WordWorks, Winter 2018

BRITISH COLUMBIA’S MAGAZINE FOR WRITERS WINTER 2018 $6.95

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05

Members' Corner

Barb Drozdowich

06

Health of Canadian Publishers

Yvonne Blomer

07

What it Means to go Deeper in Poetry

Abby Addison

10

Who We Are

Norma Kerby

12

Wild West Poetry Tour By Train, Ferry, and Bus

Sherry Conly

15

Content Mills

Caroline Chojnacki

18

Starting over on a Train Wreck

Barbara Drozdowich

21

100 Best Websites for Writers

25

29+ Awards

28

Launched!

WORDWORKS IS PROVIDED FREE, TRIANNUALLY, TO MEMBERS OF THE FEDERATION OF BC WRITERS. IT IS AVAILABLE ON OUR WEBSITE & IN BRITISH COLUMBIA PUBLIC LIBRARIES, HIGH SCHOOLS, AND HISTORICAL SOCIETIES. WE ACKNOWLEDGE THE FINANCIAL SUPPORT OF THE PROVINCE OF BRITISH COLUMBIA TO JOIN THE FBCW, OR PURCHASE A SUBSCRIPTION TO WORDWORKS, GO TO BCWRITERS.CA

Page 1 ◆ WordWorks ◆ Winter 2018

Publication of The Federation of British Columbia Writers 2014 Bowen Rd, Nanaimo, BC V9S 1H4 bcwriters.ca Editor in Chief Shaleeta Harrison, communications@bcwriters.ca Business Manager Thomas Baxter, TomBaxter@bcwriters.ca Interior Designer/Illustrator Coby McDougall

T

he literature scene is vibrant, and new publishing houses in BC seem to be popping up every other month. There is a

bountiful international interest in Canadian topics, and book sales are doing well—writers have found ebooks to be reasonably profitable, with barely any production costs. Writers who tend toward the more structured or technical side of things are finding work in businesses writing blogs, social media hooks, and training manuals. The market for writers is—well, not booming, exactly, but certainly not plummeting. It’s stable, resting and content. The majority of writers are doing okay heading into 2018, and there are only the regular fears for the industry and the world. Nobody can predict the future, but I’m confident that 2018 will be a good year for writers in Canada, particularly for those living on the West Coast—sea shores, mountaintops and forested valleys are as popular as ever, and our salmon dusted rivers and spirit bears are beautiful muses, even if the local nature isn’t part of your usual writing.

As winter begins to rush to a close and the eaves begin dripping, consider your own goals for 2018. Finish your first draft? Write every day? Market yourself? Whatever your goal is, step towards it with determination. We’ll see you again in late Spring, with our annual publishing issue.

Shaleeta Harrison

Winter 2018 ◆ WordWorks ◆ Page 2

Visuals Editor & Cover Designer Chris Hancock Donaldson FBCW Board Advisor Ann Graham Walker Fiction Editor Andrea McKenzie Raine Poetry Editor Chelsea Comeau Guest Editor Ellen Niemer Cover Artist Bev Byerly, Views from the Courtenay Airpark Walk #80 © The Federation of British Columbia Writers 2018 All Rights Reserved

ISSN: 0843-1329 Submissions

Content of WordWorks Magazine is, with very occasional exceptions, provided by members of the Federation of BC Writers. If you would like to submit something, or if you have a story idea you would like to see included in WordWorks, please visit bcwriters.ca/wordworks/submit

Advertising

WordWorks is pleased to advertise services and products that are of genuine interest to writers. Space may also be provided to honour sponsors, whose generous contributions make it possible for the Federation of BC Writers to provide services to writers in BC. For information about advertising policies and rates, see bcwriters.ca/WordWorks/advertisers

Content

Editorial decisions are guided by the mandate of WordWorks as "BC’s Magazine for Writers", and its role as the official publication of the Federation of BC Writers. WordWorks will showcase the writing and poetry of FBCW members'; provide news and feature coverage of writing and writers in BC with an emphasis on writing techniques and the business of writing; carry news about the Federation of BC Writers, and its work supporting and advocating for writers.

Norma Kerby

Norma Kerby is a poet and writer based in Terrace, B.C. She has had articles published in NORTHWORD Magazine and BC Nature. Her poetry is published in journals, e-zines, and anthologies, most recently Fresh Voices (League of Canadian Poets), Big Pond Rumours, filllingStation, and Dreamland, as well as the anthologies Somewhere My Love (Subterranean Blues Poetry), WaterWorn, and Snow Feathers (Writers North of 54o). Norma is a dedicated resident of the northwest corner of British Columbia and writes to portray the landscapes and people which characterize this unique corner of Canada.

Sherry Conly

A Nanaimo resident and graduate of Vancouver Island University’s Creative Writing & Journalism program, Sherry writes for Boulevard Magazine-Central Island, Island Parent, Inspired Senior Living, and a handful of others. She is most inspired by the talents of British Columbia artists and musicians, and has a deep appreciation for the ability to reach others through the written word. You can see more of her writing at clippings.me/sherryconly#

Yvonne Blomer

Yvonne Blomer is the city of Victoria’s Poet Laureate from 2015-2018. Her most recent books include Refugium: Poems for the Pacific (editor, Caitlin Press, 2017), Sugar Ride: Cycling form Hanoi to Kuala Lumpur (Palimpsest Press, 2017) and As if a Raven (Palimpsest Press, 2014).

