Burnaby Writers' Society

Stir: a new arts & culture magazine for #Vancouver (Create a Stir) with a lovely feature on the #VanPoetryPhone project: have you dialed in yet? Free! 10 poems, 10 local poets. I'd love to hear from you about your #favs!

ENTER TO WIN our I Read Canadian giveaway to win a Canadian Book! Email [email protected] with your name, mailing address and your favourite Canadian Author you will have read in February! #IReadCanadianDay

We'd love to have you join us for an afternoon of poetry! Please email [email protected] to register :)

Sharpen your writing and get rare insights into the craft of storytelling in the Whistler Writers Festival Oct. 15 - 18. An hour in a master class with a writing teacher can stoke the creative writing engine for months to come, so don't be shy. Whether you're emerging or established, join one or more classes of like-minded inkslingers to explore the craft of writing! https://festival.whistlerwritersfest.com/

From Natalie Lim: in case anyone happens to be looking for some quarantine entertainment at approximately 7:30 am tomorrow morning, have I got a show for you... for the past few months I've been talking to a lot of extremely cool people from around the province and producing a 5-part radio series for CBC - North by Northwest about how and why people are playing Dungeons & Dragons in B.C.! it's incredibly nerdy, I'm super proud of it, and it'll be airing for five Saturdays starting TOMORROW on CBC Radio One. you can listen in using a real radio, or tune in online:

Planet Earth Poetry is calling for applications for the position of artistic director. As many of you may know, Daniel Scott has informed PEP’s board that he ...will step away as PEP’s Artistic Director at the end of this year. The poetry public will be familiar with Daniel’s genial presence as host at PEP’s Friday night readings, said PEP President Anne Hopkinson. The AD has responsibility for administration and publicity, scheduling visiting and local poets’ reading, grant applications and finances, with assistance from board members, outreach, workshops and special events. As part of the formal process stated by our registered society status, we are now inviting applications for interested and qualified persons. Consider: Has poetry ever been more valuable, more essential than in this time of Covid uncertainty, environmental disaster, and political upheaval? Do you not want to be a part of this generative, life-affirming contribution to the world’s recovery? Hopkinson said. The AD communicates with poets and their publishers across Canada (and from other countries, if travel becomes feasible again or if Zoom remains necessary). The Director’s position is supported by a strong volunteer group and a supportive Board. Now is a time for original and vibrant ideas and projects, Hopkinson said. Submit applications and queries by August 25th to [email protected] , subject line Applications Artistic Director. Interviews will take place toward the end of August. See more

A member of our arts community is putting together a series of free Zoom chats for visual artists in Burnaby! Going out is still a challenge for many, so this i...s a great opportunity to stay connected from home. The discussion group will take place on Zoom each Monday, and will begin Monday, August 10th at 11am. The group will run for 6 weeks, and will be limited to 10 participants. If you are interested in participating in the discussion group, please message Dorothy Doherty on Facebook with your email address.

Come hear the world premiere of "Lake Song" for Contralto and Piano with music by Mickie Wadsworth and text by Angela Rebrec. Get your tickets for this Friday's digital concert: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/songlaunch-songs-from-art-song-

There are more than two dozen calls for submissions in August. All of these are paying markets, and none charge submission fees. As always, every genre, style, and form is wanted, from short stories to poetry to essays.

AFFIRMATION: Six Uplifting Readings, with Patty Sandoval Sralla, Daniel Scott, Stephen Novik, Al Rempel, Emily Olsen and Coranne Creswell Monday, July 13, 7 p....m. Six writers, uplifting material: it’s the recipe for a cup of Affirmation, an online reading event set for Monday, July 13, 2020 at 7 p.m. Hosted by the Federation of British Columbia Writers, Affirmation will be about as much encouragement as you can find in an hour on Zoom, said emcee Jacqueline Carmichael. It’s been a stressful few months on Planet Earth, and we have pulled together six wonderful writers from around the provinceactually, around the continentwith a way with words and an ambition to make this a positive night, she said. They were given a single prompt: Affirmation. We’re hoping friends will stop by and listen, grab a cup of tea or whatever, and just breathe with us for some good, uplifting moments together. The event is free, as part of the FBCW’s BC-Yukon Quite Determined Eco-Friendly Online Literary Road Trip 2020. Guests can email [email protected] for an invitation link to the event. Feature readers will include Daniel G. Scott, artistic director of Planet Earth Poetry. Scott is the author whose books include black onion (Goldfinch Press), terrains and gnarled love, both from Ekstasis Editions. He is an Associate Professor Emeritus from the University of Victoria, School of Child and Youth Care. Al Rempel is a Prince George poet and high school teacher. His book, Undiscovered Country: new poems (from Salt Spring Island, BC’s Mother Tongue Publishing Limited) is about being at the far side of 40. His poems have been published in anthologies and literary magazines. Emily Olsen is a graduate of SFU’s The Writers Studio. She is published in various poetry anthologies and has a book in the works. She is the founder of the Connection Project and director of the annual mental health storytelling in Sidney BC. She hosts classes, workshops, and community gatherings focused on creativity, personal growth, and healing, and she has a podcast about well-being and a personal coaching business. She lives in WSÁNE Territory on Vancouver Island with her husband, Adam and two children. Stephen Novik is a self-published poet and spoken word performer based in Port Alberni, B.C. He’s the host of the Alberni Valley’s Words On Fire spoken word open mic showcase held the second and last Wednesdays of the month online via Zoom from Stephen’s second home, Char’s Landingand he encourages all to come out and give performing a try at www dot charslanding dot com. Coranne Creswell is a writer and artist who is a graduate of the The Writers Studio program at SFU. She enjoys a polyamorous relationship with a couple of writing genres, including vivid, lush fiction, as well as painting and photography. Home for now is the Similkameen Valley with her dog Solo. Our focus reader is Patty Sandoval Sralla. A South Texas native, Sralla is a screenwriter/producer/director and a retired print journalist who lives in San Antonio, Texas, with her husband, son and three furry children. She organizes the San Antonio Screenwriters Guild and her screenplays have consistently placed in the top 20 percent of the Austin Film Festival Screenwriting Contest and PAGE International. She also sings in a rock band and is a five-year, post double-lung transplant recipient. Patty will be reading her light-hearted, short narrative screenplay, Traveling Chiffonier, about generational values and what really matters. Emcee Jacqueline Carmichael is president of the Federation of British Columbia Writers. A longtime journalist and publisher, she is the author of Heard Amid the Guns: True Stories from the Western Front (Heritage House, October 2020) and a children’s book, My Read-Aloud Tales About Social Distancing. For a free invitation link, or to get a menu of events coming up with the FBCW’s BC-Yukon Quite Determined Eco-Friendly Online Literary Road Trip 2020, email [email protected] .