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Off the Page

Off the Page is a monthly reading series, running each spring and fall in Halifax’s vibrant North End, that offers emerging writers the opportunity to read from works-in-progress in a friendly community space and to network with other writers and readers.

All Off the Page events are free and family-friendly, with light supervision and crafts for children in attendance and with light refreshments and snacks for all. Events are held at Wonder’neath Art Society (2482 Maynard St, Halifax), a wheelchair-accessible venue with wheelchair-accessible, all-gender bathrooms. (Read Wonder’neath’s Accessibility Guide.)

Each Off the Page event features four to six emerging writers, with the final event of each spring and fall headlined by a local established author. Emerging writers can apply to perform through the sign-up form below, visible whenever applications are being accepted, or through printed sign-up forms provided at each event.

Applications are currently paused

Application form

Statements of eligibility

By applying to participate in Off the Page, you make each of the following declarations:

• I am an emerging writer, having not published a book-length project.
• If selected to participate in Off the Page, I agree to abide by the Writers' Federation of Nova Scotia's Statement of Inclusion below:

The Writers’ Federation of Nova Scotia strives to offer inclusive physical and virtual spaces where all feel welcome. To this end, we require that all participants of WFNS events and of member-organized events in WFNS’s spaces (1) refrain from speaking or behaving in racist, xenophobic, sexist, homophobic, transphobic, or other discriminatory ways and (2) provide reasonable advanced warning before describing violent or traumatic subject matter, which always has the potential to distress others.
Please summarize the themes, tone, and/or inspiration of the work(s) you wish to read.

Keeping in mind that you will have 8 to 10 minutes to read, please identify any work you intend to excerpt (that is, to read just a portion of).
Please note above any content in your work(s) that would be unsuitable for a general, all-ages audience.

Off the Page events are family-friendly, and content that may be unsuitable for children will be marked in each event's printed programme so that parents can make informed decisions.
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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