Yvonne won the Leaf Press chapbook contest in 2017…look for her new chapbook in 2018. www.yvonneblomer.com

Caroline Chojnacki

I’m an up and coming poet and writer; I’ve written and released a poetic album called Love Story by Lovely Caro, poems, articles published in Medium with AMI. In 2001 I received the Queen Elizabeth Secondary Best Scriptwriting and Directing award and donated three of my canvases to the union gospel mission in Vancouver BC. Inspired by theatre and visual arts, I have a background in art history and teaching English as a second language. As a tenant support worker, I housed impoverished individuals and encouraged them to regain their dignity. I’m originally from White Rock, BC. I lived in Toronto Ontario and Poland.

Barb Drozdowich

Social Media and Wordpress Consultant Barb Drozdowich has taught in colleges, universities and in the banking industry. More recently, she brings her 15+ years of teaching experience and a deep love of books to help authors develop the social media platform needed to succeed in today’s fast evolving publishing world. She delights in taking technical subjects and making them understandable by the average person. She owns Bakerview Consulting and manages the popular blog, Sugarbeat’s Books, where she talks about Romance novels. She is the author of 15 books, over 45 YouTube videos, an online Goodreads course and an online WordPress course, all focused on helping authors and bloggers. Barb lives in the mountains of British Columbia with her family.

Abby Addison

Abby Addison was born and raised in Nanaimo and grew up to develop a passion for writing and reading. She is a grade 12 high school student and is a dual-credit enrichment student taking courses at VIU towards her degree in psychology. She has always enjoyed academic writing and poetry and this is her first time being published.

Bev Byerley - Cover Artist

Born in Gimli, Manitoba, artist Bev Byerley became a resident of the Comox Valley as a child when her father was transferred to CFB Comox, on Vancouver Island. Bev’s parents recognized and encouraged her artistic talents at an early age, and at 8 years old they enrolled her in an adult painting class. Bev pursued her love of art through school and upon graduating from high school, she furthered her studies with an oil painting program at the Banff School of Fine Arts in Alberta. With plans to be a freelance illustrator Bev was then accepted in to the commercial arts program at Capilano College in North Vancouver. Upon completion Bev worked a short time with a designer downtown in Vancouver before moving back to the Comox Valley with her husband to raise a family. .Painting mostly in watercolours and experimenting with printmaking Bev then switched to acrylics to work bolder and on a larger scale. Her commitment to her individuality through the years has resulted in Bev developing a style uniquely her own. In her application of paint, the images and colours are shaped with an impressionistic influence capturing the essence of her subjects in flowing line and colour, while displaying a strong sense of balance and design.

Page 3 ◆ WordWorks ◆ Winter 2018

ANN GRAHAM WALKER

D

ear Writers in a new year—

There’s a lot of interesting things going on at the FBCW, but I have to admit right now I’m particularly excited about the Elder Project and Who We Are initiative. They are just entering the second year of a two-year grant we were happy to secure from the British Columbia Arts Council (thank you BCAC!). As you may know, Sooke poet Wendy Morton initiated the Elder Project in 2010.

She goes into a school over a period of two days, working with about a dozen students, and teaches them to do an interview and write a simple poem (that is day one). On day two the students are paired with a close elder that they interview to re-

trieve stories and drawing on that material they write a poem.

The chapbook Wendy makes from their poems is launched at a special reading attended by the elders, teachers and other students. It’s no exaggeration to say the experience is transforming for everyone—as well as being an important step in the honouring and preservation of heritage.

Wendy has produced nearly twenty of these chapbooks since 2010. Last year she received a meritorious service medal from the Governor General, and, just this past December, an Order of British Columbia, both largely in recognition of her authorship of the Elder Project. The FBCW is proud to have partnered with Wendy since 2016, providing funding

Winter 2018 ◆ WordWorks ◆ Page 4

and also helping to train volunteers, so that the Elder Project continues well into the future.

The Who We Are initiative is a slight variation we first piloted together at Chemainus Secondary School in April 2016. In a Who We Are project, rather than interviewing and writing a poem about an elder, diverse students are paired with each other, with the idea of bridging the divides that can separate kids in school corridors. Can you think of a better way to build empathy than to sit and listen to someone, and then to write a poem based on the story they’ve just told you?

In the Chemainus pilot project, indigenous and non-indigenous students were paired up.

We just repeated the exercise at Nanaimo District Secondary School, building on that diversity.

Really, with both the Elder Project and Who We Are, what is being developed is a very simple model of bringing diverse groups, generations, and cultures together—a model that can be picked up and applied in so many contexts, not just schools. I think an important part of the FBCW’s role with respect to these projects is not just securing the funding that makes them sustainable into the future, so Wendy can continue her excellent work but

also using our resources to get the message out. So people all over can know how it is done.

For me (and I’ve worked on these projects) it’s astonishing—but perhaps not that astonishing—the changes that come about when young people come together to write poems, perhaps for the first time, taking leaps of all kinds. It is really a privilege to witness their journey.

Because a couple of our projects have been in or near Nanaimo recently, we applied for a grant from the City of Nanaimo to take some of our young poets to read from their chapbook at the Port Theatre on April 4 (2018) kicking off Poetry Week. We got the grant! So mark that on your calendar if you can make it. Port Theatre.

April 4. Seven PM. The event is free. If you saw Elder Project students read at our AGM Gala last year, you’ll know this will be moving and too special to miss.

The Elder Project and Who We Are chapbooks are available digitally at bcwriters.ca and at theelderproject.com.

Kind Regards, Ann Graham Walker President, FBCW president@bcwriters.ca

MEMBERS'

CORNER

SHALEETA HARRISON

* COMMUNICATIONS@BCWRITERS.CA

TODAY'S TOPIC: HOW TO PAY FOR YOUR MEMBERSHIP (WITH THIS NEW-FANGLED SYSTEM)

T

his section provides information about accessing and getting the most out of memberships. The topics are compiled from the most common problems and questions that we see. Let us know if you'd like something specific tackled!

