Freelance Aug/Sept 2015 by Admin Assist

Freelance Aug / Sept 2015 Volume 45 Number 5

In this issue: SWG Conference Info Getting Into Libraries Four Women Writing at 60+ Some Notes on Writing Groups

Contents

Vol. 45 No. 5/Freelance Aug/Sept 2015 ISSN 0705-1379

President’s Report ..............................................................................................1 Executive Director’s Report ..............................................................................2 Short Grain Winners Announced ...................................................................3 SWG Governance Information .........................................................................4 SWG Organizational Structure .......................................................................5 SWG Board of Directors Information ............................................................6 Take a Step Towards Publishing Success ..........................................................8 Getting Read: Getting Into Libraries ............................................................10 At The Libraries This Fall ...............................................................................11 Four Women Writing at 60+ .........................................................................12 Some Notes on Writing Groups ..................................................................16 SWG Fall Conference Information ................................................................19 The Art of Organization ..................................................................................26 Space-Time Continuum .................................................................................28 Books By Members .........................................................................................30 Calls of Interest ................................................................................................32 Professional Development .............................................................................34 Member News ..................................................................................................35

Freelance is published six times per year for members of the Saskatchewan Writers’ Guild.

Design & Layout : Corey Wilkinson

How to Submit Submissions to Freelance are welcome for editorial review. If accepted, articles will be edited for clarity. The basic criteria to meet in submitting materials are readership interest, timeliness, and quality and following the standard submission format (see SWG website). Viewpoints expressed in contributed articles are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the position of the SWG. We do not accept poetry or prose at this time. Copyright for articles, reports, photographs, and other visual materials or text remains with the creator and cannot be used or reprinted without permission. SWG pays for one time rights/use only. Payment for articles and reports is 20 cents a word. Photographs and other visuals are paid at a rate of $25 each. Cover art payment is $80. Deadline for the next issue of Freelance: Sept 15, 2015.

Contributors to this Issue: Kay Parley Edward Willett J. Jill Robinson Anne Pennylegion Rod MacIntyre Linda Aksomitis

On the Cover: Harvesting, In the Shurniak Private Collection By German Jaramillo-McKenzie Was born in 1960 and is a resident of Regina, where he works full time as an artist. He spent one year studying oil painting with Zhu Wei Min in China. German has painted 16 murals in different Canadian provinces, such as Alberta, Ontario and Saskatchewan. W: gjm.ca

The Saskatchewan Writers’ Guild gratefully acknowledges the support of: SaskCulture and Saskatchewan Lotteries Trust Fund

Contact Us SWG Regina Office Contact P: 306.757.6310 Toll Free: 1.800.667.6788 F: 306.565.8554 E: info@skwriter.com or swgmedia@skwriter.com W: skwriter.com Mailing Address Saskatchewan Writers’ Guild Box 3986, Regina, SK, S4P 3R9 Regina Courier or Drop-Off Address 1150 8th Avenue, Suite 100 Regina, SK, S4R 1C9 SWG Board of Directors Jeanne Alexander (President), Regina Roy Bluehorn, Saskatoon Sandy Marie Bonny, Saskatoon Brian Cobbledick (Vice President), Regina Heather Getz, Regina Paula Jane Remlinger (Treasurer), Beaver Creek Marianna Topos (Secretary), Regina Jack R. Walton, Saskatoon Nina Wilson, Saskatoon

SWG Freelance Aug / Sept 2015

President’s Report

s these glorious days of summer draw to an end, it’s my hope that you’ve been able to put your feet up and maybe find some time to rejuvenate yourself or your writing.

Our annual SWG Fall Conference: Great Expectations is being held on Oct. 23/24 in Regina. Although the conference has been streamlined into two days, with the SWG AGM finishing the event on Saturday afternoon, we’re still looking forward to an entertaining and informative event. If you’re at all interested in seeing the SWG grow as an organization, please consider allowing your name to stand for the SWG Board of Directors by contacting Nomination Committee Chair Brian Cobbledick at: cb.cobbledick@sasktel.net or the SWG Office. While an understanding of policy board governance is important to being an active board member, training will be provided. As our members reflect the many demographic groups in Saskatchewan, we encourage members with diverse backgrounds to consider becoming part of the board. Please indicate your intentions as soon as possible or if you’re curious as to what the positions entail, please don’t hesitate to talk to us. As for summer programs, Words in the Park in Regina is enjoying its fifth successful year and Readings by the River in Saskatoon is proving to be quite popular. These wonderful readings finish in August (thanks to all the authors and audiences that took part)—if you didn’t catch the readings, or participate, remind yourself to do so next summer! We’re proud of every author that wins an award, especially one of our SWG members! If you do happen to win an award, please let Freelance know so that we can help promote the news! Another great source of information for the SWG is writing groups and we’re always interested in hearing from writing groups and learning about the activities and projects with which they are involved in. If your group is looking for new members, be sure to let the office know!

As the weather turns from green to gold, the SWG will offer a variety of opportunities for writers to advance their writing skills. Upcoming are the Facilitated Retreat, workshops, Write After Lunch, NaNoWriMo, the Fall Conference, and many other great events. Keep an eye on our web page for a list of all events and professional development opportunities. The SWG Board of Directors is interested in suggestions you may have to improve services or programs for our members. The SWG would not exist without those working behind the scenes. Let’s remember to thank the staff, volunteers, and members of the Board of Directors for all the work they do in developing, creating, maintaining, overseeing and running the SWG programs and services. Someone once said, “An ounce of praise is worth more than a pound of criticism.” I’m sure we can all think of many other such platitudes, but gratitude and the expression of it sometimes makes our world a better place.

Jeanne D.G. Alexander President of the Board of SWG

SWG Freelance Aug / Sept 2015

Executive Director’s Report

ummer has sped by with its usual flurry of staff holidays, fiscal year end and preparations for our audit, and the implementation of our great summer programs like the Writers/Artist Retreats, Words in the Park, and Readings by the River. Programming staff have also been busy processing award submissions, writing group applications, and planning fall programming.

We also said good-bye at the end of July to long-time employee, Lois Salter, who has been with us for four and a half years. Lois was instrumental in revamping the Guild’s accounting structures, systems and processes, which is an onerous job at the best of times, but even more complicated in that she developed financial structures that allowed us to extract information for reporting to all of our funders, who required breakouts in different ways. She made our operations more accountable and secure, as well as efficient and timely. She will be missed, but we wish her well in all of her freelance and private practice business endeavours. With Lois’s retirement from the Guild, Lauren Numrich is our sole accountant and has increased her hours slightly to accommodate the additional responsibilities. We’re pleased to announce that Nickita Longman is our new Indigenous Program Coordinator. She has previous contract experience with us and we look forward to her knowledgeable guidance in programming for the Guild. Caelan Reilly has been promoted to Program Coordinator responsible for youth programming, including our Access TV shows, and for outreach programming and services throughout the province. By the time you read this report, we will have hired someone for the new Program Assistant position, which is being revamped to include the Author Readings Program and dedication to database management to track all of our workshops and conference registrants as well as award and publication submissions, among other tasks. We will also hire an additional Program Assistant to round out our full complement of staff members. The independent study and review of Grain magazine operations is almost complete and the summary will be available in written format for members ahead of the AGM. This will be a topic on the AGM agenda with an opportunity for members to vote on the future direction of the magazine, so please make sure to attend, if you’d like your vote to count.

The annual Fall Conference and AGM will take place at the Travelodge Hotel in south Regina from October 2324. This year we’ve reduced the length of the conference to accommodate rising costs for the Guild and especially for participants who attend from outside the city. The AGM will be held on the Saturday afternoon. There will still be many great workshops and sessions to help you hone your skills and inspire your muse. The Heath Lecture and the Open Mic will be held on Friday night, and the John V. Hicks will be a luncheon held on Saturday. Our updated membership database is in the testing phase and will be ready shortly so that members can more easily renew their own memberships online. We thank everyone for their patience and persistence while this process has been in the works as well as during our transition to a new server. We know how frustrating it’s been with email glitches and response times, and are so appreciative for your understanding. We expect fairly smooth sailing from now on, but please don’t hesitate to contact us immediately if you are having problems or need assistance. We’re more than happy to help wherever we may be of service. May you have a happy autumn and many successes with your writing!

Judith Silverthorne

SWG Freelance Aug / Sept 2015

Short Grain Winners Announced By SWG Staff

rain’s 2015 writing contest, Short Grain, has now closed and our judges, Sandra Birdsell, author of Waiting for Joe and The Russländer, which was nominated for the Giller Prize, along with acclaimed poet, George Eliott Clarke, a former Poet Laureate for Toronto, have reviewed the entries. The winning pieces will be published in the Winter 2015 issue, Volume 43.2 of Grain.

Poetry 1st Prize: “Moons” by Jesse Macpherson 2nd Prize: “Parasomnia” by Heather Fraser 3rd Prize: “Pale Creatures” by Diane Tucker Honorable mentions: “Something About the Cello” by Medrie Purdham and “The Black Union Dead” by Michael Fraser.

Congratulations to the winners!

A huge thanks goes to Cheryl and Henry Kloppenburg, whom many of you will recognize from the Fiction Kloppenburg Award for Literary Excellence. They have been sponsoring the Short Grain contest for 27 years! 1st Prize: “Psalm XXII” by Sheri Benning 2nd Prize: “Balti” by Yusuf Saadi This contest wouldn’t be what it is today without them. 3rd Prize: “Eileen” by Trevor Corkum Thank you! Honorable mentions: “The Blood They Lose” by Sheri Benning and “Sea Over Bow” by Violet Browne.

