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Writing Rumble 2025 (Halifax)

On Thursday, Oct 23 (2pm – 8pm), two teams of authors—the Quilluminati and the Word Slingers—will compete to write the best short story!

The Quilluminati

Shelley “Oops, Typo” Thompson
Jessica “Plot Twist” Marsh
Chris “The Plot Bossman” Benjamin
Jen “The Syllable Slinger” Britton
Sue “Storm Cloud” MacLeod
Gillian “The Blundermaker” Turnbull

The Word Slingers

Tim “The Terrible” Covell
Danica “The Spine Cracker” Roache
Charlotte “Deus Ex Macchiato” Ashley
Sue “Succinct Scrawler” Murtagh
Stevie “The (Grape) Stomper” Kimber
Renée “Tome Raider” Belliveau

In the weeks leading up to the Writing Rumble, participating authors (“Rumblers”) seek sponsorships. Cumulative sponsor rewards are unlocked with donations of

All sponsor donations for the Writing Rumble 2025 will support the Writers’ Federation of Nova Scotia’s Alistair MacLeod Mentorship Program.

SPONSOR A RUMBLER

On the day of the Writing Rumble, our Rumblers will compose their stories in a public setting. All are welcome to drop in, mingle with fellow writers, watch the writing process via projector, and cheer or jeer the Rumblers.

  • From 2pm to 6:45pm, writing will be conducted in 45-minute head-to-head rounds. Spectators can make donations on site to assign trouble-making writing prompts to the team they oppose—or they team they support!
  • At 7pm, both teams’ stories will be read for the crowd, with the winning story determined by applause.

Location: Open Book Coffee (3660 Strawberry Hill St, Halifax)

Date: Thursday, Oct 23, 2025 (2:00pm to 8:00pm)

All are welcome!

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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