2023 may be winding down, but there’s no shortage of good things to look forward to in 2024. Scroll down to find out more about some of the writing workshops, contests, retreats, readings and other events happening around BC and beyond.
Note: the Federation of BC Writers is not directly affiliated with the following organizations or groups.
Submit your event or announcement to our next blog post here, or contact Rachel at rachel@bcwriters.ca.
ROOM: Call For Submissions
ISSUE 47.3 BODIES
Submissions now open
Submission deadline: January 5, 2024
Canada’s oldest feminist literary journal is seeking writing about touch and isolation, trans and queer embodiment, fat liberation, chronic illness and disability, brutality, sensuality, and other meditations on the bones and muscles you inhabit every day.
What words live in the relationship between your body and other bodies? Between your body and the land beneath it? Explore what it means to feel empowered and grounded in your body—and what it means to feel betrayed by it. Have you ever lost your body to dissociation? Or perhaps to transcendence? The body is a site of self-love, self-hate, and body neutrality alike: accepting loving odes, body horror, and everything in between.
Before submitting, please read Room’s About section and refer to their submission guidelines.
2023 Okanagan Short Story Contest
Submissions now open
Deadline, February 2nd 2024
The Okanagan Short Story Contest awards the best new short stories by writers in the Southern Interior of British Columbia: east of Hope, west of the Alberta border, north of the US border and south of Williams Lake. Past winners have gone on to publish with Penguin Random House, Arsenal Pulp Press, and NeWest Press, as well as numerous magazines and journals nationally and internationally.
Submissions must be between 1,000 and 4,000 words in length (about 4-20 pages, typed, double-spaced). Entries must be original, unpublished works of fiction. For more information, or for the submission page and instructions, please see https://fccs.ok.ubc.ca/short-story/
Planet Earth Poetry Presents: “Postcards from the World”
A Poetry Workshop with Ariel Gordon
Saturday, January 20, 2024, 1:00 to 4:00 pm
Location: A comfortable private home in the Gorge area of Victoria, BC. (Directions upon registration.)
What does it mean to slow down and pay attention to the urban ecosystem? This workshop focuses on what it means to pay attention to the natural world, to stop and see what’s living there.
Ariel Gordon is a Treaty 1 territory/Winnipeg-based writer, editor, and enthusiast, and the ringleader of Writes of Spring, a National Poetry Month project in collaboration with the Winnipeg International Writers Festival and the Winnipeg Free Press.
Cost: $65. Limited sliding scale tickets available – $25 to $45 – for those in need. Please enquire during registration. Two fully-funded bursaries for participants who identify as Indigenous and who register by January 13th.
For more information and to register, visit https://planetearthpoetry.com/ariel-gordon-workshop-1
Editors BC Seminar: Build Your Freelance Editing Business Website with Erin Brenner
Saturday, February 24, 2024, 1:00 to 4:00 pm PST
Online via Zoom
Early bird on or before January 9, 2024:
Member of Editors BC: $70 Non-member: $150 Student Affiliate: $50
After January 9, 2024:
Member of Editors BC: $90 Non-member: $170 Student Affiliate: $50
Are you ready to establish your editing business online? This seminar will guide you through creating and managing a professional website to attract new clients and grow your freelance editing work. Erin Brenner is the owner of editorial services firm Right Touch Editing, which specializes in providing small and midsized organizations with writing and editing teams. Additionally, Erin provides freelance editor coaching and website reviews through Archer Editorial Training.
Registration is limited and closes February 20, 2024, at 11:59 pm. For more information and to register, visit https://www.gifttool.com/registrar/ShowEventDetails?ID=1262&EID=31421
Nature and Place Poetry Competition 2024
Submissions now open
Closing date: April 1, 2024, midnight GMT
Presented by RSPB (Royal Society for the Protection of Birds) and The Rialto in collaboration with BirdLife International, the Cambridge Conservation Initiative and the University of Leeds Poetry Centre. Poems are invited that deal with any aspect of nature and place. International entries are welcome.
As well as offering poets the chance to win considerable cash prizes, the competition supports conservation and poetry. Winning entries will be showcased in The Realto, the UK’s leading independent poetry magazine.
For full details, visit: https://www.therialto.co.uk/pages/nature-poetry-competition/
Tap In Creativity Retreat for Writers
April 25-28, 2024
Upper Squamish Valley, BC
Registration opens February 1
This three-night, four-day getaway is a fully-catered, fully-supported opportunity for writers at any stage of their project to dig in and get those creative juices flowing. Located at Glacier Valley Farm, a “refined rustic” retreat centre in the Upper Squamish Valley. Plenty of focused, silent, writing time, opportunities for one-on-one sessions with author/instructor Katherine Fawcett, as well as inspirational activities such as yoga, nature walks, singing, and more. Luxurious private rooms, shared accommodation, and “we’re both on a budget” buddy packages.
Contact Katherine to express interest or ask questions at tap.in@katherinefawcett.com, or visit www.katherinefawcett.com
Canadian Freelance Guild (CFG): Tools for Freelancing in the Digital Age.
Explore the CFG video library here:
https://canadianfreelanceguild.wildapricot.org/The_Canadian_Freelance_Guild_Shop