For more information on the history of Grain, and a list of past Short Grain winners, check out the Grain website: grainmagazine.ca 3

Call For SWG Board Nominations Please consider volunteering The Nominations Committee of the Board is seeking SWG members willing to let their names stand for one of several vacancies that will occur on the Board in October. Elections to the Board and to the Presidency are conducted at the SWG Annual General Meeting (AGM) held at the Fall Conference. The AGM will be held on 24 October 2015 at 2:00 pm at the Travelodge, 4177 Albert St, Regina. Nominations are needed for the one year President position (second year as Past-President ) plus four 2 year terms. Remaining on the board for another year of their two-year terms are: Heather Getz, Paula Jane Remlinger, Sandy Bonny, Nina Wilson. Jeanne Alexander will be the Past-President. Willing to let their names stand for a second two year term are Marianna Topos, and Brian Cobbledick, and for their first full two year term, Jack Walton and Roy Bluehorn. Please contact, Jeanne Alexander at: jalexander@sasktel.net or the SWG office if you wish to allow your name to stand. For more information, please contact the Guild office: info@skwriter.com or 306.757.6310

SWG Freelance Aug / Sept 2015

SWG Governance Information about the SWG Board Governance is given in an overview below for prospective members

he Saskatchewan Writers’ Guild (SWG) is one of the largest and most respected writers’ organizations in Canada. We are a province-wide, inclusive, and democratic organization. SWG imperatives include leadership, effective management, ethical conduct, and concern for writers. Furthermore, respect is a fundamental SWG value, which we extend to board members, staff, volunteers, writers, and members of the community. The Board will govern with an emphasis on outward vision rather than an internal preoccupation. The Board will govern with an emphasis on strong leadership, long-term vision, and strategic planning. While the board is committed to a clear distinction between its role and the role of the Executive Director, it also recognizes the value derived from strong collaboration. The board is committed to fostering an environment of respect and collaboration by committing to the following values:

a. Authority, responsibility and accountability are the primary components of all relationships. Limitations of authority and expectations of responsibility are the secondary components b. Circles of authority and responsibility are defined clearly and are maintained equal in size by negotiating limitations of authority or expectations of responsibility c. Each individual has a share in responsibility for creating, owning, understanding and implementing the mission of the organization d. Decision‐making proceeds from shared values, vision and mission, not unilaterally from the Board or the Executive Director. Decisions are made as close as possible to where they are implemented. e. The organization is results oriented. Indicators of results are identified. Strategic and tactical goals are set in balance with available resources. Results are measured. f. Accountability is mutual. The source of authority is accountable to the recipient for providing adequate authorization and resources. The recipient is accountable to the source for achieving negotiated results. Accountability is a neutral process.

The Board governs on behalf of and is accountable to the membership of the Guild. 1. The Board will cultivate a sense of solidarity and a sense of group responsibility to the Board as a whole. It will make collective decisions, achieve consensus, and abide by its decisions. The expertise of individual board members will be used to enhance the ability of the Board as a body, but will not replace the collective decision of the board. 2. The Board will balance its group responsibility with the encouragement of diversity in viewpoints. Board members will voice dissenting views or concerns held by any part of our membership and debate the impact of its decisions on such members. 3. The Board will direct, control and inspire the organization through the careful establishment of broad written policies reflecting the Board’s values and perspectives. The Board is committed to rigorous, continual improvement of its capability to define values, policies and vision. The Board’s major policy focus will be on the intended long term impacts. 4. The Board will be responsible for excellence in governing and ensure the continuity of its governance capability. 5. The Board will engage in continual board development, which will include orientation of new members in the Board’s governance process and periodic board discussion of process improvement. This will include comparison of board activity to its governance policies.

Notice of SWG Annual General Meeting October 24, 2015 at 2:00 pm Travelodge Hotel 4177 Albert St South, Regina

SWG Freelance Aug / Sept 2015

SWG Organizational Chart The SWG Board is including this Organizational Chart for member information.

SWG Freelance Aug / Sept 2015

SWG Board of Directors Information By SWG Staff

he Saskatchewan Writers’ Guild Board meets 5-6 times per year in Regina, Saskatoon or somewhere approximately in-between. The September meeting is usually held around the province in conjunction with a local writing group. The November meeting is the Board Orientation meeting. At this meeting, members decide who will be on the Executive along with the President. There usually are no meetings in July or August. Travel and accommodation expenses where needed to attend a meeting are reimbursed by the Guild. There are usually ten members on the Board. Aside from the Executive Committee (chaired by the President) and the Audit Committee (chaired by the Treasurer), there are Board committees that members from the board volunteer to chair (Governance and Nominations Committees and special ad hoc committees).

The Guild is committed to a collaborative work environment. In support of that commitment, the Executive Director shall be recognized as a trusted advisor to the board and invited to attend and contribute to all board meetings except where the board holding an in camera discussion. Terms: The president shall be elected for a one-year term by a general vote at the AGM. All other directors shall be elected for two-year terms by a general vote at the AGM. Directors shall be elected on a rotating basis with ideally four positions filled every year. No director (or the president) shall serve more than two consecutive terms. The Past President shall serve a term of one year. Officers (except the president) shall be elected by secret ballot by the new board following the AGM. Quorum: Five voting directors present shall constitute a quorum for the purpose of a meeting of the Board of Directors. Vacancies: The office of a Director shall be automatically vacated if: • The person ceases to be a resident of Saskatchewan. • The person has the status of bankrupt. • The person submits a bona fide letter of resignation to the Board. • The person without satisfactory justification is absent from two Board meetings within one year.

• The Board votes by a vote of two-thirds of the Directors to remove a Director by due process; or • The Voting Members by ordinary resolution at a special meeting of Members vote to remove the person as a Director. Board Member’s Responsibilities: First and foremost, the Board’s job is to set policy and direction for the organization and to continually evaluate its effectiveness. The board must make decisions as a whole; directors cannot act individually. Abide by the SWG’s code of ethics, conflict of interest and confidentiality policies, and support board decisions. The SWG relies on the expertise and knowledge of its board to carry out its mandate and vision. The Board shall ensure that the following criteria be adhered to for selection of nominees to the Board: SWG Policy 8.4.1 Criteria for nominations to the Board 1. Candidates must reside of Saskatchewan and live in the province at least 8 months of the year. 2. Have a demonstrated commitment to the art and craft of writing and be an active member of Saskatchewan’s writing community. 3. Be a member in good standing of the SWG. 4. Candidates must be 19 years of age. 5. Be willing to abide by SWG Conflict of Interest and Confidentiality Policies. 6. A broad range of knowledge, skills and experience will be sought in the composition of the board. 7. Nominees to the SWG Board of Directors cannot be in a status of bankruptcy. 8. To the greatest extent possible, the composition of the board should reflect the cultural diversity of the province, in particular Aboriginal representation. 9. To the greatest extent possible, the composition of the board should reflect gender balance and regional representation 10. To the greatest extent possible, the composition of the Board should reflect the literary diversity of the province.

SWG Freelance Aug / Sept 2015

Write After Lunch Did you ever wish you could lunch with an author? Dine on words? The SWG has just the program for you! Join us at noon on the first Tuesday of every month for our luncheon craft talks. Talks begin at 12:15 pm and end at 12:45 pm. You have two options to participate. You can attend in person at the Ken Mitchell Library (Suite 100, 1150 - 8th Avenue, Regina). Or you can participate from your home, office or favourite Wi-Fi spot by logging into: livestream.com and searching for the speaker. Write After Lunch is a public event open to everyone and there is no need to register.

Oct 6: Cassidy McFadzean - “To Dwell in Possibility: Writing and the MFA” Nov 3: Adam Pottle Dec 1: Laurier Gareau

For more info visit: skwriter.com

SWG Facilitated Retreat with Trevor Herriot The SWG is holding a Facilitated Retreat, November 12-15, 2015, at St. Peter’s Abbey in Muenster SK. At the SWG Facilitated Retreat, Writer-In-Residence Trevor Herriot will give an introductory talk on an aspect of writing, provide one hour of one-on-one discussion for feedback on your writing and/or answers to your writingrelated questions.

For full application details visit: skwriter.com

Application deadline: October 15

Trevor Herriot is an award-winning author, naturalist, and speaker. His first book, River in a Dry Land, won numerous awards. Herriot is a grassland activist and a skilled birder. He is featured regularly on CBC Radio. He writes a blog called Grass Notes at: trevorherriot. blogspot.com and lives in Regina, SK.

SWG Freelance Aug / Sept 2015

Take A Step Towards Publishing Success By Linda Aksomitis

here was a time when writers didn’t worry about branding. For book authors, branding was up to their publisher’s marketing department. After all, you were what you wrote: a poet, a children’s author, a nonfiction writer. And it wasn’t a lot different for freelance writers—a handful of articles in an assortment of newspapers and magazines could make you a lifestyles or sports writer. If you wanted, you could always take the broad approach and call yourself a journalist. Geography was important too. Publishers tended to be regional, starting with the local newspaper and small presses, so you might be a Western Canadian short story writer or prairie poet.

