WITS grades 7-9

Sarah Sweeney

Sarah Sweeney was always a writer, but her big chance came while she was a teacher working in Istanbul, Turkey. She became frustrated that she didn’t have the right kinds of books to help her students learn English, so she started making her own materials. After a bit of pushing from a colleague she started working with a publisher, and they brainstormed what kinds of books were needed and how they could make them. Sarah is not just an author but also has illustrated many of her books. She has written 20 books with Turkish publishers Redhouse Kidz and Fono Publishing. She also taught herself digital artwork in order to illustrate two of her books

Sarah has since moved back to her home province of Nova Scotia, and continues to write. Since she will always be a teacher at heart, she teaches as a substitute in the nearby elementary schools and junior high. She is often inspired by the students she meets in all the different classrooms she gets to teach in.

Sarah traded in the city, for a little house by the sea, surrounded by trees. She lives there with her husband and two young daughters.

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Habiba Diallo

Habiba Diallo is the author of #BlackInSchool. She is the inaugural winner of the Senator Don Oliver Black Voices prize and was a finalist in the 2020 Bristol Short Story Prize. She was also one of six finalists in the 2018 London Book Fair Pitch Competition. She is a women’s health advocate passionate about bringing an end to a maternal health condition called obstetric fistula. You can find her on X, Facebook, and YouTube @haalabeeba

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Carolyn Jean Nicholson

My interest is in researching and writing historical fiction and non-fiction. My book, William Forsyth: Land of Hopes and Dreams – a story from early Nova Scotia, was published in 2021 and my second book has the working title Traitors, Cannibals, Highlanders, and Vikings. It’s about the people who came to Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island in the 1700s and early 1800s. It is due to be published in March 2023.

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Frances Nobles

https://fbnobles.ca

F.B. Nobles, author of She-Wolfe in the Shadows, lives with her partner, Ron and two chihuahuas, Lucy and Joey, in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada. She enjoys all the Maritime provinces have to offer—breathtaking scenery, delicious food, and friendly people. She finds inspiration in everything and everyone around her.

She loves to read; it started at an early age when she read the local papers, The Chronicle-Herald and The Mail-Star with her father at about age four. This trend continued when her mother introduced her to Nancy Drew Mysteries. Reading came naturally because everyone in her home was an avid reader. There were many books of different genres to whet her appetite and begin a life-long love of the written word.

She has always worked in structured disciplines that required superior attention to detail; writing became one of her creative outlets. Frances’ colourful imagination provides the backdrop of her story which she skillfully weaves with a mysterious tale of her crafting.

Her favourite authors are Sydney Sheldon, Harper Lee and Truman Capote to name a few. She has devoured their words. Her favourite director, producer and screenwriter is Alfred Hitchcock for allowing her imagination to create the ending.

Frances’ interests include travel, reading, writing, cooking, cooking shows, documentaries, reality shows, crafting, sewing, creating, research for her book, new learning experiences. All these things have helped shaped her writing. Frances favourite novels take her to a time or place unlike her own. She enjoys well-written novels of almost any genre.

She has traveled extensively in Europe from where the inspiration for the opulence in her book came. Frances enjoyed seeing many of the places she had only read about. Her favourite city is Amsterdam and her favourite country is the Netherlands. Their relaxed way of life is something she admires. Frances has also seen much of her own country. Canada has so much to offer. Upon her return to Canada, Frances lived in Montréal, Québec for seven years and took a job working for her first millionaire boss. She was fascinated by the millionaire lifestyle and brought parts of that lifestyle to her book.

The inspiration for this book came from many places and many persons. Sometimes a sight, sound or smell triggers a memory and a story for Frances. She also took inspiration from anyone who ever said to her, “You should write a book” although it may not be the book they envisioned. Prior to writing She-Wolfe in the Shadows, her writing style was satire with a humourous edge.

Frances describes her work as a mystery sprinkled with moments of romance. Her mystery  has love, hate deception, extreme wealth, superior intelligence, revenge and a most unlikely gold digger. Frances’ readers can expect an entertaining and mysterious escape.

Frances’ engaging characters are fictional and are in no way based on any individual(s), living, or dead.

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Camilla Thompson

Camilla Thompson is an author, educator and storyteller on a mission to improve mental health education and literacy across Canada. As the director of Sunnyside Self Wellness and author of Skating Late, Camilla introduces people of all ages and abilities to writing and wellness practices proven to increase peace, positivity, health and happiness, and shares inspiring stories of hope determination and community involvement.