WHY DO I NEED A WRITE-UP TO EXPLAIN THIS?

Great question! Honestly, you probably don't, but it's new, and it deserves an explanation. Once upon a time, all we had was an excel sheet, a mailbox, and a Paypal account. In the matter of a year, we've expanded to a member management program with every bell and whistle you can imagine, including emailed invoices and website logins. It's been a crazy, hectic year, and we want to make sure it makes sense to you.

SO WHY DID YOU MAKE IT MORE CHALLENGING?

Well, hopefully, it won't be more challenging. We're going to try to avoid that. The old system, frankly, no longer worked. It relied heavily on volunteers or the executive director to spend hours on it every day, and there was no system to remind people of membership renewal. Also, errors were beginning to be introduced into the file, changing the renewal dates, which caused more work for everyone, and a hassle for our members. This new system does everything for us—probably more than we need. It allows us to give out coupon codes, sends invoices and reminders, and works as a member directory. It has flaws (everything does) but it requires very little time and costs us less than one membership fee per month.

SO HOW DO I PAY FOR MY MEMBERSHIP NOW?

Instead of remembering your own due date, invoices and reminders are automatically sent to your email. About one month before your membership is due you'll receive an email letting you know the invoice will be sent soon. You're welcome to send a cheque if you'd like, or you can wait for the invoice to arrive in your inbox, and follow the directions within the email to have the payment processed immediately. We currently use Paypal to process all membership payments, but the payments can only be by credit card, or the aforementioned cheque. You do not need to log in to Paypal or have an account with them to use the system, but you do need to agree to their terms of use. We are considering switching from Paypal to Stripe.com, which is another reputable company, but it does not request you to log in or create an account unless you'd like to set up automated payments each year (a highly requested feature). If you forget to pay your membership, reminders will be sent periodically, and eventually, your membership will be automatically cancelled.

SO WHAT CAN'T THIS SYSTEM DO?

Surprisingly, it doesn't track age. That means if you age out of our regular memberships into our senior memberships, you'll need to let us know, and we'll make the change immediately. It also doesn't allow us to create and send invoices immediately, which means that if we make a change, you need to wait 7-14 days to get the new digital invoice in your inbox. Neither are earth-shattering problems, but they're worth noting.

Come back next issue to read about something else. and email me* any time if you have questions or problems!

Shaleeta Harrison

Page 5 ◆ WordWorks ◆ Winter 2018

BARB DROZDOWICH

W

ho the heck cares about Canadian publishers any longer?

That was my grumpy thought when I was encouraged to research the health of Canadian publishers. Really, in this climate of international sales and rising self-publishing, why should I, as a Canadian, care about publishers based in my country?

Shouldn’t we, as writers care more about conquering the Chinese market or making inroads into India?

Once I finished grumbling, I sat down in front of my computer and started searching; I made some phone calls and I chatted with a few Canadian writers and found out that I do care about Canadian publishers and you should as well.

One of the first articles I found in my search shared a quote from Michael Tamblyn, CEO of Rakuten Kobo when he was speaking at the Economist’s Canada Summit “Being Canadian mean[s] that we are comfortable with the idea that books are more than just things to be sold, more than just units or ‘content.’ They are the container of a country’s dreaming, its stories and arguments

Winter 2018 ◆ WordWorks ◆ Page 6

and history, its most dangerous suggestions and serious thought.”

Canadian Council grants, provincial arts money, and other sources of money from various levels of government allow Canadian publishers to keep Canadian culture alive without having to make a profit on every book. As a Canadian, I join my fellow citizens in my desire to celebrate what makes us all Canadian—to be able to read a story set in Newfoundland or leaf through a coffee table book of native art.

These stories and books are probably not the next Harry Potter, but they are books and stories that are important to Canadians.

As I chatted, I found that there is more to Canadian publishers than I was aware of.

My friend Maia Caron’s recent release Song of Batoche published by Ronsdale Press is an example of a book largely based on Canadian history. On the surface, perhaps mainly suited to a Canadian audience—but apparently not so given the copies that have been sold outside of Canada. In fact, my study of her Canadian publisher’s website had me making a few phone calls to

other Canadian publishers. They were happy to share stories about their authors. Some are award winners—both Canadian awards as well as International awards—and certainly, those names were the first to be shared, but I also heard stories of Indiginous and Metis writers whose culturally sensitive work was published with pride. There were stories of niche books that would not necessarily find an international market but were important to publish to a Canadian audience.

When asked about where their books were sold, many I spoke to mentioned books being sold in the US or in Europe with high percentages of sales being outside of Canada, but a repeating theme in my conversations was the Internet and Amazon bringing the world to Canada. Many Canadian books are finding homes in far-flung places like China and India. Places that weren’t a significant marketplace not so many years ago.

So how are Canadian publishers doing?

In their modest, Canadian way, they respond with “Just fine, thanks.”

YVONNE BLOMER An accessible poem is just an advertisement for a poem, while a good difficult one is a proof, a demonstration of the wildness available within the domesticated urges of our language —Jacob McArthur Mooney, Best Canadian Poetry in English, 2015.

I

’ve just stumbled onto this quote from Jacob McArthur Mooney, and I place it here to take a stand with what he says, and to add to it that a difficult poem is also a deeper poem, a worthwhile feat and perhaps even a truer poem.

But what do we mean when we think of “going deeper in poetry”?

Vancouver poet Miranda Pearson suggests ways to deepen her engagement with the world and her work. Miranda suggest, “Being in nature. Meditation.

Not drinking alcohol. Looking at visual art. Reading/ and or listening to poetry especially if it’s dissimilar to mine. Taking notes always.”