Then came globalization and the Internet. Now we have blogs and revenue-sharing markets and content farms and Kindle worlds and fanfiction sites and … well, you get the picture. It seems like everyone’s a writer. But along with more writers publishing in more places, we also have more potential readers—billions of them from all over the world. So, the question becomes how do writers stand out in a crowd of millions? How do they attract a share of all those readers? The answer is with a brand, or as some prefer to call it, a writer’s platform. Think of branding as a process of defining your writing with the hopes of creating brand loyalty. You can probably list dozens of brands you’re loyal to, from no-name tomato soup (price) to Pepsi Cola (taste) to Stephen King (suspenseful experience). Each brand you favour has particular characteristics that you find consistently in the product, right? Ultimately, that product has a recipe that has been developed and marketed over time. You can do that, too. When you create your brand, you’re stirring together all of the things that make up your writing, past, present, and future. You can start putting the recipe together by exploring lots of different aspects: • Type of markets—blogs or parenting websites or science fiction e-books • Readership demographics—age, sex, education, income level, culture and other distinguishing features

• Subject—politics or pets or parenting • Writing style—humorous, witty, or literary • Your experiences—rural or urban, cultural background, jobs, hobbies, and more • Your individual philosophy and values • Your goals for your writing career—everything from changing reader opinions to earning a lot of $$$ That’s a lot of things to consider, isn’t it? However, the more aspects you take into consideration when you’re developing your brand, the more distinctive it will be. Think of each item like a spice you’re adding to your barbecue sauce. When everyone else is just sprinkling a little pepper into some tomato paste, the flavour isn’t going to be nearly as tantalizing as yours with half a dozen spices simmered together and taste-tasted. So where should you begin? With this article, we’ll start with writers who are just getting established or have a focused publishing history. Next month, we’ll explore how to pull together a more diverse publishing history, and after that, how to rebrand yourself as your publishing career grows and changes. One way to look at the traditional writing career is by going through those old 5 Ws: who, what, when, where, and why. I’ll give you an example to give you some ideas of how you might proceed. Let’s say an urban writer has published half a dozen short stories in the past five years, with most of them on the Web in journals, one in a traditional literary publication, and one on a fan fiction website. The themes in the stories, on close examination, are all related to the author’s struggle for autonomy as the youngest of four children of two teachers. Writer A, when she examines her work, realizes the themes can carry forward into a young or new adult contemporary fiction novel as well as a poetry collection. Secretly, she’d love to write a series—and even has a character in mind, but knows she’ll need to have a strong brand if she wants to interest a traditional publisher, or make many sales if she takes the indie publishing route.

SWG Freelance Aug / Sept 2015 Blogging seems a logical first step here. There are two main approaches, either an intimate blog where she explores her own struggles for independence, which will appeal to potential readers of the book (no matter their age), or a more information driven blog where she discusses the issues around adolescence and autonomy. This would appeal to librarians and teachers who could be important buyers of the book. But that’s just the beginning. The website Goodreads (goodreads.com) is important these days, since it allows writers to get involved with other readers and writers in a genre. Social media may be the #1 tool for most writers though. She could use a Twitter or Pinterest account to gather and promote other people’s books and articles and blogs, establishing herself as part of the community. Her publishing could branch out further into websites and online magazines and revenue-sharing markets on related topics (and these could link back to her blog to build her brand). In both the face-to-face and virtual worlds, she can attend conferences and webinars, get acquainted with experts and published leaders in the subject area, post on discussion boards, and read-readread, leaving thoughtful comments around the Web on articles and stories she found interesting, along with the URL back to her own blog. It’s all pretty circular, isn’t it? Don’t get overwhelmed though! Many writers either don’t want to blog or don’t have time, so what’s the alternative? The good thing is that any start is a good start, as long as it’s something you can commit to—a Twitter account where you share a link or favourite saying every day can work. Goodreads is important if book publishing is your main goal. If you and your topic are more visual, then Pinterest can be effective. There are dozens of social media options, so pick your favourite. The key is to focus what you do. Even though you might be interested in dozens of topics, the “persona” you create for the name you’re branding should be all about establishing your credibility in a specific area, whether that’s horse racing or WWII spies or teen angst. Linda Aksomitis has been publishing for decades. She teaches writers how to develop their brands along with their publishing careers in the online course, Introduction to Internet Writing Markets, available through ed2go.com as well as the Regina Public Library.

Staff Directory Executive Director: Judith Silverthorne P: 306.791.7742 E: edswg@skwriter.com Program Manager: Tracy Hamon P: 306.791.7743 E: programs@skwriter.com Program Assistant: Caelan Reilly P: 306.791.7746 E: swgevents@skwriter.com Indigenous Programmer: Nickita Longman P: 306.791.7741 E: swgip@skwriter.com Administrative Assistant: Samantha Workman P: 306.791.7740 E: info@skwriter.com

Communications Liaison: Corey Wilkinson P: 306.791.7744 E: swgmedia@skwriter.com Accountant: Lauren Numrich P: 306.791.7748 E: accountant@skwriter.com

A Home For Your Voice • Writers’ of all abilities welcome • Exclusive members benefits • Writing seminars and workshops • Networking opportunities

skwriter.com

SWG Freelance Aug / Sept 2015

Getting Read: Getting Into Libraries By Anne Pennylegion

ften, I am asked how authors and small publishers can sell their books to libraries. It is a question that I canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t answer, but recently, I became aware of this service, Small Press and Author Program from the Library Services Center in Kitchener Ontario. The Library Services Centre (LSC)â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Small Press and Author Program provide distribution of small press materials to libraries across Canada. This program allows libraries to support their local small presses and authors, and to streamline their material selection process.

All material categories are covered under this program - books, DVDs, music and CDs, CD-ROMs, and other media. Designed with public libraries in mind, LSC will distribute your marketing materials directly to libraries across Canada, coordinate orders and act as a single shipment point for orders. 10

LSC will channel consolidated small press catalogues to libraries. All materials listed through this program are available with full processing, including MARC records.

There is no charge to the publisher to participate in this program. The Library Services Centre is a central purchasing and processing centre for Canadian libraries. They provide services for over 200 libraries across Canada. They are a Canadian, not-for-profit corporation owned by libraries. Their mandate is to enhance the performance of libraries by providing services that support their economic, efficient and effective operation. One of the ways that they meet this mandate is to provide cost effective access to its libraries for Canadaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s small presses and individual authors/artists. If you are a small press, author, musical artist, or filmmaker (or, know someone who is) with material of interest to public libraries, you can now contact the Library Services Centre directly to participate in their Small Press and Authors Program. Please contact Stephanie Keller at: skeller@lsc.on.ca for more information

SWG Freelance Aug / Sept 2015

At The Libraries This Fall By Anne Pennylegion

Saskatchewan Library Week October 18-24, 2015

Culture Days 2015

Dare to Know will be the recurring theme you will see during our annual Saskatchewan Library Week celebrations. Visit the SLA website: saskla.ca to see all the special projects that are happening during Saskatchewan Library Week throughout October.

Please join us September 27 from 2 to 4 pm at The Film Theatre at the Regina Public Library for Cultural Grooves: Celebrating Diversity in Stories and Dance. The Regina Public Library, in partnership with the Saskatchewan Writersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Guild and the Saskatchewan Library Association celebrates Culture Days with an afternoon of readings, dance and food, including a performance by Wambdi Dance. Confirmed readers include Joanne Weber, Martine Noel-Maw, and Tara Gereaux

This year, we will be repeating the provincial Book Spine Poetry Contest that began last year. A roaring success with more than 1600 entries, the contest shone a light on an unexpected group of poets, the 5-11 age group. Some of the poems were really well-composed, funny, moving, and touching. The contest is managed through a dedicated website: bookspinepoetrycontest.ca and entry is straightforward.

Traditional dress is welcome. Refreshments will be served.

Drawing Every Day With Dakota McFadzean When: 1:00 pm - 4:00 pm, October 10, 2015 Where: Ken Mitchell Library, #100 - 1150 8th Ave Regina Cost: Free for SWG members; $25 for non-members Registration is required. To register for this workshop please fill out a registration form and email registrations to: swgevents@skwriter.com or mail to PO Box 3986, Regina, SK, S4P 3R9. Cheques can be sent by mail or you can pay with a credit card via PayPal. Registration forms can be found online at: skwriter.com Join Canadian cartoonist Dakota McFadzean for a workshop about self-publishing in the contemporary comics scene. This will be a hands-on one-sheet workshop. Participants will learn how to make a short easy-to-photocopy minicomic on a single sheet of paper. The workshop will look at some examples of McFadzeanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s own work development to help instruct and get participants started.

For more info visit: skwriter.com

SWG Freelance Aug / Sept 2015

Four Women Writing ... At 60+ By J. Jill Robinson

s I approached my 60th birthday, I began thinking about my writing path and where it had taken and not taken me. Then I thought about other women writers around my age and decided to seek their perspective on the evolution of their writing practices—their views on writing and being a writer, and whether those views have changed over the years since they began writing. Has reaching the 60 mark made a difference to them? Three of the several women I queried on the topic were able to find the time to respond to my questions: they are Susan Andrews Grace, Connie Gault, and Marlis Wesseler. This article is a result of my questioning and exploring. I turned sixty in June. Twenty-seven years ago I made the commitment to writing fiction. Back then, I was barely sure what it meant to be a writer—I knew only that instead of analyzing published works through the application of academic templates, I wanted to look at writing primarily from the creator’s point of view. In 1987, I attended the Banff Centre for the Arts, where my desire to be a writer began to be realized: In Banff I was creatively cracked wide open. I quickly found out from the other beginner writers in the program what it took to be a writer—a deep well of desire, incredibly hard work, determination, and a willingness to go deep inside myself to where my own personal material and imagination lay. Twenty-seven years later, after considerable rejection and a fair bit of success, I am still writing. Keeping priorities straight was a big part of it: it helped if you wanted to be a writer above all else. But it also meant wanting it for the right reasons: No one I met at The Banff Centre wanted to be a writer because s/he wanted to be famous. The creation of art is about the creation of art, not about commerce. That knowledge is one of the things the writers I spoke with had in common. Susan Andrews Grace has published five books of poetry. The most recent, Philosopher at the Skin Edge of Being (Signature Editions 2013) was shortlisted for the 2014 Fred Cogswell Award for Excellence in Poetry. She was founding faculty of the Oxygen Art Centre in Nelson, BC where she teaches creative writing.

