School Grade Specialty
Heather Fegan
Heather Fegan is a freelance journalist and writer. She is a graduate of the University of King’s College School of Journalism. Heather has been a storyteller since age five, regaling her family with “updates” in her own “Heather Chronicles.” Gutsy, which explores her personal experience of navigating Crohn’s Disease over twenty-five years, is her debut book.
She lives in Halifax, NS, with her husband and two daughters. Follow her chronicles at heatherfegan.ca and @theheatherchronicles.
Janice Walsh-Cruddas
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Lynette Richards
Lynette Richards has been cartooning as long as she can remember, and recently published her first graphic novel Call Me Bill (Conundrum Press 2022). She is a Craft Nova Scotia Master Artisan, who lives and works in Terence Bay NS, where she operates her business Rose Window Stained Glass. She chose Stained Glass as her professional medium because it was both a trade and an art that has used sequential narration for over 1000 years!
Sarah Butland
Biography:
Sarah Butland is a thriving freelance writer and reporter, an author loved by enough readers to make it worthwhile and a discombobulated conundrum who loves to hear new music, tell new tales and meet new authors. The recipient of a Writers Federation of New Brunswick competition with Blood Day the Short Story, her love of writing knows no genre. With articles and book reviews published in Maritime (EDIT), AH! At Home on the North Short, Atlantic Books Today, with some work with Pictou Advocate, Butland thrives through deadlines and diversity.
As a full time employee besides, and a mother to one young book lover, Butland volunteers with the Read by the Sea Literary Festival committee, hosts local workshops and manages the Pictou County Writers – New and Experienced Facebook group, highlighting the vast amount of talent on the North Shore.
Wanda Baxter
Wanda Baxter lives on an old farmstead in Lunenburg County, Nova Scotia, with her long-time partner, Randy, their gregarious cat George, and an ever-changing assortment of wildlife. Wanda has Masters degrees in English (with Creative Writing) and Environmental Design, and she works primarily for environmental non-profit organizations. She is also an organic gardener, a ground bee and Monarch butterfly guardian, an amateur musician and country road rollerblader.
Wanda’s much-loved book If I had an Old House on the East Coast, illustrated beautifully by Kat Frick Miller, is in its 4th printing. Her brand new book She is Hope for Wildlife is based on the life and work of Hope Swinimer, the founder and director of the wildlife rescue Hope for Wildlife. An inspiring young reader for ages 6 – 11 and illustrated by Leah Boudreau, She is Hope for Wildlife is available in stores and via the wildlife rescue’s online store as of October, 2024. She is Hope for Wildlife is published by Nimbus Publishing, and a portion of the profit goes to Hope for Wildlife.
Laura Churchill Duke
Laura is a communication specialist and journalist in the Annapolis Valley. She is currently teaching communication to first year kinesiology students at Acadia University, focusing on writing, research and presentation skills.
Laura is also a freelance journalist for Saltwire Network, writing stories for Atlantic Canada. Her writing also appears in the Acadia Alumni Bulletin. She can also be heard as the Kentville community contact on CBC Radio, Information Morning.
Laura regularly teaches a creative non-fiction writing workshop to middle school students in the Annapolis Valley. Through this, she teaches students how to research, and then how to bring historical figures to life through creative writing.
As a public relation specialist, Laura works with Campaign for Kids, helps to raise funds for youth in financial need in Kings County. Their signature event, which Laura organizes, is Burger Wars.
She is the founder and creator of ValleyFamilyFun.ca, a website and blog dedicated to helping families find fun things to do together.
When not writing, Laura is working as a team member with Your Last Resort as a professional organizer, helping people to clear the clutter, making positive changes in their lives.
Laura lives in Kentville with her husband, David (a history professor at Acadia University), two sons (Daniel & Thomas) and 4 pets. She loves to travel and hike and is always up for an adventure!
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Lori Weber
Lori Weber is the author of nine young adult novels, including The Ribbon Leaf (Red Deer Press), a historical novel set in WWII, which won the 2023 Canadian Jewish Literary Award and was nominated for the Red Maple Award and the Geoffrey Bilson Award; Yellow Mini (Fitzhenry & Whiteside), a novel in verse; and Deep Girls (Dancing Cat Books), a short-story collection. She has also published two middle grade novels, Lightning Lou (Dancing Cat Books) and Picture me (James Lorimer), as well as one picture book, My Granny Loves Hockey (Simply Read Books). She has also published short fiction, poetry, and non-fiction in several Canadian literary journals. She holds a BA in Creative Writing and English from Concordia University, an MA in English from Acadia University, and a Diploma in Education from McGill. A native Montrealer, she lived for several years in Atlantic Canada where she taught English in Nova Scotia and Newfoundland. Upon returning to Montreal in 1994, she taught English at Vanier College before moving to John Abbott College in 1996, a position she retired from in 2020. She has delivered workshops in writing for teens through the Quebec Writers’ Federation, and has been their young adult fiction mentor for many years. She has represented Quebec twice for TD Canadian Book Week and has been offering classroom workshops around Quebec as a member of the Culture-in-the-Schools and Artists Inspire Programs since 2005. After retiring, Lori returned to Nova Scotia, where she currently lives in Dartmouth.
Andy Tolson
Andy Tolson has been a boy magician, drummer, propmaker, photojournalist, and a filmmaker. He lives in the Annapolis Valley, Nova Scotia, in a big old house with his family and two cats named Olive and Ottoline. How to Kidnap a Mermaid is his debut middle-grade fantasy, and the sequel, How to Rescue a Unicorn, will be released fall 2025.
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.