Yes! These are ways to deepen the thought process, to open the mind, to delve into the language of others, especially when it is different to our own. To come to poetry via research. I would call these aspects of going deeper research. Research involves not only using the internet, searching, seeking and reading but using our own bodies and senses. This is the poet at work, opening the door and through the poem, leaving it open for a reader to enter.

Poetry is often a form of writing one creates out of emotion but not all writing created when we feel happy or sad or excited is automatically poetry, even if we break it into lines.

So what makes a poem?

A poem is an art form based in a careful and crafted use of language. It is formed from an idea, image or feeling and is precise and specific while being universal. A poem is a finely crafted magic spell that shifts what magic might be cast depending on who reads it. Poetry is also musical. There is a focus on Page 7 ◆ WordWorks ◆ Winter 2018

the sound of words and how words are broken into lines to give further meanings within lines and within and between sentences. It uses rhyme and repetition so that the power of repeated sound builds through a poem. It uses comparisons, simile and metaphor, to create links between images and ideas.

Wordsworth, who took long walks to compose said, “[poetry] takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquility.” By tranquility what Wordsworth perhaps means is some passage of time so that the emotion has time to settle into metaphor and the person experiencing that emotion has time to gain some insight through distance. Not the emotion captured in its peak and written into lines, but recaptured at a later time, recreated through the tools of poetry—language, metaphor, music and the line.

Tanis MacDonald, Associate Professor at Wilfred Laurier University and poet, says, “Accessible poetry doesn't make me cringe, but sometimes I think beginning poets need something to challenge them to do it differently, to save them from endless arbitrary line breaks. Language play is good, and so is working with form, or a constraint of some kind.”

Freedom through form is such an important idea in poetry. Often a subject too large or hard to enter can be entered through some restrictions, such as those offered by classical forms such as a sonnet or triolet. The constraint of form occupies the poet’s logical brain and lets the poem emerge from a different place.

In parallel to working on this article for WordWorks I’ve also been working on a new poem. Everything I am speaking to here, I am experiencing (again) through the process of entering this new poem.

The poem I am working on is about elephants, cloning, and it will touch on my mother’s death. I am hoping to capture, through the lyric, the idea that when the elephants are all gone, we will have a deep loss paired with the potential to clone. If we begin to clone humans, which would the character in my poem rather bring back—elephants or her mother?

Right away there is so much material and I feel seized by doubt.

I recently edited an anthology of poems titled ReWinter 2018 ◆ WordWorks ◆ Page 8

fugium: Poems for the Pacific. One of the most common features of pieces I didn’t select were that the poems faltered under the weight of their subject —THE GREAT PACIFIC— . The Pacific is too overwhelmingly large for some of the poems. The poems became sentimental, moody, and vague.

In an online discussion, Victoria poet Barbara Pelman and Tanis MacDonald explored accessibility and vagueness. Tanis’s students have been talking about this new phrase, “keeping it vague so it will be relatable” and/or “keeping it vague enough that it can mean anything.” In response, Barbara recalled an education student who said that all poetry is subjective.

The student gave a mini-lesson and told her students, “all responses are correct.” To which Barbara asks, “So why does a poet try hard to convey an idea, a mood, a feeling, if anything goes?”

Depth, for me has a lot to do with specificity.

With the specific kind of tree and a specific kind of bird in it. With an exact bank of a river and an exact animal fishing for an exact kind of fish from it. Not always, of course, there are few hard and fast rules, but when the poet doesn’t use a specific kind of tree, there should be a reason.

The poem that comes to mind for me is “Lying in a Hammock at William Duffy’s Farm in Pine Island, Minnesota” by the American poet James Wright. The title alone has such specificity of objects and place and action that before entering the poem we are located and situated. The poem opens with these lines: Over my head, I see the bronze butterfly, Asleep on the black trunk, blowing like a leaf in green shadow.

In these opening lines we get specific objects in the world, paired with light and colour so that the objects have symbolic power. We get vulnerability in that butterfly asleep on the black trunk. We get light and darkness and we know from the title that we have an observer to all of this and he is a specific person in a very specific place. The objects and place are specific but the sentiment is universal.

Going deeper in poetry has a lot to do with sitting with our complicated world and figuring out how to put things together. How to create symbols and metaphors in a poem so that it is both specific and universal.

Research is a hugely important way to gain information and to enter the precise language and rich metaphors through the facts and language of the topic. Through research I have learned that there is about a 9.4% success rate in bringing extinct species back to life through cloning. Research also pulls me into the unique vernacular of the subject of cloning and in that language puns and metaphors reside. My work is to find and create them.

As I struggle to get started with this poem, I find a few things drifting through my thoughts, a list of possible ways to go deeper: 1. The need for time. The quiet space James Wright creates in his poem feels like it is created in solitude and over time.

2. The need to trust yourself—that is, let yourself be compelled to write

the poem. Forget the laundry or dishes. Let yourself sit in the space and silence you have created.

3. That poetry matters and that you are doing the deep thinking that a reader will be able to enter. Poetry is an act of communication and thoughtful communication matters.

That when in doubt, turn to the masters, turn to other poets.

4. Pull in metaphor. Metaphor is the life-blood of poetry, while the line is its arterial system. Metaphor allows for the poem to have layers of meaning and to go deeper because it allows for shift and play in meaning.

5. Finally, know that you may not pick up on all the layers in your own poem, but a reader may. A reader will bring their own specific knowledge to your poem and add to it.

the mind to gain perspective from the emotional thing or event. They need research, including being in the body. They need the community of other writers and their work to dip into when lost, and they need to trust themselves to keep going. They also need to allow a poem to be complicated and difficult and not fear the hard work of a rich poem.