Camilla’s debut book, Skating Late, is a work of Canadiana in children’s literature that features a confident and creative gender neutral fox that all Canadian kids can relate to. Parents, teachers and grandparents will love to read this tale aloud, but it is best enjoyed when recited by the author during class visits and community events.

“After sleeping in and waking up to a Canadian conundrum, Skating Late to school is the only solution. Facing some slippery situations along the way, is it possible to make it on time? Skating Late is a fast paced adventure full of danger, dread and determination! Strap on your skates, buckle your helmet, and prepare yourself for a wild ride!”

As a dynamic educator and entertaining storyteller with a passion for whole self wellness and mental health education, Camilla is excited to visit classrooms and communities across Canada sharing her Sunnyside stories and introducing the writing and wellness practices that have been life enriching at her best times and life saving during her most difficult trials.

Camilla is a disability entrepreneur returning to the workforce after her career was interrupted by kidney disease and the Covid 19 pandemic. During her three year healing hiatus, Camilla dedicated herself to her writing and studies. She wishes to thank The Halifax Humanities Society for offering free education in the humanities to Nova Scotians who face barriers to traditional education. This life changing educational opportunity is based on The Foundation Year Programme offered by the University of King’s College, and is is made possible by the generosity of local professors who donate their time and tutelage to help participants develop as writers, speakers and thinkers.

Camilla’s second book, Canada’s Ocean Letdown, is the story of a Come From Away grandchild who has an unfortunate introduction to the shores of Nova Scotia when they are stung by a jellyfish, attacked by swarm of mosquitoes and have to eat a peanut butter and SAND sandwich picnic for lunch. Her storytelling performances of this tale are receiving lots of laughs across the province. It will be illustrated by Canadiana artist Bonnie Lemaire and published in March of 2024.

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Dave Beynon

Originally from Britain, Dave Beynon moved to Canada as an infant, growing up on a farm north and west of Toronto.  He has been a cow milker, a short order cook, a waiter, a residence manager at the Hamilton Downtown YMCA (there’s a novel waiting to be written about those four years), a factory worker and a purveyor of fine corrugated packaging and displays.

Dave writes fiction of varying genres and lengths.  His short fiction has appeared in anthologies, periodicals, on-line and in podcasts.  In 2011, his novel, The Platinum Ticket was shortlisted for the inaugural Terry Pratchett Prize.

Dave co-hosted a local cable TV show called Turning Pages, an in-depth interview show that highlights authors, writing and publishing.

He lives on the South Shore and should have been living there his whole life.

His work is represented by Ed Wilson of Johnson & Alcock.

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Lauren Soloy

Lauren is the author and illustrator of When Emily was Small and Etty Darwin and the Four Pebble Problem, and The Hidden World of Gnomes, and the illustrator of I’s the B’y and A Tulip in Winter. She has lived on both coasts of Canada, always within reach of the sea.  She currently lives in a 140-year-old house in the wilds of Nova Scotia with her librarian husband, two curious children, an ever-expanding collection of books, two hives of bees, and one cat.  She has a Visual Arts BFA with Honours from the University of Victoria, and a certificate of Fine Furniture from Camosun College.  Along the way, she has learned to make a Queen Anne Highboy, a pottery mug, a hand knit pair of socks, a headstand, and a mess.  She is represented by Jackie Kaiser at Westwood Creative Artists. 

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Anne Louise O’Connell

An author, developmental book editor and partner publisher, Anne can be found working on her latest novel, mentoring other authors, publishing books or leading writing workshops. Anne’s first book, @Home in Dubai – Getting Connected Online and on the Ground, was traditionally published in the UK by Summertime Publishing (2011) and re-released by Springtime Books. Her first novel, Mental Pause launched on International Women’s Day, March 8, 2013, and won an Independent Publisher Book Award (IPPY). Her next novel, Deep Deceit, launched March 8, 2015 and is the first in a planned series called Deep Mysteries. Deep Freeze is scheduled for release March 2025. While living as an expat in Dubai and then Thailand, she was a content creator and a regular contributor to the Wall St. Journal Expat Blog and Global Living Magazine. In 2015, she also published a collection of expat and travel stories called Swimming with the Elephants and Other Adventures. Upon her return to Canada in 2016, after 23 years of expat life, she established OC Publishing in Halifax, NS.

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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 and 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.

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 information, strategies, and skills that suit their career stage. 

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 you’re uncertain of your experience level with regard to any particular workshop, please feel free to contact us at communications@writers.ns.ca