The days may be getting shorter, but BC’s writers aren’t slowing down. This week’s blog includes author talks, book launches, a book fair, a writing retreat, a short story contest for undergrad and grad students, and an online workshop to help freelancers increase their income.
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.
2024 Bridge Prize: Now Open for Submissions
Submission Deadline: January 22, 2024.
Open to Undergraduate and Graduate Students
The University of Lethbridge School of Liberal Education is once again presenting the Bridge Prize, Canada’s only short story competition open exclusively to undergraduate and graduate students attending a Canadian college or university. The 2024 Bridge Prize jury will select four student authors from across Canada to receive over $10,000 in cash prizes.
Please review the FAQ and Submissions Guidelines before submitting your story.
https://www.ulethbridge.ca/liberal-education/2024-bridge-prize
Book Launch: Ali Blythe and Jason Jobin
Wednesday, November 1, 2023, 7:00 – 9:00 PM (doors open at 6:30 PM)
Munro’s Books, 1108 Government St., Victoria, BC
Free Admission
Join us in celebrating new books by two local authors! Breaking open John Keats’s “Last Sonnet,” in his third book of poetry, Stedfast, Ali Blythe writes marginality into the canon, at once claiming, reviving, and un-fixing the Romantic vision. Jason Jobin‘s debut, The Wild Mandrake, is a memoir that covers his life from the cusp of adulthood, as he faces cancer that keeps coming back.
No Regret Financial Decisions…set you up for Success! with Shannon Lee Simmons
Canadian Freelance Guild (CFG)
Thursday, November 2, 2023, 3 pm PT (6 pm ET)
ONLINE: https://canadianfreelanceguild.ca/en/page/page-content/calendar-2
NOTE: REGISTRATION CLOSES AT 12 PM ET ON THE DAY OF THE EVENT
Shannon Lee Simmons is an award winning Certified Financial Planner and founder of the New School of Finance. She is a personal finance writer for the Globe and Mail as well as CBC Radio’s Metro Morning money columnist and a financial expert on The Marilyn Denis Show.
Join us for a fun and information packed session with one of your favourite presenters as we learn about how to make financial decisions that will help you avoid the usual pitfalls and set you up for financial success.
CFG Members – $5.00; CWA Canada Associates; FBCW Members – $10.00 (Registration discount code required – contact hello@bcwriters.ca); Public – $15.00
Non-Members are invited to join the CFG. Membership includes full access to the Job Bank, a free LinkedIn Learning account, and costs just $150 per year.
Read Locally Book Fair: Independent Writers and Publishers
Saturday, November 4, 2023, 10:00 am – 3:00 pm
First Met Hall, 932 Balmoral Rd, Victoria, BC
Rent a table for $25 or half a table for $12.50. Please contact Edeana Malcolm at dnmlclm3@gmail.com for more information, or visit https://victoriawriters.ca/
Book Launch: Your Body Was Made for THIS!
Sunday, November 5, 2:00 – 4:00 PM
Duncan Showroom, 131 Station St., Duncan, BC
FREE
Book Launch & Discussion in celebration of the release of Debbie Bateman’s collection of short stories, Your Body Was Made for THIS! Beauty, sex, eating, love, aging, and grief—there’s a lot going on in a body. Wendy Donawa and Laurie MacFayden join Debbie Bateman to share their writing and engage in a lively discussion moderated by Shannon Peck.
https://debbie-bateman.ca/events/
Book Launch: Arleen Pare and Barbara Pelman
Thursday, November 9, 7:00 p.m. (doors at 6:30)
Munro’s Books, 1108 Government St. Victoria, BC
Free admission
Please join Munro’s Books for the launch of new books by two beloved local poets! Award-winning poet Arleen Pare’s latest collection, Absence of Wings, is both an intimate family portrait and a public documentation of how we, as a society, can fail to protect our children. In A Brief and Endless Sea, award-winning poet Barbara Pelman presents a life lived in poetry, delving into the small moments and spaces containing the greatest offerings of love, hope and possibility.
More info on this and other events: https://munrobooks.com/events
An Evening with Lorna Crozier and M.A.C. Farrant
Friday, November 10, at 7 pm. (Doors open at 6:30)
Shoal Centre, 10030 Resthaven Drive, Sidney, BC
Tickets $12 at Tanner’s Books (cash only)
or online via Eventbrite here
Lorna Crozier, celebrated Canadian author and winner of multiple awards, will read from her latest book After That, a collection of soul-stirring poems that follow the death of a loved one. M.A.C. Farrant, the celebrated humorist and fiction writer, will read from her new book Jigsaw A Puzzle in Ninety-three Pieces, which explores themes of existence, love, joy, science, history, aging, roads, and Buddhism. All proceeds will support the 2025 Sidney Literary Festival.
https://www.sidneyliteraryfestival.ca/november-10-2023/
Ghost Story Writing Retreat
3-nights, All-inclusive
November 13-16th, 2023
Loon Lake Lodge, UBC Experimental Forest, Maple Ridge, BC
Single and shared rooms are still available for the 8th Annual Golden Ears Writers – Ghost Story Writing Retreat. (Ghost story writing is the theme, but not a requirement.) Come write with us in an inspiring wilderness setting that is easily accessible from the lower mainland. Nine meals are included in the price. Write in front of a cozy fire, at large tables in the meeting room (overlooking the lake), or at the desk in your room. There are also hiking trails, and an outdoor fire pit. For more details, please contact Katherine (KT) at citizen@shaw.ca