JJR: Susan, do you feel any differently now as a writer from when you started out? SAG: I don’t feel any different. I do think differently about my physical life. I just got new glasses and I wonder if this will be the last pair. I think that way about clothes too... last pair of jeans. But funnily enough I don’t think that the manuscript I’m writing now will be my last. I don’t seem to think that way about my writing or visual art. There’s a timelessness about the creative process that changes time and therefore I participate in time differently when I’m in that mind. JJR: What has kept you writing? SAG: Writing seems to be as necessary as food, water, or air for me. I find the act of writing exhilarating, and it gives my life joy and what Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi calls flow. Writing makes my visual art practice possible as well. I’ve quit writing two times in my life and both times I was miserable and depressed. After those failed experiments I decided that I was going to write whether or not I was published. It’s the act of writing that matters most to me. JJR: What got you writing in the first place—was the goal ever fame and fortune or was it something else? SAG: When I started writing seriously as an adult at age 29, I wanted only to be let in the door and hoped no one really noticed. I wanted enough publication that I wouldn’t seem a dilettante. The prize economy that drives the writing and publishing world now has meant that competition over money and sales has upped the ante for all writers. Younger and newer writers I knew and/or taught were expecting to be famous and some were actually pulling it off and bringing in more contracts and money than I would ever see. I started to really doubt the way I’d led my life. About the time of my 60th birthday, I came to believe that I’d wasted my life on the work I do, that I would have very little to show for it, and had made so little money from it that I felt ashamed. Then I came to my senses and realized that the same miniscule segment of the population reads poetry as did hundreds of years ago. Now I am accepting of the riches of the life I’ve led, as all artists do, at the edges of society. JJR: Looking at the path your writing career has followed, are you surprised, disappointed, content, unconcerned or concerned, jubilant? SAG: I’m still amazed they’ve let me in!

SWG Freelance Aug / Sept 2015

From left: Marlis Wesseler, Connie Gault, J. Jill Robinson, Dianne Warren, and Susan Grace Andrews discuss women writing over 60 over coffee. Photo courtesy J. Jill Robinson.

JJR: What gives you satisfaction as you write? SAG: I love the sense of discovery and the feeling of participation in a centuries-old conversation. I love getting lost and how ‘found’ I feel in the process. I love reading with intent. I love that I can do it, that I get away with it. Connie Gault is the author of two short story collections and numerous plays for stage and radio, and the co-author of a feature film, Solitude. Her novel Euphoria won the 2009 Saskatchewan Book Award for Fiction and was short-listed for the High Plains Fiction Award and the Commonwealth Prize for Best Novel of Canada and the Caribbean. Her new novel, A Beauty, was published by McClelland & Stewart in February 2015. JJR: Why do you write? CG: I write because I want the story I’m working on to exist. JJR: And what keeps you writing? CG: The same thing that always kept me writing. Years ago, my son printed out this quote of Nietzsche’s for me. I’ve kept it on my bulletin board ever since: “For art to exist, for any sort of aesthetic activity or perception to exist, a certain physiological precondition is indispensible: intoxication.” In order to keep writing, I need to feel intoxicated by the material I’m using and the method I’m finding to bring it to life.

JJR: What gives you the most satisfaction as you write? CG: The rewards of writing are small: a sentence that does what you hoped it would do, an image so apt it can’t be replaced, a character who leads you in a new direction, an atmosphere that grows without your knowing. JJR: What is being a writer over sixty in this culture like for you? CG: During the writing of A Beauty, my new novel, I thought about inner and outer; I was writing about a character whose inner life was hidden and whose exterior was widely noticed and remarked upon. It’s interesting to me to remember that writing quietly for years and then suddenly having your work out in the world is similar and can feel disconcerting. The more we rely on external approbation, the more depressing this career gets to be. Even praise feels false, however much it raises your spirits at the time. Every writer wants an audience for her work. Unfortunately, your luck in getting any attention at all for your work may depend to an unsettling extent on external factors, on where you live and what you look like, on factors like your race, your gender, and your age. I’m sure publishers wonder how to market “elderly” writers, especially if they are “late-bloomers.” We are hardly going to be seen as glamorous. For some of us, a writing life away from media attention has left us free to write the books we want to write, unusual books

SWG Freelance Aug / Sept 2015

that come from our own hearts and heads. JJR: What kinds of changes can you detect in yourself as you’ve grown older as a writer? CG: I think the only change is in my awareness of time, how fast the days and months and years go by, how slowly I write, in comparison. Being this age makes me more determined than ever to write as often and as much as I can to get my work done while I can still do a good job of it. I spend more time writing now, and I say “no” more often to everything else. Marlis Wesseler has published two collections of short stories, Life Skills (Coteau 1992) and Imitating Art (Coteau 1994), and two novels, Elvis Unplugged (Oberon 1998) and South of the Border (Coteau 2004). Her books have garnered both good reviews and nominations for Saskatchewan Book Awards. A new manuscript, Pleasant Manor, won the John V. Hicks Long Manuscript Award in 2013.

JJR: Could you tell me a bit about your writing trajectory? MW: I published my first book at 40. Not exactly a hip young writer. My fourth book came out in 2004, and since then I’ve been working on two novels. Maybe neither of them will be published, but now, at 63, I feel the same as I did 23 years ago: I’d be grateful to have my new books out there, but the main reason I write is because I have to. Age has nothing to do with it. JJR: Can you imagine life without writing in it? MW: I sometimes take holidays from writing because I feel I’ve reached an impasse, or because of events in my life, or because I feel lazy or would rather garden. A few days or weeks go by, and I wonder why I’m feeling unduly depressed. Then I realize what’s up, and I get back to the computer. I have to feed my habit. Even though I write in spite of the fact I may never again be published, I definitely want to see my books out there. I want them to be read. JJR:What would you say has sustained your writing practice the most over the years? MW: I count myself lucky to have had the ongoing support of my husband. I did contract work, but the steady income that made it possible for me to concentrate on fiction writing has always come from him. One thing that is different about being over sixty is that I feel retired, to some extent, along with him. I no longer feel obliged to look for employment outside of my own work. All Saskatchewan writers are fortunate to be part of a vibrant writing community, and to have it formally

supported by the Canada Council and the Saskatchewan Arts Board. I always found the Saskatchewan Writers Guild’s writer/artist colony retreats especially valuable when I needed intensive writing time (and a great way to get to know other writers and artists). I’m especially thankful too, to the Saskatchewan Book Awards. Having my books nominated was always a confidence booster. I’ve also taken advantage of various Writer’s Guild programs and readings over the years. But I’m most grateful of all to the SAB for its individual assistance grants. This encouragement (not to mention the money) is certainly still as important to me at 63 as it was when I was 30. JJR: What advice might you offer to writers just setting out? MW: I suppose the three main pieces of advice I would give a beginning writer are, first, write only because you have to. Tangible rewards for writing are so few and far between you’d be better off doing just about anything else. Second, read. Read especially the type of literature you’re interested in writing. Finally, find trustworthy friends who write and who will give you moral support while still able to read your work with a critical eye. A tall order, maybe, and one I feel very lucky to have found.

fter speaking with Susan, Connie, and Marlis, I realize that what seems to be true for us all is that we are compelled to write. Our lives are all lacking, emptier without it, and the act of writing itself contains the primary reward. Each of us is happiest as a woman working alone, measuring the success of the piece she is writing with the evaluation skills that her years of experience and practice have given her, not through the often fickle external sources except in a marginal or secondary way. We four are at and beyond the sixty mark, and this we know: If you don’t feel good about what you’ve created, no amount of external attention will make it right. Is this wisdom gained over the years? Based on my own thoughts and the thoughts of these other women writers, I don’t think so. It seems to be knowledge inherent in us. J. Jill Robinson is the author of one novel, More In Anger (Thomas Allen 2012), and four collections of short stories, the last of which, Residual Desire (Coteau 2004), won two Saskatchewan Book Awards. She worked as Editor of Grain magazine, as the Writer-In-Residence at the Saskatoon Public Library, and as a mentor, editor, teacher, workshop coordinator, and arts administrator. She now lives in Banff, where she is a faculty member in The Writing Studio at The Banff Centre.

SWG Freelance Aug / Sept 2015

Some Notes On Writing Groups By Rod MacIntyre

riting is part inspiration and part hard work. The proportion is disputed. Personally, I think it’s about fifty-fifty. However, for most of us the parts also seem to be dependent on one another. You need the inspiration to get the writing into gear, and just waiting for it to arrive can take a long time and lead to terrible frustration. But there are ways of prodding it along. Writing starts with desiring to write, then developing the discipline of staring at a blank page, onto learning how to accept criticism for what you’ve put onto the blank page, all the way through marketing the raw work, dealing with publishers then beyond — to marketing the published work. The most commonly used process for “prodding it along” is the writing group — that and liquid intake. (I read a study somewhere indicating that the amount of writerly output is directly proportional to the amount of liquid input. It did not matter what the liquid.)This article will focus on the writing group.

