North Shore Writers Association
North Shore Writers' Association P.O. Box 422, 1641 Lonsdale Avenue, V7M 2J5 North Vancouver, BC, Canada

Congratulations to NSWA member Cathy Sosnowsky for the release of Finding Heartstone: A Taste of Wilderness, available for purchase online through Caitlin Press or at your local bookstore! In Finding Heartstone, Cathy Sosnowsky weaves a stirring personal narrative describing a dream she and her husband realize as part of a wilderness cooperative on East Thurlow Island. She contrasts their wilderness adventures with an inner wilderness that occupies their lives after devastating losses. We get hungrier with each chapter as recipes are made for muffin-tin-oysters, orange marmalade and Hemming Bay fish and chips. Finding Heartstone awakens in us memories of our own dreams, losses, and small victories as we travel uncharted paths between a comfortable life and our untamed world.

Brava to NSWA member Claudia Cornwall for the release of her book, British Columbia in Flames (Harbour Publishing, Sep 19, 2020)! Claudia was interviewed by CTV in August: https://www.ctvnews.ca/video?clipId=2018673 An excerpt of her book was recently published by Tyee: https://thetyee.ca/Culture/2020/08/17/Riding-With-Flames/... Readers can contact Claudia through her website with any questions they would like her to answer in the Zoom discussions. www.claudiacornwall.com

Free event for writers! If you’re a writer and wish to read your work to a non-critical audience, come out to the next Dare to be Heard! Dare welcomes writers of all genres at all stages of the journey plus interested listeners. If you just want to chat about what you are reading lately, or if you're having a plot problem you want to brainstorm, we can chat about that, too! For the time being, meetings are via Zoom on the first Monday of each month (second Monday if first i...s a holiday). In the future, when the space is deemed safe and available, in-person meetings will be take place in the 2nd Floor Boardroom at the North Vancouver City Library. Janine Cross is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting. Topic: Dare to be Heard Time: Nov 2, 2020 07:00 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada) Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83290502711 Meeting ID: 832 9050 2711 Passcode: 408661 One tap mobile +13017158592,,83290502711#,,,,,,0#,,408661# US (Germantown) +13126266799,,83290502711#,,,,,,0#,,408661# US (Chicago) Dial by your location +1 301 715 8592 US (Germantown) +1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago) +1 346 248 7799 US (Houston) +1 646 558 8656 US (New York) +1 669 900 9128 US (San Jose) +1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma) Meeting ID: 832 9050 2711 Passcode: 408661 Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kVr0Mytyu

Free Workshop with JJ Lee Fright Write: A Ghost Story Writing Workshop Thursday, October 29 at 6:30 p.m.8 p.m. Free To help us celebrate the spookiest time of year, acclaimed author JJ Lee presents this two-part workshop on how to compose a scary short story. Part One will teach you how to send shivers down your readers’ spines, from premises and setup structures to types of spirits and paranormal phenomena. In Part Two, you will have the opportunity to share your story and ...receive feedback. You only need to register once to be registered for both workshop sessions: Part One: Thursday October 29, 6:30 8:30 p.m. Part Two: Thursday November 5, 6:30 8:30 p.m. About JJ Lee: While he is known best for his critically-acclaimed memoir The Measure of a Man: The Story of a Father, a Son, and a Suit, JJ has written and performed a holiday ghost story of CBC Radio in British Columbia for the last seven years. He teaches nonfiction at Simon Fraser University’s The Writer’s Studio and is a regular presenter at the North Shore Readers and Writers Festival. For this virtual program, we’ll be using Zoom. We will use the waiting room feature on Zoom to let participants into the program one by one to keep things safe. What you’ll need: A computer with microphone (or headphones) and webcam for Zoom; or your smartphone/tablet. An email address is required for registration. Register at: https://westvanlibrary.ca//fright-write-a-ghos/2020-10-29/

We are thrilled to announce a special event for November! Acclaimed author Zsuzsi Gartner will lead a craft workshop for NSWA members on Sunday, Nov 15th from 10am-Noon! This will be a highly interactive workshop with time for writing, feedback, and Q&A. This is a great opportunity to dive into story structure! Workshop is capped at 12 participants - first come first served. Please look carefully at your calendar to make sure you can make this time before taking up a spot. AS... OF OCTOBER 23, THIS WORKSHOP IS NOW AT FULL CAPACITY. RSVP: [email protected]. The first twelve responders will be sent a Zoom link closer to the date. Note: If the workshop is oversubscribed, don't worry! The session will be recorded and made available afterwards to NSWA members. The Geometry of Story with Zsuzsi Gartner, a crash-course on structure for fiction and creative non-fiction. Sunday, November 15th 10-Noon (via Zoom) This two-hour workshop demonstrates how to give your writing a better sense of movement & momentum. We will also look at the use of time in short stories and novels. For what is the structure of a story, its form, but a way of arranging and rearranging time of deciding what to divulge and when? You’ll be introduced to a variety of structures and structuring devices. We will also do a writing exercise that illuminates the myriad ways a single story can begin. Begin at the beginning, said the King to the White Rabbit in Alice in Wonderland, and go on till you come to the end: then stop. But it’s never that simple, is it? Vancouver writer Zsuzsi Gartner is the author of the acclaimed story collection All the Anxious Girls on Earth and the Giller finalist Better Living through Plastic Explosives. Zsuzsi was the inaugural Frank O’Connor International Short Story Fellow for Cork, Ireland, in 2016. In September, Zsuzsi Gartner released her debut novel The Beguiling to critical acclaim. The book is shortlisted for the 2020 Writers' Trust Fiction Prize (winner to be announced on November 18th!)