If we want brain candy, we can watch TV or play with our pets. If we want to enter another’s chiseled and shaped thoughts, we can go to a poem. We can return to the same poem over and over again and find new things in it and new responses in us.

In conclusion, to go deep, poets need the long walk (the senses) and time to allow

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Page 9 ◆ WordWorks ◆ Winter 2018

ABBY ADDISON

T

he “Who I Am” project gave students a chance to step out of their comfort zones, get to know students they may not have met otherwise, and gain an understanding of others. It allowed them to gain a new perspective of people and how their past experiences affect their actions and feeling. Students were assigned a partner and after a few warm-up exercises, and interviews, wrote a poem about the other person and their lives. Everyone in the room had different levels of knowledge of poetry and even those who thought they weren't particularly creative found it easy to write with the help of warm-ups and instruction.

Students had to reflect on who they were and how they saw things through the warm-up poetry exercises. The first exercise involved choosing one photo out of a pile, and then using magnet words to make a poem reflecting what you thought of that photo. The next exercise was 10 lines starting with “I

Winter 2018 ◆ WordWorks ◆ Page 10

am...”. This got the students thinking about who they are so they can learn about who others are. Who we define ourselves as affects us every day, and affects the decisions we make.

When interviewing they found similarities and differences in each other as was hoped by Michelle; “Understanding that there are others who are similar in some ways and different in ways, getting empathy for other people”. One pair of students found that “Our dreams and goals are similar but our childhood is definitely different”. Students found that by understanding where someone came from they can better understand who they are and how they act.

One student says that “It will make me think about other people's backgrounds and I may not see them for who they are now but how they got there”.

Students found the questions quite personal but they found most relatively easy to answer. They were also nervous with sharing their poetry with a

room full of people they didn’t know but as the day moved forward, they became very comfortable with sharing with those around them. “Some [questions] were a bit difficult but for the most part it was easy”, said Kaitlyn.

Wendy Morton, the poetry instructor, points out that “First nations students are often isolated from other students”. And the staff was hoping that this would give students a chance to meet people outside of their groups.

One pairing of students pointed out that it is not an active “we don't want to talk to them because they are aboriginal” but instead also has to do with where students live, who lives around them and the

schools they go to. They also observed that many students have their own friend groups and don't particularly like to stray from that.

Students got to know everyone at their table whether or not they are partners with them. Most students thought that if they weren't a part of this project then they never would've met their partners.

They were pushed out of their comfort zone and really had the chance to reflect on themselves. After beginning the project and after they got to know everyone and hear others poetry they began to become comfortable with sharing, and many said that it was a fun experience that they would do again.

JOIN US

May 11th - 13th, 2018 Prestige Harbourfront Resort Salmon Arm, BC

Presenters:

15th

Anniversary

Arthur Black Jack Whyte Jacqueline Guest Grant Lawrence C. C. Humphreys Sheri-D Wilson

on the

Lake

Writers’ Festival

Whatever level of writer you may be, you’ll want to be part of this inspiring weekend on the shores of spectacular Shuswap Lake Expect to be encouraged, informed and thoroughly entertained.

Ian Weir Howard White (Harbour Publishing)

James Murray Patricia Donahue Victor Anthony Check website for updates

Find out what these published authors and industry professionals can do for you.

Register at: www.wordonthelakewritersfestival.com

Page 11 ◆ WordWorks ◆ Winter 2018

WILD WEST POETRY TOUR BY TRAIN, FERRY, AND BUS NORMA KERBY

W

ild ideas sometimes take root and grow in unexpected ways.

When David Brydges, a poet from Cobalt, Ontario, suggested that poets from the first ever Jasper Poetry Festival continue on by train to Prince Rupert, BC Ferries to Port Hardy, and bus to Nanaimo, FBCW members in northern B.C. took note. Here could be an opportunity for local poets to meet writers from other parts of Canada. What happened was beyond everyone's expectations.

David Brydges' guiding dream is to bring poetry to the people. As such, he has been involved in organizing a number of interesting events, such as the annual Cobalt Poetry Festival and the 2015 Poetrain from Winnipeg to Jasper. The 2017 festival was to be a continuation of the success of 2015,

Winter 2018 â—† WordWorks â—† Page 12

but with a number of northern B.C. twists.

With the help of FBCW members along the travel route, local writers would be given the opportunity to participate with the travelling poets, readings would be given in a number of unusual venues, and audiences would include many who normally do not have the opportunity to hear poetry.

After taking a van from Jasper to Prince George due to Via Rail's scheduling calamities, five poets from Jasper, including B.C.'s Dennis Reid, joined two FBCW members, Barb Robin and Norma Kerby, in Prince George. The pop-up poetry event on the Via Rail trip from Prince George to Prince Rupert filled the lounge car and included some young German tourists who were so enthusiastic, one of them presented her own poems in German.

At Prince Rupert, Jean Rysstad, a

well-known northern writer, and FBCW member, organized two amazing events.

The first, held at Northwest Community College, mixed poetry with local musicians and songwriters. In addition to the travelling poets, eleven poets from Terrace and Prince Rupert, including a fourteen-yearold poet from the local high school, read their works. In the evening, thirteen local poets joined the Wild West poets in a music and poetry jam at a popular coffee shop.

On the basis of the success of the events, enthusiasm is now strong in Prince Rupert to once again start a writers group, which has been minus in the community for several years. These two poetry readings also brought together a number of writers who were not aware of each other's interests.

Some important conversations have been started.

From Prince Rupert, four of the poets continued on by BC Ferries to Port Hardy.

Despite a wet, stormy trip, poetry prevailed.