Writing groups have been around for a long time. Whole literary movements have been attributed to writing groups (Bloomsbury Group, Left Bank Group). Shakespeare has been accused of being a writing group. They have achieved notoriety. Yet, they are like bike gangs or societies with secret handshakes — you have to belong to one to really know what goes on. If you want to join a writing group it means that you have at least one toe out of the closet and have declared, however tentatively, that you want to be a writer. Implicit in this declaration is a desire to improve your writing skills, and an acknowledgment that you can’t do it alone. At some point, sooner or later, it becomes necessary to place your work in front of a real audience, and not the one you’ve been imagining in your mind, but an audience of peers with whom you share a common interest, in order to get direct feedback. Learning how to accept criticism is the most valuable lesson of a writing group, for if you learn how to accept it, you can learn how to use it. So you join, or start, a writing group. Each group is different. It may be assembled according to genre, craft level, religious beliefs, sexual orientation, or there may simply be a dearth of like-minded souls in your community, or any combination of the above. It may be that

a judge has condemned you to participate in such a group and you thought it was better than prison. It may be the warden or the teacher has offered this as an alternative to solitary confinement and you are partial to light. It may be that entrepreneurialism lives in the centre of your heart and you are willing to pay to belong to a group (there are writers groups that charge fees — large fees, presumably run by some guruish writer who’s regularly in touch with his alter-being on another planet). It may be a long-distance group that functions through the Internet (a great way to send your work back and forth, but lousy in sharing that beer with the group). Or it may simply be a group of friends willing to read and comment on each other’s work. However, you enter into that netherworld that exists half-way between your public and your private life. Your participation in the intimacies that often result from the cold, aloof discussion of someone’s entrails laying on the page in front of you, while its owner sits smiling or frowning across the room from you, is not a part of normal everyday public life. So there you are, a group of people wondering, first of all, if there’s enough of you. Consider about a dozen an optimum size so that if some are unable to attend a certain meeting, there will be enough there to take up the slack. Most groups need a facilitator or group leader, the person who makes the phone calls or makes sure the space is available. This person is often the best informed writer of the group and in their enthusiasm to share the joy he/or she has for writing, goes to great lengths to ensure that a group exists, then meets more or less regularly and who guides the process that your group decides is best for it. The facilitator may be the same person from meeting to meeting, or alternated among the group — perhaps the host for the evening’s meeting. But it is essential to have someone who keeps an eye on the clock, senses when it is “time to move on,” and makes sure everyone is included more or less equally. What to do next. You might start with a short business meeting, with no more on the agenda than setting the next meeting place or date — if it’s not a group that has regular, predetermined dates (i.e. the second Mondays

SWG Freelance Aug / Sept 2015

of the month). You might use the meeting to decide when and where your next workshop will take place, who your guest author might be, or what the workshop might focus on. Many groups distribute their manuscripts before the actual meeting in order to maximize use of limited time (2 hours is usually enough). The logistics of script drop-off and pick-up is often fodder for these meetings. You might decide on maximum manuscript lengths (not every group is going to accept reading someone’s novel in a week). Whatever the rules, it isn’t necessary to follow them to the letter but keep guidelines in mind and refer to them when needed. Prepare to participate. You are not Sappho, Shakespeare nor Tolstoy. So if you think you’re work is beyond criticism, you do not need a writers’ group, you need a mirror....the most giving of us has to be selfish in some way. That is ultimately why we are there, to improve our writing. Yes, it’s fine if you become a better writer, but I want to become one too. Things to avoid. • “I liked it.” Nobody is going to learn anything from your liking it. “I liked it” is not a comment on the work, but a comment on you. • Your hidden agenda. The practice of politics, sexual or otherwise, has no place in the group. It’s at best misleading, at worst disruptive. • Your ego, and defense system. When you’re dealing with persistent sales people or suitors, they are good healthy things, but leave them at the door when you’re meeting with the group. Pick them up when you leave for God’s sake — you normally need them. • Old work. Stop looking in your drawer for stuff you wrote ten years ago. Write something new. Things to do. • All comments should be supported by textual references, “I liked it,” won’t do. “I liked it for its ...” whatever. Chose text that supports your observations. • Provide background to the work. How it came about, where the idea came from, what you were trying to achieve is helpful to the group in deciding whether or not the work can stand alone on the page. Sometimes the genesis of the story or poem idea is far more interesting than the work itself. There may be a lesson there.

• Offer your comments in writing — you’re a writer, try expressing your feedback on paper instead of trying to wing it like some flightless bird. (That’s why we’re writers, we don’t know how to talk.)

Things to try.

• Start a meeting with a quote about writing then discuss it. There are volumes of writing about writing too numerous to mention (and some deserve not to be). Some of them have clever and interesting things to say about the process. They may give a focus for an evening’s meeting. • Write a small piece that articulates “why you want to write.” It’s amazing what you find out, not only about the rest of the group, but about yourself. • Bring a small piece of published writing that is the same genre or similar to — but not your own (half of a page or less) to share with the group — plus an explanation as to why you chose it. This stuff will not be up for debate. It will serve two functions: it makes you do some (quality) reading, and it will help you formulate your own aesthetic. Ancillary activities. Why is it that the real meetings take place after the meeting? The best and most useful discussions (about anything) often happen in less formal environments. You might want to trick yourselves into one of these environments by sharing a meal (potluck or otherwise) and, if the law and health permit, a bottle or two of this or that. This can often be a pleasure in itself, but might also loosen otherwise inhibited tongues. Tricky situations. You hate someone’s work. Worse, you hate them. What do you do? We’ve all been in this situation. None of us want to be hurtful. Still, it sometimes appears that someone will offer something to the group which is hopelessly and irretrievably bad. You know you’re supposed to be supportive, to find some good somewhere — but there just isn’t any. You open your mouth and before you know it, the person is rushing from the room in tears. When this happens you have a few options.

SWG Freelance Aug / Sept 2015 • Option one: Lying. Not an option. Offering observations that build a false sense of confidence can do as much harm as wilting insensitive criticism. • Option two: Ducking out. This is an option, but it’s a lousy one. It’s really just avoiding the situation in that, “I have nothing to say,” or, “soand-so said what I was going to say and I agree, totally” doesn’t address the situation and puts the responsibility on someone else’s shoulder. • Option three: The ploy — and it is a ploy — but its an option that seems to work. Pick some quality or aspect of the work that reminds you of something else, preferably something literary, and talk about that. Why the lover’s suicide reminds you of Romeo and Juliet may not be very subtle, but nine times out of ten, some very interesting and noteworthy and constructive observations arise from this ploy. Sometimes the reason you chose the comparison piece is truly because the qualities of the work exists where you at first did not see it. Overeager contributor.

What do you do if someone is dominating the group, either through talking too much, having the definitive opinion of everyone’s work, or whose ego is so fragile as to not tolerate the mildest criticism? Getting someone to quit can be just as hard as getting someone to start. • Option one: The undiplomatic way. Change the meeting place without telling the person. • Option two: The diplomatic way. Suggest to the participant that he or she is simply not involving themselves within the groups’ parameters. If the person is at all sensitive to the environment of the group, they will get the message and adjust accordingly. If not, he or she will leave. Or be asked to leave — and no one will be sorry. Writing groups come and go. The death of a group can be a tempestuous, traumatic event. Or it can be a slow lingering process brought about by a lack of leadership and a bad case of “the nices.” The passing of a particular writers’ group, however, is only the opportunity to establish another one — one perhaps with more precise goals, a process for achieving them and a membership more willing to participate in that process. Adapted from Sask Writes! by Rod MacIntyre

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SWG Freelance Aug / Sept 2015

Conference Pull Out Section

SWG Freelance Aug / Sept 2015

12:00 pm Conference Registration table opens 1:00 pm — 2:15 pm Journey to the Centre of the Poet Trapped in a middle-earth poetry fissure, Daniel Scott Tysdal and his travelling companion Adam Pottle tunnel their way to the heart of poetic thinking. Why did they pick poetry? What about this journey compelled them to write poetry? How does the poetic form keep them anchored to the rocket of writing? These concepts will surface when the poets’ voyages are uncovered.

1:00 pm — 2:15 pm Merchant of Menace Hoping to woo the wealthy consumers of the internet with their books and skills as writers, Toby Welch and Anthazia Kadir will loan you their tips and tricks on marketing on today’s penniless writing budgets. How do you market yourself when you’re new to the province, or new to the country, or even new to writing? What makes you stand out from the crowd? Learn how to safely sail without tipping your marketing boat over! 20

2:30 pm — 3:30 pm Gone with the Trend From plantation to writing nation, Ed Willett and Dawn Dumont survive the latest literary movements. Sharing epic tips and tricks on new trends in writing for science-fiction, fantasy, comedy, Indigenous, and women’s writing, our love-struck writers will help you survive the romance and help you explore writing the tangled affairs of genre and novelty.

2:30 pm — 3:30 pm Anne of Green Fables Mired on a writing island, Anne Lazurko and Anne Campbell will share ideas about developing your fiction, nonfiction and poetry. These two will help you adopt new tricks to flourish your prose. Be prepared to be whisked away on this adventurous session!

3:45 pm — 4:45 pm Charlotte’s Web

Escaping the pen and finding words for the web will be made easier when you listen to Linda Aksomitis and Jillian Bell speak. Their farm of ideas will broaden your knowledge on using the web to allow your writing to live beyond the pen. Untangle the confusion of the net, and embrace the freedom and tools of writing online.

SWG Freelance Aug / Sept 2015

3:45 pm — 4:45 pm Around the World in 80 Minutes Get carried away across the globe with Zarqa Nawaz and Anthazia Kadir on a voyage to discover more about writing from cultural perspectives. Accept the wager to attend, and find yourself circumnavigating the unique ideas and stories of these two accomplished writers. Humour and knowledge abound, these two will share their worldly secrets and sow the seeds to help you develop your own cultural stories into books.

5:00 pm — 7:00 pm

Tale of Two Cocktails / Supper on Your Own

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of times to have a drink/meal with fellow writers.

7:30 pm — 8:30 pm Caroline Heath Lecture 8:45 pm — 11:15 pm Open Mic/Social

9:00 am — 10:00 am O(t)Hello — Writers Group Chat 10:15 am — 11:45 am Workshops — Word of the Flies, Word in the Willows

Word of the Flies with Daniel Tysdal: In this hands-on 90 minute session, poets will sharpen their skills, test out new techniques, and generate original work by exploring the “convergence of occasions” through their own practice, the work of a wide-range of poets, and encounters with other artistic mediums. Word in the Willows with Dianne Warren: This 90 minute session will focus on the importance of moving beyond a first draft to create layers of meaning in your fiction work.

12:00 pm — 1:30 pm John V Hicks Luncheon 2:00 pm SWG AGM

SWG Freelance Aug / Sept 2015

Dianne Warren’s Governor General’s Award-winning novel Cool Water, published by HarperCollins in 2010, was called unforgettable by the Globe and Mail, a “contemplation on the subtle and magical ecology of the great sand hills.” She has published three other books of fiction and won several awards for her short stories, including Western and National Magazine Awards. She won the Marian Engel award for fiction from the Writers’ Trust of Canada in 2004. Both A Reckless Moon and Cool Water were listed in the Globe and Mail’s top books of the year. Cool Water has been published in several countries and was released as Juliet in August in the US in July 2012 (Amy Einhorn Books). In 2013, she was the recipient of the Cheryl and Henry Kloppenburg Award for Literary Excellence. Dianne lives in Regina and is currently finishing a new novel. 22

Dianne Warren the 2015 Caroline Heath Lecturer Photo courtesy Dianne Warren.

