then taught English in Japan for one year.

Jill has worked as an in-house editor for former Toronto publishers Houghton Mifflin Canada, D.C. Heath, and Somerville House Books. She currently freelances for many publishers, including Scholastic, Pearson, and Nelson. Her first book, Sew Your Own Bean Bag Friends, was published in 1998.

Jill, Daryn, and their daughter Zoë moved to Halifax, Nova Scotia in 2000 when Daryn accepted a position at King’s College. Their second daughter, Mari, was born in Halifax. They spent four years there, living on the ocean. Next, Jill’s family moved to Princeton, New Jersey for a year and then to Manchester, UK for two years. Jill and her family spent the 2007-2008 school year in Berlin, Germany. In August, 2008, Jill and her family moved to Kingston, Ontario where they hope to stay for many years!

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Joan Payzant

Joan Payzant has written numerous books and articles about the history of Dartmouth, Halifax and Nova Scotia. These include non-fiction, and fiction for children. She was born in Dartmouth and grew up hearing stories of the Halifax Explosion, which are featured in her books Who’s a Scaredy-cat! and December, 1917, Revisiting the Halifax Explosion. Joan is a graduate of Dalhousie.

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Jane Baskwill

Jane Baskwill was born in Queens, New York, but has lived most of her adult life in rural Nova Scotia. There she has watched foxes steal pears from beneath the trees in her back yard, listened to red-tailed hawks argue over a recently caught meal, smelled the arrival of a family of skunks, and tasted the wild blackberries that grow in the fields and by the roadside.

Jane appreciates and respects the beauty of nature in all its forms and all its moments. She is a strong advocate for equity and social justice and works with schools to promote Peace and Environmental education. She shares this with her husband and three children, and with others through her teaching, writing and poetry.

She has authored many professional books and articles for teachers in addition to an award-winning video series. She has also authored a book of poetry for children and three picture books: Somewhere (1996), Touch the Earth (1999), and If Peace Is… (2003), (Mondo Publishing, New York). Her latest book, Together in Time (2012, InSync Books) a novel for children 8 to 12 years old, is set in the abandoned settlement of Roxbury in the Annapolis Valley.

She is a former teacher and principal and is currently on the Education Faculty at Mount Saint Vincent University, Halifax.

Jane is a six-time recipient of the Education Quality Award from the Nova Scotia Teachers’ Union and received the Distinguished Achievement Award from the Educational Press Association of America for her series of articles in Teaching K-8 Magazine.

During the 2007/08 school year Jane completed a school-wide writing project with Holland Road Elementary School that resulted in the publication of a picture book: A Kid’s Guide to Making and Being A Friend, used as a school fundraiser.

Jane also helps schools and communities start their own Family Literacy publishing house. Publish It! has produced over 500 non-fiction picture books written by children and their parents and illustrated with photos they have taken.

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Nonfiction (children's)