In a well-attended reading, interrupted only by the sounds of docking at Bella Bella, tourists, crew members, and regular northern passengers joined the poets for an enthusiastic happening. According to one staff member, this was the first time that a poetry reading had been held on the Northern Adventure ferry. She encouraged the group to approach other poets about applying to BC Ferries to do poetry and reading events on their vessels.

From the landing at Port Hardy, it was an all-day bus ride with Tofino Bus Ltd. to Nanaimo, where Ann Graham Walker, FBCW President, arranged a writers' meet and greet at a well-known restaurant. Poetry and good food are natural companions.

Page 13 â—† WordWorks â—† Winter 2018

Despite the challenges of a noisy venue, meaningful exchanges were made between local and travelling writers.

Are festivals like this, with pop-up poetry events in strange places, important in encouraging the general public to have an interest in the creative word? We were very surprised as to the enthusiasm with which our readings were greeted, and the number of people who attended, across a wide spread of ages and backgrounds.

When asked why they had come, most members of our audiences said that they enjoy poetry and like to hear the authors present their own works. With much of the poetry directly relating to the Canadian landscape and people, some of the most enthusiastic audience members were tourists from Europe, Australia, and New Zealand.

They were very pleased to have this bonus added to their travel adventures.

One of the important

suggestions arising out of the Wild West Poetry Festival was that both the train and the ferry offered interesting venues for both readings and writing workshops. Authors often are isolated from the general public. Trains and ferries offer the chances to bring spoken word directly to non-standard audiences. They also offer spaces in

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CONTENT MILLS—A LEG UP, A NECESSARY EVIL, OR SOMETHING TO BE AVOIDED ENTIRELY? SHERRY CONLY

W

e’ve all seen it—poorly written content splashed across suspect web sites meant to draw attention to e-commerce sites. Content Mills are pretty well the dollar store of the writing world— low on price, lower on quality. They also have notoriously very poor rates for working writers.

I did a little investigative work a few months back, wanting to get a feel for the process, the expectations, and whether these are legitimate opportunities for writers. I won’t name names, but in my vain search for the holy grail of content writing gigs, I applied for one that seemed to be in my wheelhouse, listed as a realty content writing opportunity (spoiler alert—it wasn’t.) The process was tedious. They wanted a detailed list of qualifications, portfolio pieces, multiple writing tests, and on-the-fly writing samples. One particular day, I sat down and completed a bundle of tasks for one “mill”. It took about 3 hours, and when I was done, I was told that I was overqualified to write for the $0.02/word matrix, but to try for the higher standards content, which paid about $0.08/word.

Slow clap. To qualify for that, I was required to have

experience as a journalist at some pretty high profile publications like the New York Times. With no middle ground to stand on, I removed myself from the equation.

Another time, I went back and forth with a small business owner for a few months. In the end, he chose to work with a third party, who would contract writers for minimal expense (ie. a mill). He wanted quality content for his e-commerce site, but it just wasn’t in his budget to hire locally.

Mike Calvert had a similar experience. Now a VIU Instructor and MPUB candidate at Simon Fraser University, he once applied to write for Rotowire, an online sports news site that many of the baseball/ football/hockey pool sites gather information from.

"Great experience," they said. "Looks good on the resume," they said. "Oh, and by the way, you don't get paid to write these news updates," they said. Mike declined their generous offer of breaking into the biz.

It doesn’t take long to see that writing is an undervalued craft. Do a search on Indeed, Monster,

Page 15 ◆ WordWorks ◆ Winter 2018

Contena, or Upwork to look up some examples and you’ll see that many companies want top quality, well-researched, scientifically solid, and gut-busting copy for rock bottom prices.

Why do they expect this, and how can we avoid these pitfalls in the quest to build a stellar freelance portfolio?

I want to emphasize that these mills may have their place for someone who is just starting out. However, they’ve shown me what I will and will not settle for, and to keep aiming higher. They’ve also shown me not to waste precious pitching, writing, and administrative time looking for the golden egg. They’re a decent way to learn how to gain confidence and experience, and really can function as a path to knowing what you really love to write about.

I think that right there is the main perk.

How many jobs have you worked where you kind of slogged through it, wanting to feel passionate for the line of work, but knowing deep down you never would? When you have the opportunity to write for multiple websites on a plethora of topics, you may just find that subject matter that makes you grab your (formerly sleeping, now quite annoyed cat) and say, “wow! I’d do this for free!” Now, if you’re on a typical content mill payroll, you’re probably already doing it for close to free, but I digress.

Once you’ve had your “wow” moment, and detached kitty claws from your thighs, you can bundle up your new-found confidence and excitement, and go and pitch to the big guns. If you’re writing, even for pennies, you’re not just sitting around wondering what your niche may be. You’re actively working towards unearthing it, while improving your typing speed, the rate at which you can churn out content, and your comfort with the larger world of writing for

Winter 2018 ◆ WordWorks ◆ Page 16

the web.

Wow moment aside, the key here is to maintain top quality. Don’t fall into the trap of slapping together words, relying on lazy writing habits. You want content that you would be proud to include in your portfolio. On that note, if you’re able to find a “mill” that will give you a byline, that’s a valuable benefit that could very well be the big break you need.

Sites like Media Shower use a guest blogging model, so contributors can link their Google Plus profiles for extra visibility.

This way, potential clients can find you directly, and if your writing style resonates with them, you could wind up with an amazing contract. Another benefit is that you learn to write fast, like Stephen King 2000-words-per-day-fast. You will also tend to memorize style and voice, which is going to help with imitating the style of a client you have your eyes on, making your pitches absolutely glow with intelligence and charisma.