Fall Conference Accomodation

4177 Albert St South, Regina Phone: 306.586.3443 Hotel block code: CGSWG5 Rate: $129.95 per night

SWG Freelance Aug / Sept 2015

Linda Aksomitis is the developer and instructor for the course, Publish and Sell Your E-Books, offered at over 4000 colleges and libraries in dozens of countries around the world. Her e-book publishing career began in 2000, and since then she’s published 16 books with traditional publishers, and independently e-published a dozen books. Jillian Bell is a writer and freelance editor living in the Qu’Appelle Valley in Saskatchewan. She works for the Saskatchewan Publishers Group. She is a blogger and has worked with the Canadian Blog Awards and with the Canadian Weblog Awards. She has also served on the board of directors of the Saskatchewan Book Awards since 2005. Anne Campbell is the author of five collections of poetry, as well as editor of popular nonfiction, including Regina’s Secret Spaces: Love and Lore of Local Geography. She has received many awards including the City of Regina Writing Award and the City of Regina Mayor’s Arts and Heritage Awards. Dawn Dumont is the award-winning author of Nobody Cries at Bingo and Rose’s Run. In 2015, Rose’s Run was shortlisted for three Saskatchewan Book Awards and won the Regina Book Award for Fiction. Her first book, Nobody Cries at Bingo, also published by Thistledown Press, was nominated and shortlisted for three awards including the Alberta Reader’s Choice Award. Anthazia Kadir has worked as a journalist and travel writer for the Guyana Entertainment Magazine. She emigrated to Toronto ON, in 2007 and published her first novel, What a Woman Wants in 2009. She translated Afzal Shaq’s life story from Pasto/ Urdu into English and that translation was released as Daughter of Pharaoh, which came out in 2011. Anne Lazurko’s debut novel, Dollybird, won the 2014 WILLA Award for Historical Fiction, and was nominated for the Saskatchewan Book Award for Fiction. A graduate of the Humber School of Writing, her poetry and fiction has appeared in anthologies and literary magazines. Lazurko has a Political Science degree, works as a freelance writer and a farmer. She lives near Weyburn.

Zarqa Nawaz created the world’s first sitcom about a Muslim community living in the west. Little Mosque on the Prairie premiered to record ratings on the CBC in 2007. It finished airing it’s 91st episode in 2012 and is now being broadcast to over 60 countries. Nawaz has written her best selling comedic memoir Laughing All the Way to the Mosque, about growing up as a Canadian of Muslim faith. Adam Pottle is a Saskatoon writer whose work explores the social and philosophical aspects of disability. He’s published two books: a poetry collection called Beautiful Mutants, and a novel called Mantis Dreams. He is currently developing his play, Ultrasound, for production in Toronto, ON. Daniel Scott Tysdal is the author of three books of poetry, Fauxccasional Poems (forthcoming from icehouse 2015), The Mourner’s Book of Albums (Tightrope 2010), and Predicting the Next Big Advertising Breakthrough Using a Potentially Dangerous Method (Coteau 2006). which received the ReLit Award for Poetry (2007), the Anne Szumigalski Poetry Award (2006), and the John V. Hicks Award (2005). Toby Welch has been a full-time freelance writer for a decade. In that time she has published over 230 articles in magazines and newspapers, 400+ pieces online, and 41 e-books under her own name and a pseudonym. Welch finds inspiration in country music, impressionist artwork, and jars of Nutella. Edward Willett, moved to Saskatchewan from Texas as a child, and grew up in Weyburn, where he began his career as a newspaper reporter/photographer, and eventually editor, of the Weyburn Review. He’s the author of more than 50 books for children, young adults and adults. His latest book is Lake in the Clouds, the third book in his YA series The Shards of Excalibur.

SWG Freelance Aug / Sept 2015

The Art Of Organization By Kay Parley

entral to good organization is a feeling of solidarity. The pieces all belong and they fit together like a Rubik’s Cube, sometimes simply, at other times in a complicated maneuver. Like parts of a sculpture, they must enhance each other and be necessary to each other. We should resist the temptation to drag in irrelevancies just because we think they are interesting. There are technical aids for organizing your daily activities and your money, but there are really no technical aids to help you organize an article, because here we are dealing with a creative art. In the book On Creative Writing edited by Paul Engle (Dutton, 1963), I came upon this statement: “The facts, which would have only been gathered and sieved by a journalist, have been enclosed within a single intelligence, and a mind has set to work, making independent observations that are far more capacitous than those of the tape recorder or the TV camera.”

From the moment a writer conceives of an idea, he should begin to visualize a structure. The parts of the story should start to take shape and assume proportions. The main thing is to have a goal and be clear about that. Know what you are doing; know why you are doing it. From this projection comes motivation. Because I am an intuitive and rarely like to plan, I have personally never been an enthusiastic advocate of the outline, though I do begin with an idea of my goal and with a rough outline in my mind. To tie myself too rigidly to a plan frustrates my creativity. It would make writing an article a lot less work but a lot less fun. I find it leads me to dull chronology and a tragic lack of flexibility. It contradicts the great rule, “Write furiously, but revise slowly.” So I write at white heat. There will be blanks where I know what needs to be filled in. Typos and spelling errors are ignored. I may suddenly think of something I want to research and I will type (find) and keep right on going. If I am uncertain of the meaning of a word or feel I should use a better one, (?) may appear. I may abruptly drop a subject’s history and launch instead into a description of his invention, if it is ready to flow. (I guess that is what is meant by “Go with the flow.”) A plan is meant to be reminder, a guide, but not a rigid form. If it is a valid plan, it will serve as a guide when the final organization is taking place. It does not have to

Kay Parley. Photo courtesy Kay Parley.

be applied to a first draft. Since much of my writing goes into history and folklore, I frequently have a pile of research notes at hand. I don’t stop to check them for facts when I am working on the first draft. When it is completed, I line everything up and begin to coordinate. One of my university professors said, “I don’t want to read papers with ideas scattered all over the place like confetti.” At this stage, organization means getting every statement into its proper category. How? If I began with a good idea of what the piece is about, I will also have a list of sub-topics quite clearly defined. What I do is assign codes to these topics. I may use A-B-C or 1-2-3. If it is a brief article with no more than three or four sections, I may use symbols like asterisk, theta, or #. It is a simple matter to go down the margin of a draft and research notes, jotting down the appropriate code in red ink. At the next writing every A and every B will be correctly located. Out of this exercise, the form emerges almost like magic. It may become clear that the B section, which I thought to use a third of the way through, is definitely

SWG Freelance Aug / Sept 2015 the introductory section. The ending should clarify as well, and everything will fall into place. Draft one is now a cross-hatch of blue ink arrows, cancellations, and inserts, complete with coded margins.

…” and make them backtrack a kilometer to pick up an item that should have been mentioned earlier. Keep pathways between points of interest short and direct. Don’t wander. Don’t be guilty of scattering confetti.

If I am satisfied with the way in which I have distributed the items, as well as the order of the categories, I can write a second draft. I check for factual errors. With research notes slotted in, I note the blunders I made while speeding through the original writing. Such slips are easy to fix, and not worth stopping to worry about while doing the first draft. I usually find that I am discarding much of the original and inserting more material.

Why do I go to all this trouble when working from an outline in the first place would have made it all faster and simpler? Because, once in a while, I manage to produce a passage of good writing. It will be vivid enough to catch attention and possibly even be remembered. Invariably, that passage comes from my first, free-ranging draft. Creativity does not function well in fetters.

Now I do a rewrite, smoothing out rough places and catching the more obvious grammatical mistakes. Are the introduction and conclusion working? Does the ending remind the reader of my reason for writing the story? This third draft is a good time for oiling the joints. (In writing parlance, we call that transition.) There is no point wasting time on transitions until the article is organized, but if the structure is correct, the connections should now come easily. If they don’t, then possibly the order still needs to be changed. If I am very lucky, the third draft can be used for polishing and I may not need a fourth, but I have learned never to shirk an extra one. I suppose writers who use computers have easy ways of managing all this re-organizing. If I get lazy, I use cut-and-paste. It often saves re-typing a whole page. There is no substitute for reworking, however it is done. When I was writing my first stories and articles, in 1952, one of my fellow students at a workshop had taken library science, an advantage when it came to research and categorizing. She told me, “You would be a much better writer if only you’d rewrite.” At that time, I thought ‘rewrite’ meant neatly typing out my first draft, having corrected a bit of spelling and punctuation. Now I know what it means. It often means tearing the first draft to shreds, re-arranging paragraphs, catching A’s which should have been C’s, discarding, adding, and reworking. I now consider three rewrites minimal and am not surprised if I go to a fourth or fifth. Organizing an article is like setting out to guide a tour. At all costs, you want to avoid confusion, repetition, and omission. The purpose is to make sure those on the tour do not get lost, that they know where they are going, that they find interesting things to see, that they always read the signposts and take the correct turns, and that they will reach the end feeling it was all worthwhile. We should never have to say “Sorry, I forgot to show you

Kay Parley is an author and newspaper columnist. Her books include, They Cast a Long Shadow, Lady with a Lantern and The Sixth Age. Kay Parley is now living in Regina, SK.

SWG Freelance Aug / Sept 2015

The Space-Time Continuum: The World Of Fanzines By Edward Willett

ong before I ever subscribed, or even read, a copy of a professional science fiction magazine, I was reading—and even drawing illustrations for— science fiction fanzines.