Today! Watch the digital Writers' Trust Awards: Emerging Writers Edition, hosted by Téa Mutonji Join the Writers' Trust Awards online today at 11am PT / 2pm ET for the 2020 WT Awards: Emerging Writers Edition, celebrating the finalists and announcing the winners of the RBC Bronwen Wallace Award (short fiction and poetry), the Dayne Ogilvie Prize for LGBTQ Emerging Writers, and the Writers Trust McClelland & Stewart Journey Prize. Each prize awards $10,000 and has a storied t...rack record of discovering Canada’s brightest writers at the outset of their careers. Join us today to take a virtual tour around the finalists' writing spaces, learn what inspires them to create, and hear readings from their work before learning the winner of each award. Writers' Trust Awards: Emerging Writers Edition Wednesday, October 21, 2020 11am PT / 12pm MT / 1pm CT / 2pm ET / 3pm AT / 3:30pm NT Watch on Facebook, YouTube and Twitter writerstrust.com/WTAwards

Join the North Shore Writers Association & get access to these (and more!) fantastic upcoming events: October 19th at 7pm: Aislinn Hunter, award-winning novelist, poet, editor, teacher and the author of eight highly-acclaimed books, will discuss "finding one's way" as a writer, everything from generating story ideas, to finding community and mentors, and she'll also talk a little about her latest book, THE CERTAINTIES. Sunday November 15, 10-noon: Zsuzsi Gartner will lead an ...interactive Zoom workshop on the craft of story structure, "The Geometry of Story". In between teaching in UBC's MFA program, this award-winning author of BETTER LIVING THROUGH Plastic EXPLOSIVES and the acclaimed story collection ALL THE ANXIOUS GIRLS ON EARTH has seen her work widely anthologized & broadcast on CBC and NPR. January 18, 2021 at 7pm: Karma Brown is an award-winning journalist and the bestselling author of four novels, one of which was voted Best 100 Books of 2015 by Globe & Mail. Karma will discuss her latest novel, THE 4% FIX, and talk about time management, goal-setting, and strategies that work so we each can use just one houronly 4% of our dayto change our lives. May 17, 2021 at 7pm: Janie Chang's first novel, THREE SOULS, was a finalist for the 2014 Ethel Wilson Fiction Price, and her second novel, DRAGON SPRINGS ROAD, was a Globe and Mail national bestseller. Janie writes historical fiction while drawing from 36 generations of recorded family genealogy, and will discuss how that's incorporated into THE LIBRARY OF LEGENDS, her third novel released May 2020, a Globe and Mail national bestseller.

Kudos to NSWA member Joyce Goodwin for having four poems accepted into The Ontario Poetry Society 2020 poetry anthology Infinite Passages (Beret Days Press). Her poems include: Tiernan James, The Tide, Seagulls and Souls, and Pacific Sphinx (see page 10). Joyce just received word that her poem Last Breath won a Judge’s Choice Award in the Ontario Poetry Society Ultra Short Poem Competition 2020. Besides being a published poet, Joyce is also an accomplished painter. Her beautiful paintings are currently part of a watercolour exhibition in Kyiv, Ukraine, in two North Shore Artists’ Guild shows, and at the Hycroft Gallery: https://www.uwcvancouver.ca//hycroft-gallery-opening-july/

Calling all writers! We're excited to announce that Aislinn Hunter will be speaking to the North Shore Writers Association on October 19th at 7pm PDT about how a writer find's one's way--everything from generating story ideas to finding community and mentors. She'll also talk a little about her recent book, The Certainties, a vivid, moving novel reminiscent of Anthony Doerr and Michael Ondaatje, about the entwined fates of two very different refugees. Aislinn Hunter is an awa...rd-winning novelist, poet and teacher and the author of eight highly-acclaimed books. Her poetry has won the Gerald Lampert Award and been shortlisted for the Pat Lowther Award, the Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize, and the ReLit Award. Her second novel The World Before Us won the 2015 Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize, was a New York Times Editor's Choice, and a Chatelaine Book Club pick. She is a contributing editor at Arc Magazine, has contributed to numerous anthologies, taught at the University of Victoria and now teaches at KPU. If you're interested in joining us for this online event, please contact us through our Facebook page!