Chances are, by the time you’ve dug yourself out of the trenches of the mill, you’ve mastered the art of research, finding sources, crushing deadlines, and generating ideas. Combine all this with networking outside of the mills, and your efforts will pay off.

This has been the case for Ashton Mwende Rodenhiser, owner of Mind’s Eye Creative. Ashton’s speciality is graphic recording and she is wildly talented.

As with writing, she transforms complex ideas into simpler solutions, only she uses both images and words to do so. Ashton has been on both sides of the coin on sites like Upwork, using it both to find clients, and to hire help for her booming business. “I have mixed feelings because I do see a lot of low paying assignments,” she says, “but the people I’ve been talking to are from larger companies and value the relation-

ship and quality of the work. It takes some digging, but there are some decent opportunities there.”

Ashton knows how important it is to ignore the price point and work to negotiate a proper rate of pay. “Unless they have specified otherwise,” she says, “usually, it’s up for negotiation. If it’s not the right price point though, move on, it’s fine. There will be another.”

Price aside, it’s also important to note that if you’re asked to write content that you feel morally opposed to, that pretty much nullifies any of the above benefits and you may do better to proactively market yourself to non-profits, or your favourite charities.

You’ll still be working for low pay, but you will gain valuable experience writing for a cause that you are proud to be a part of.

You can also bypass the whole content mill drama by starting a blog of your own, or contributing to local newspapers and magazines. They are often looking for freelance writers to cover any

gaps during the busy times, and over time, that relationship will grow, bringing with it more opportunities and referrals. Opinions about content mills are mixed, but the overarching opinion seems to be that writing for these word factories is a short term solution, a transition stage to translate your stellar skill set into a well-paying career.

1.

Pick a mill that gives you a byline, and try to stick with mills that give readers a way to find you directly.

2. Always do high-quality work. You never know who’s reading those quick, piecemeal posts.

3. Keep marketing to real clients. Remember that they’re just people like you. Your goal should be to move up and not have to use the mill anymore.

Page 17 ◆ WordWorks ◆ Winter 2018

CAROLINE CHOJNACKI

T

rain to pitch black.

Learning how to walk was not something I thought I would do again.

I remember it was winter in Oregon. The coldest and the wettest winter. I decided to take a train up to Vancouver, they had seat sales in December, and I did not want to remember that I was alone.

I was excited about this journey; I packed my favorite reindeer socks. I bought them from Sears, from my last visit up to Canada back in 1990.

I drove down to Portland Oregon, to catch the 6:45 am boarding.

I remember seeing a family getting on, a young girl about three years old getting on to the train smiled at me. Her eyes were glowing, and she kept saying.

“Train, we're goin on tha train.”

I got into my cabin, small but comfortable.

I heard the little girl squealing for joy; she must be next to my cabin. I unpacked my dress and my Christmas sweaters that I bought down in the thrift shops.

Winter 2018 ◆ WordWorks ◆ Page 18

am.

The train departed from Portland around 7:15

I went to the viewing cabin and waited for my turn for breakfast; I got the 9:00 am; The middle slot.

The snow was wet but weighted sticking to the sides of the windows. The staff decorated the train with holly, and some goofy Santa ornaments.

I remember hearing my stomach grumble, all I ate that morning was a mini cinnamon bun I had left in the fridge from a week before.

I looked at my watch it was 8:25 am. The snow was thick on the windows it was like icing on a cake, dripping so delightfully.

And just at that moment, I forgot I wanted to take pictures, so I went back to my cabin to get my camera.

As I walked down the narrow hallway, I was behind the little girl all tuckered out in her dad’s arms; he was carrying her to their room.

I unzipped my bag, and I was just about to grab my camera when all of a sudden I felt a rush.

Everything was cracking and crumbling, and my cabin was getting smaller and smaller. I saw glass shards and snow dancing around my hands as my camera flew and the flash went off.

And then everything went black.

Awake I woke up in Hillsboro Oregon at the Kaiser Westside Medical Center. I was one of the many of survivors of the train heading to Vancouver that day.

It must have been the day before Christmas, I woke up to a children’s choir staged outside of the hospital, and I could hear the echo of “Silent Night” resonating in my room.

I looked at my legs and saw they were bandaged up. My hands were red, and purple, wrapped with gauze. I did not want to see my face, for I could tell it was not going to be pretty. My face felt heavy, and I could see the puffy sides of my eyelids between my eyes.

I heard the little girl squealing again, I thought oh good she made it, she must be next to my room. I called for the nurse, to ask if I could see her.

The nurse came in and was happy to see I was awake.

“You’re awake, just like your doctor predicted. You were out for five days; he said no longer than a week. I will let him know, and he will tell you about your recovery and answer any other questions you might have.”

I quickly asked as she was about to dart out of my room.

“The little girl, is she ok?”

The nurse looked at me and smiled, “We don’t have any children on this floor; most of the children went to a hospital further south. Ya, so, we only have 176 beds.

Sorry.”

I replied, “Oh, I thought I heard a girl squealing?”

“Most likely a visitor.” She said with a warm smile and then left.

The doctor told me that I was one of the lucky ones, as most of the people in the cabins did not survive or they had a longer recovery.

Then my physiotherapist came in, and she said I would be seeing a lot of her and that with a lot of will, and work I will walk again, she said I’m one of the Christmas miracles.

Born Again It was middle of January, and I was holding myself up on the treadmill. My feet were barely moving below me, but I finally could hold myself up again.

The struggle and motivation that was surging in me is something I never experienced before; I wanted to live, I wanted to try again.

Is this what it was like when I was a baby? Eagerly fighting to stand up in my mother’s arms, and hold my self up along the edge of the couch.

Was I starting all over again? Was I given a second chance?