In those pre-Internet days, fanzines filled the place today taken by Tumblr and Instagram and myriad other social media sites, allowing fans of science fiction in general, or particular genres (or sub-genres, or subsub-genres) of science fiction, to connect with the likewise-interested... likewise-interested who could be very hard to come across in, say, your average smalltown (and sometimes small-minded) high school.

I began by reading Star Trek fanzines (probably because I’d read about them in The World of Star Trek by David Gerrold, and in the now long-forgotten hiatus between Star Trek: The Original Series, and Star Trek: The Motion Picture, Star Trek fans were starved for fresh Trek); then read for a while a fanzine devoted to the Darkover books by Marion Zimmer Bradley; then added one focused on the Sime-Gen stories of Jacqueline Lichtenberg. But those were just the tip of the fanzine iceberg—and also came very, very late in the iceberg’s formation: fanzines go back almost to the beginning of the genre. A good brief overview of science fiction magazine/ fanzine history appears as an online exhibit on the website of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, (aok.lib.umbc.edu/specoll/exhibits/scifi/) which has several special collections of early pulp magazines and comics. “Fanzine” is, of course, a portmanteau of “fan” (short for “fanatic”) and “magazine.” UMBC defines fanzines, accurately, as “amateur or hobby magazines which are often produced, edited, and published by fans of a specific genre for entertainment and/or use by other fans.” Fanzines arose because of the explosion in popularity of science fiction pulp magazines like Amazing Stories, Thrilling Wonder Stories, Astounding and Weird Tales beginning in the 1930s. It’s an interesting and oft-

Edward Willett. Photo courtesy Edward Willett.

made observation that science fiction and fantasy readers are far more likely to want to join the ranks of published authors of their genres than, say, your typical mystery or romance reader. The desire to write science fiction, and to talk about it with other fans of the (rather disreputable) genre produced the first fanzines: magazines written, produced, and distributed by fans who were not involved in professional publishing. As you’d expect from amateur writers, illustrators, and publishers, fanzines weren’t always of the greatest quality, either literarily or physically. (For one thing, the mimeograph was pretty much the only cheap printing method available.) But fanzines flourished because of the social aspect: they would often include mailing lists and addresses, so fans could communicate with other fans (and sometimes with professionals). Fan meetings could be organized, new fans recruited, and fan writing could find an audience. As science fiction conventions began (the first World Science Fiction Convention was held in New York City in 1939; the 73rd took place in August in Spokane), fanzines grew in reach and popularity.

SWG Freelance Aug / Sept 2015

Most fanzines were short-lived—they had a way of eating money and time. But some continued for years. And, yes, more than a few writers began in fanzines and eventually rose to the professional ranks (although the UMBC presentation linked above is wildly inaccurate in suggesting J.R.R. Tolkien, Robert E. Howard, and Edgar Rice Burroughs were among that number— Robert E. Howard died before fanzines really took off, Burroughs began publishing professionally long before they existed, and Tolkien probably never heard of them until the 1960s when The Lord of the Rings hit college campuses in the US).

sometimes by very well-known authors. Some future column I’ll collect my favorite examples. Fortunately, my own work is not among them ... yet.)

Printed fanzines still exist today, but most existing fanzines have gone online. The Hugo Awards, and Canada’s own Aurora Awards, both continue to offer awards for fans as well as professionals—best fan writer, best fan artist, etc.—an indication of how important fan activity has always been to the field.

Yeah, I know, science fiction fans have a reputation for being rabidly focused on their particular area of interest and dressing up in wild costumes, but really, who are we to judge rabid fans in outlandish costumes?

My favorite fanzine is Ansible (news.ansible.uk), run by Dave Langford in the UK, it was up to issue 337. (My favorite Ansible feature is “Thog’s Masterclass,” in which Langford compiles some of the more wince-inducing prose to be found in science fiction and fantasy—

Go Riders!

Ansible’s site is also a cornucopia of other Sci-fi-related information, from the dates and locations of upcoming conventions to, yes, a long list of other fanzines. To explore the fanzine world—and the world of science fiction fans—further, that’s a great place to start: and, if you’re interested in writing science fiction or fantasy, it really is worth your time to check out the world of Sci-fi and fantasy fandom, from conventions to fanzines.

May I remind you we live in Saskatchewan?

Edward Willett is a freelance writer and performer in Regina. He is the author of over 50 books.

Grain Accepting Submissions The submission window for Grain magazine is now open. Writers are invited to submit their works of fiction, nonfiction and poetry Submissions are accepted from September to May Grain will continue to publish engaging, surprising, eclectic, challenging writing, and art. Guest Editors will be looking for imagistic pieces, distinctive and unique voices as well as artistic leaps from established authors and new and emerging writers. Grain looks favourably upon both older literary traditions and trail-breaking prose and poetry, fiction and creative nonfiction. Visit the Grain website: grainmagazine.ca/submit for the complete Submission Guidelines.

SWG Freelance Aug / Sept 2015

Books by Members

Hawk By Marie Powell Five Rivers Publishing ISBN: 9781927400937

Wild Rose By Sharon Butala Coteau Books ISBN: 9781550506365

Mahihkan Lake By R.P MacIntyre Thistledown Press ISBN: 9781771870535

Hyw yearns to join his father in serving the charismatic Llywelyn, Prince of Wales. If only Hyw dared tell anyone of his ability to scout through the eyes of a hawk, it might help secure his place in the royal guard. Cat, his sister, longs to inherit the magical ability that runs through her mother’s line. If only she could see her future, now that she is 13 and promised to a boy she barely remembers. When a messenger summons the prince to a secret meeting, Cat and Hwy find themselves in the middle of a war that threatens to destroy all of Wales. Can they master their special abilities in time to save the royal family--and themselves?

Wild Rose, an epic story of The West, now long gone, charts Sophie’s journey from underloved child in religion-bound rural Quebec, to headstrong young woman to exhausted homesteader to deserted bride and mother, to independent businesswoman finding her way in a hostile, if beautiful, landscape. In language that is haunting, elegiac and rich with detail, Butala casts an unblinking eye on a merciless West that has become obscured behind headlines about wheat and oil prices. Sophie’s West – filled with sodbusters and cowboys, fallen women and proper ladies, settlers and Indians – comes vividly alive in the pages of Wild Rose, Butala’s most unforgettable novel.

Immediately before his tragic death, stuttering mechanic Dave visits his younger brother Denny with a note for their sister Dianne. “D-don’t r-read it. D-don’t open it. D-don’t n-nothing it,” Dave commands before taking off one last time for the abandoned family cabin at Mahihkan Lake, a place where disputes are settled with shotguns and arson is written off as an act of God. After the funeral — and a brief stint in rehab for the gin-dependent Denny — he and Dianne head north to spread their adopted brother’s ashes and attempt to rebuild their fractured relationship. Meanwhile Harold, a truck driver who has lost everything, sets out on a solo canoe trip towards his own cabin at Mahihkan, but a series of mishaps leaves him bruised, drenched, and possibly losing his mind, as he thinks a wolf might be stalking him northward.

Set among the actual events and personages of late 13th century Wales, Marie Powell has constructed a fantasy novel that recreates what life might have been like for two teenagers coming of age. Marie Powell is the author of 30 published children’s books, including the young adult historical fantasy. She holds a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) degree in Creative Writing from the University of British Columbia. Read more about Hawk and Welsh history on her blog at: mepowell.com/blog

Sharon Butala is the award-winning author of numerous works of fiction, non-fiction, short stories, poetry, and plays. Wild Rose is her first book since her Globe & Mail bestseller The Girl in Saskatoon was published in 2008

R.P. MacIntyre is an actor, playwright, director and author. MacIntyre lives in LaRonge, SK.

SWG Freelance Aug / Sept 2015

The Global Baseball Classroom By Brent Loehr Summer Game Books ISBN: 9781938545627

Stories For Every Classroom By Beverley A. Brenna Canadian Scholar’s Press ISBN: 9781551307299

The Two Trees By Sally Meadows Your Nickel’s Worth Publishing ISBN: 9781927756430

Few individuals share Brent Loehr’s fascinating and diverse perspective on baseball. Taste the truly international flavor of America’s greatest game as he did, and draw life lessons from the inspiring stories of others. Brent’s baseball journey began in Western Canada. A playing career that culminated as catcher at a US college evolved into coaching, which grew to running clinics, and then finally became stints as Envoy Coach with Major League Baseball International, developing and delivering clinics around the world.

Academic study of children’s literature has explored various aspects of diversity; however, little research has examined Canadian books that portray characters with disabilities. This relevant and timely text addresses the significant dearth of research by exploring the treatment of disability in Canadian literature for young people. Engaging and highly accessible, this text will assist teachers, teacher educators, and teacher candidates in finding and using books about characters where disability is a part of their characterization, supporting the development of curricula that reflect critical literacy and social justice issues.

Jaxon’s older brother Syd is smart, really smart. But all Jaxon wants is someone to play with. When Jaxon sees Syd having trouble interacting with other kids, he is torn between loyalty to his brother and the frustration of having a sibling who is “different.” It is only when Syd gets the support he needs that the whole family is able to move forward in hope and healing.

Read about a perilous trip on Arctic waters with an adventurous group of Inuit hunters; an encounter with a one-armed European ballplayer who had never heard of Jim Abbott; a baseball signed by Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig that touched lives at a monastery for decades; and a life-altering summer spent in Africa growing the game. Loehr has been involved with baseball at all levels. He lives in Saskatchewan with his wife and two daughters.

Stories for Every Classroom explores the historical patterns and trends, theoretical frameworks, and critical literacy methods used to understand and teach children’s literature and its portrayal of characters with disabilities. Beverley A. Brenna is a Professor and the Acting Associate Dean of the College of Education at the University of Saskatchewan. She has authored over a dozen books for young people.