Congratulations to Rod Baker on the release of his latest book Unexpected Treasures, Running a Mental Health Non-profit. In his fourth memoir, Rod describes with honesty, compassion and humour the struggles of providing mental health services amid the constant threat of budget cuts and insolvency, the 2008 global recession, and numerous personal and external challenges. Available on Amazon. For more info, visit rodbakerbooks.com

New Fall Workshops + October Horror Clarion West is offering more online classes this fall! During October and November, come get your fill of craft classes and free coworking sessions and sprints. Among their many topics, they're featuring an October emphasis on horror and dark fantasy. Bummed about a socially distanced Hallowe’en? Maybe this will help. From gothic horror to the nuts and bolts of medical gore, politically charged dark tales to spooky stories for kids, we’ve ...got a selection of spine-tingling classes lined up! Instructors like Usman Malik, Nadia Bulkin, Liz Hand, Crystal Connor, and Cassie Alexander light up the long nights. https://www.clarionwest.org/workshops/online-workshops/ See more

The Vancouver Manuscript Intensive is calling for applications for new fellowship! SPONSOR NEWS: Congratulations to Rachel Rose and Elee Kraljii Gardiner, who recently became the directors of Vancouver Manuscript Intensive, the one-on-one mentoring program for authors designed and developed by Betsy Warland. Rose and Gardener announced a new VMI fellowship and issued a call for applicants. The Fellowship is for a writer of exceptional promise with a manuscript in progress, w...ho has faced significant barriers to fulfilling that promise, including, but not limited to racism, poverty or class barriers, geographic dislocation or refugee status, single parenthood, disability or serious illness, Gardiner said. The Fellowship includes a full scholarship to the Vancouver Manuscript Intensive 2021 program to work with Gardiner beginning in January 2021 into June. While Canadian, US and international applicants can apply, please note communication and work will be in English. Winning candidate will be a feature reader at the program finale reading in June 2021 and may be interviewed for publication. Applicants can apply by email with one attachment (a Word document with all components within) to [email protected]. The application should include a cover letter briefly introducing yourself and information about any previous writing studies. A statement about the intended direction for the applicant’s project may include key texts, a mention of aesthetics or literary other influence. It should also include 20 pages of work (double-spaced, 12pt Times New Roman) See more

Tom Howard/Margaret Reid Poetry Contest Genre: Poetry Entry Fee: $15 per poem Deadline: September 30, 2020... Prize: Tom Howard prize of $3,000 for a poem in any style or genre; Margaret Reid prize of $3,000 for a poem that rhymes or has a traditional style; the top two winners will also receive two-year gift certificates from our co-sponsor, Duotrope (a $100 value); ten honorable mention prizes of $200 each (any style); top 12 entries published online Description: Contest is offered by Winning Writers and their co-sponsor, Duotrope. Poetry in any style or theme. 250 lines maximum per poem. Details: https://winningwriters.com//tom-howard-margaret-reid-poetr

A great activity for this rainy day!

Some free online writers events coming up in September, from Diaspora Dialogues! Diaspora Dialogues supports the creation and presentation of new fiction, creative non-fiction, poetry, and drama that reflect the complexity of the city, as seen through the eyes of its richly diverse writers. We use art and ideas to explore questions of our connected humanity, and our programs and events help encourage the creation of a literature and audience that is vibrant and inclusive. https://www.eventbrite.com/o/diaspora-dialogues-1330302385

Free! Check out the great line-up! https://www.wordvancouver.ca/2020festivalschedule

If you’re a writer and wish to read your work to a non-critical audience, come out to the next Dare to be Heard! Dare welcomes writers of all genres at all stages of the journey plus interested listeners! For the time being, meetings are via Zoom on the first Monday of each month (second Monday if first is a holiday). In the future, when the space is deemed safe and available, in-person meetings will be take place in the 2nd Floor Boardroom at the North Vancouver City Lib...rary. Dare starts at 7:00 p.m. Please log into Zoom a few minutes ahead of time and have your video/microphone on. Facebook message the North Shore Writers Association if you're interested on attending and we'll send you the link. Dare to share! See you online! Upcoming sessions: September 14, 2020 October 5 November 2 December 7 January 4, 2021 February 1 March 1 April 5 May 3 June 7 Venue: Zoom (link to meeting will be emailed in advance of meetings) Time: 7:00 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.

Authors with books that have strong LGBTQIA+ content, the Lambda Literary Awards are now open for submissions for books published in 2020! https://www.lambdaliterary.org/awards/