Education about ASD is key to the success of these remarkable individuals. Compassion and understanding is necessary not only for ASD kids, but for their parents and siblings too. The Two Trees is intended to raise awareness about the challenges of having an ASD child in the family, and to be a springboard for important discussions with ASD families, educators, students, and the general public. Sally Meadows is a two-time national award-nominated singer/songwriter, author, educator, and speaker living in Saskatoon, SK. The Two Trees is her first book

SWG Freelance Aug / Sept 2015

Calls of Interest The Malahat Review Open Season Awards: Call for Entries The Malahat Review, Canada’s premier literary magazine, invites entries from Canadian, American, and overseas authors for the Open Season Awards. An exciting showcase of literary excellence, Open Season bestows a prize of $1500 in each of three categories: poetry, short fiction, and creative nonfiction.

Entries may be sent by regular mail or email. When submitting by email, please include a cover letter with relevant contact details Do not include any personal or contact information anywhere on submission itself. For full contest details visit: malahatreview.ca Pay only $15 for each additional entry after the first. Deadline: November 1, 2015 Call for Entries: Sask Book Awards The 2016 Call for Entries for the Saskatchewan Book Awards is now available for download at: bookawards.sk.ca. Submissions will open on Tuesday, September 1, 2015. Please do not send your submissions until then. Please read through the Call for Entries and begin planning your submission or pass it on to someone you think should submit!

Call for Chasing Anthology

Submissions: the Divine

A new anthology, Chasing the Divine, is seeking personal essays of up to 4,000 words on the subject of faith in the contemporary Canadian context. How does faith, early or late, active or lapsed, continue to confine, define or refine your lives? How has religious faith, or the loss of it, affected your relationships and self-awareness? What has sustained you through a “dark night of the soul”? In what places and by what means do you connect to the sacred? Stories from all faith traditions are welcome.

Entrants from across the world are welcome. Entries must be 4,000 words or under and there is no limit to the number of stories you can submit. Please read the competition rules carefully before entering. If you have any questions, please contact Rachel at: competition@ thelondonmagazine.org. Springfield Writers’ Guild 22nd Annual Prose and Poetry Contest SFor info on submission guidelines and categories visit: springfieldwritersguild.org/ contests

Deadline: October 31, 2015

Deadline: September 15. 2015

For more information or to submit, please contact: chasingthedivine@gmail.com

For more info contact: Contest Chair, Yvonne Erwin: writer716@ gmail.com

The London Magazine Short Story Competition

Rebelight Publishing Inc. Now Accepting Submissions

Established to encourage emerging literary talent, the award provides an opportunity for publication and recognition, as well as rewarding imagination, originality and creativity. The London Magazine is looking for unpublished short stories.

Rebelight Publishing Inc. is a worldwide English language publisher based in Canada, devoted to outstanding fiction for middle grade, young adult, and new adult readers. We’re looking for fresh voices and amazing stories in any genre. Experienced Canadian authors and new writers welcome.

Deadline: October 31, 2015 The winner is published in a future issue of The London Magazine. The runners up will be published on our website. A total of £1000 in prizes to be won. Entry fee: £10 per short story

Check out rebelight.com for more information and submission guidelines.

SWG Freelance Aug / Sept 2015

Freelance Magazine Seeking Cover Artists Artists of all disciplines and styles are welcome to submit work. Freelance cover art is open to both members and non-members.

To Submit:

Send Hi-Res (4MB+) images of the work in JPG, TIFF, or PDF form to: swgmedia@skwriter. com. Include ‘Freelance Cover Art’ in the email subject line. Artists are paid $80 if their work is chosen. 33

2016 Mentorship Program Call For Apprentices The SWG is seeking four writers who wish to develop their skills in the craft of creative writing. The program will run from January 1 to April 30, 2016. Deadline: Applications must be postmarked by September 25, 2015. Apprentices will be selected based upon the following criteria: • they will have a body of work of sufficient quality to benefit from the program • they will have work in progress when they apply • they will not have had a book published in the genre in which they wish to apprentice • they have demonstrated their commitment to writing by having participated in some form of professional development. • they will be free to devote a significant amount of time to the program: a minimum of 20-25 hours per month. • they will be Saskatchewan residents 19 years of age or older

For detailed submission guidelines visit: skwriter.com

SWG Freelance Aug / Sept 2015

Professional Development Registration is Now Open for Word-Walk-Workshop

CANSCAIP Prairie Horizons 2015 Conference

A one day walk/write workshop with internationally-known author Steven Ross Smith, offered by the 2015 Prairie Wind & Silver Sage artist residency program.

The 12th bi-annual Prairie Horizons conference will be held September 18-20 at St. Michael’s Retreat Centre in Lumsden, Saskatchewan, about half an hour north of Regina. Speakers are Frieda Wishinsky, Ted Staunton, Dakota McFadzean, Anne Shone (senior editor at Scholastic Canada), Gillian Richardson and Alison Lohans.

The workshop takes place on Saturday, September 12 in Val Marie, SK, from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm. All levels of experience and genres of writing are welcome. A fee of $65 includes lunch and breaks.

Smith will also be available for one-on-one consultations with writers and for writing workshops in schools. Pre-booking is advised. For more information and to register for any of these events, visit: pwss.org or phone: 306.298.7782.

Writing for the More-ThanHuman-World with Trevor Herriot

Deadline: September 9.

This course is for writers of all genres interested in grounding their writing in the land. Alternating class exercises and discussions with outdoor field work and one-on-one sessions. Herriot ‘s work has, twice been shortlisted for the Writer’s Trust Award for Nonfiction, the Governor General’s Award for Nonfiction, and the William Saroyan International Prize for Writing.

For complete conference details, go to: skcanscaip.wordpress.com. For more info send questions to: prairiehorizons@gmail.com.

When: September 11-13, 2015 Where: St. Peter’s College, Muenster Contact: Barbara Langhorst at: langhorstb@stpeters.sk.ca Details at: stpeterscollege.ca

2016 Mentorship Program Call For Mentors The SWG is seeking experienced writers in all genres to participate in the Mentorship Program. Mentors who have participated in the program in the past are welcome to re-apply. The program will run from January 1 to April 30, 2016. Deadline: Applications must be postmarked by September 25, 2015. Mentors will be selected based upon the following criteria: • the possession of a significant body of published work • experience as a teacher, workshop leader, mentor, writer in residence, or editor • the ability to commit time (15-20 hours per month) during the mentorship period • Saskatchewan residency Mentors will receive an honorarium of $2,500 for their participation in the program. For detailed submission guidelines visit: skwriter.com

SWG Freelance Aug / Sept 2015

Member News Deana Driver’s The Sailor and the Christmas Trees: A True Story Wins Award The story by Deana Driver, published by DriverWorks Ink, was named the Winner of the Children’s Book category of the 2015 Holiday Book Festival, honoring the best books of the holiday season. The awards were presented recently in Hollywood, CA. Eight Saskatchewan Writers Shortlisted for High Plains Book Awards Out of 200 nominated titles in 10 categories, the following Saskatchewan titles were shortlisted in the following five categories: Art & Photography • Timothy Long, Dave Margoshes, and Wilf Perreault, eds.; Wilf Perreault; In the Alley/Dans la Ruelle Children’s • Cheryl Chad, Back to Batoche • Jean Freeman, Do Trees Sneeze? Culinary • Amy Jo Ehman, Out of Old: Saskatchewan Kitchens Short Fiction • Dave Margoshes, God Telling a Joke and Other Stories • Rolli, I Am Currently Working on a Novel Young Adult • Brenda Baker, Camp Outlook • Regine Haensel, Queen of Fire

New Members The SWG would like to welcome: Myrna Petersen Ryan Weild Nina Morey Lyle Riley Angela Hicks Jesse Battis Kim Ryan Rachel Laverdiere

SWG Freelance Aug / Sept 2015

Backbone The SWG Thanks Our Donors Patron (over $500) Felicia Daunt

Benefactors ($200-$499) Robert Calder Cathy Fenwick Lyn Goldman Louise Halfe JoAnn McCaig Ken Mitchell Sask Library Association

Supporters ($100-$199)

Mary Harelkin Bishop Betty Hegerat Cheryl & Henry Kloppenburg Melanie McFarlane Connie McGrath Lynda Monahan Deanna Reder Glen Sorestad Terry Toews Larry Warwaruk

Friends ($50-$99) Angie Abdou Rita Bouvier Margaret Durant Joanne Epp Jean Forbes-King David Glaze

Carol Gossner Susan Harris Tim Jones Miriam Korner Sheena Koops Marjorie Megan Martin Sally Meadows Wynne Nicholson Martine Noel-Maw Lisa Rawn David Richards Sarah Wells

Contributors (up to $50) Mary Harelkin Bishop Jeanette Dean Fran Eldridge Jean Fahlman Glenda Goertzen Oliver Green Ted Haas Regine Haensel Robert Harwood Peter Hughes Laurie Jarvis Barbara Langhorst Robert Leech Bonnie Logan Joan Olson Anne Patton Sage Hill Writing Experience

Marie Ă&#x2030;lyse St. George Tillen Bruce Alexander Wesker Pamela Woodland

Andrew Suknaski Writers Assistance Fund Sandra Birdsell Judith Krause Sharon MacFarlane B. Salman Glen Sorestad

Grain

Laurel Deedrick-Mayne Cheryl & Henry Kloppenburg Rea Tarvydas

Patricia Armstrong Fund Retreats

Carla Braidek Karen Nye Reg Silvester

Kloppenburg Award

Cheryl & Henry Kloppenburg

The SWG Foundation Thanks These Donors SWG Foundation Anthony Bidulka George Jeerakathil Glen Sorestad

SWGF Legacy Project Gloria Boerma George Jeerakathil

Facilitated Retreat Susan Hogarth

Judy McCrosky Bursary Fund Judy McCrosky

Caroline Heath Memorial Fund

Freelance

August / September 2015 Volume 45 Number 5

Publication Mail Agreement #40063014

The SWG gratefully acknowledge the support of SaskCulture and the Saskatchewan Lotteries Trust Fund