I reflected about my age and how I was 38 years old; I had no family, my mother and father died in a car accident when I was 17 years old. I did not want to feel the loss like I did, so I kept to myself and lived life alone.

But as I was learning to walk again, I found a sense of urgency; the will to love and be loved filled me. I was consistently seeing that little girl’s face in my dreams, her smile was infectious, and I hoped she was alive.

She became my motivation, to walk and to get out of the hospital so I could find her. I needed to know she was alive. I needed another miracle; my miracle was not enough.

Search At the end of Spring, I searched for her in the news articles that piled up that year about the accident; there was still no evidence found as to why the train slipped from the tracks and crashed.

I was using a walker to get around, and every day I felt I was getting stronger. I knew the walker would be temporary and soon I would be able to walk freely again.

I signed up to an online dating site, hoping to meet someone for the first time. I never had a boyfriend or owned a cat. I made a plan, for next summer, to go to the local shelter to buy my first pet.

Life was not as scary anymore, and my sense of purpose to find the little girl was a new challenge.

I had to find her, so I called all the local hospitals and asked if they could tell me if on December 19th a little girl from the Portlands train wreck was brought in. But no one could answer my question, and to search with out a name was not easy for the busy secretaries.

I was avoiding the obituary list, but I thought I should check.I took a deep breath as I saw two people aged in their mid-thirties with the same last name; was it her parents?

The surname was “Brahnam.” So I called the hospitals again looking for a little girl with the last name Brahnam.

Discovery “Hello, I’m looking for a little girl named Brahnam, she was admitted on December 19th…”

“Sorry, mam, who are you looking for?”

“A little girl. Um, her last name’s Brahnam.”

“Yea sounds familiar, hold on… yep, she was admitted on December 19. Says here she’s now in foster care. Are you a relative?

Our Social worker was looking for next of kin, she had no luck, something about the little girl not having ID.” The idea of lying and saying yes was just repeating over and over in my head. Should I lie and say I’m a cousin?

I did not like the idea of foster care. I could not imagine after the death of my parents what it would be like if they placed me in a home with strangers. But I would be a stranger to her. Oh, Screw it!

Page 19 ◆ WordWorks ◆ Winter 2018

“Mam, are you there? Are you somehow related to Maribel Brahnam?”

“Yes I’m here. Um, yes I am her cousin, I was on that train.”

Maribel, what a beautiful name. I’m glad she told me her name, I don’t know what I would have said if they asked me.

“That’s great news, I will give you the social worker’s contact information; all our staff will be happy to hear the news. Hold for a few secs.”

I somehow felt guilty, but then I remembered Maribel’s smile and her joy. I also remembered my pain. I wanted to be there for her and help her heal.

Maribel, Merry bell.

After a few weeks of filling out paper work, and getting away with saying, “Her birthday? Geez, I don’t know. It was my first time meeting her on the train. I lost my parents at a young age, it was my first time meeting my cousin and her family, kinda like a reunion.”

It astounded me that the social worker did not ask further questions, and she just took me to the house where she was staying.

The yellow door opened and a young Indian boy answered; the house was full of kids running around screaming and playing.

The social worker told the young boy whose name is Edmund,

Winter 2018 ◆ WordWorks ◆ Page 20

to get Jeneva.

Jeneva, came to the door and with a loud voice said, “Alright! everyone calm down and go to your rooms; mama needs to talk to our guests.”

The kids without haste got quieter and went to their rooms; except for Edmund he lingered in the kitchen and watched.

She gestured to the floral sofas and asked us to come in. Just as I was about to sit down, she abruptly said, “You here for Merry?”

I cleared my throat and corrected her, “Maribel.”

She gave me a coy smile and said, “She’s hiding behind the couch, packed and ready to leave.”

Two eyes peered from between the floral couches she was pressed against the wall, holding a small white bunny and a plastic bag full of some clothes.

I smiled at her, forgetting all the guilt I was holding on to, as I realized she was now my destiny.

&

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NEW WESTMINSTER

Gail Anderson-Dargatz, Overcoming Our Fears to Write Powerful Stories Our fears can stop us from finishing a book, or even starting it. We may feel we need to stick to writing only what we know, and write from personal experience, but then worry about what Mom will think. And we so often avoid our protagonist’s conflicts, for the same reasons we avoid our own. The result: passive protagonists and wandering storylines. Author and writing coach Gail Anderson-Dargatz will draw from more than twenty years of experience as a writer, teacher and developmental editor to explore the many ways we avoid conflict in our projects and our writing lives, and offer solutions that will help kickstart your writing and help you develop your project to the fullest.

Gail Anderson-Dargatz has been published worldwide in English and in many other languages. Many of her books are international bestsellers, and she has won some of Canada's most prestigious awards. Gail works with writers from around the world through her on-line teaching forums. She also hosts The Spawning Grounds Writers’ Retreat in October at the Sorrento Centre and the Providence Bay Writer’s Camp on Manitoulin Island, ON, in July. For more, please visit her website at www.gailanderson-dargatz.ca or follow her @AndersonDargatz.

JJ Lee, The Unexpected Memoir This workshop focuses on two exercises based on JJ's own experience writing memoir. The first exercise helps writers develop compelling questions that act as points of departure for their projects. The other exercise explores a method to recapture vital memories that may elude the writers.

JJ Lee is the author of THE MEASURE OF A MAN: The Story of A Father, A Son, and A Suit, which was a finalist for the Governor General's Award, the Charles Taylor Prize, the Hubert Evans BC Book Prize, and the Hilary Weston Writer's Trust Prize for Nonfiction. Lee served on the jury for the BC Book Prize, CBC Canada Writes, the Hilary Weston Writer's Trust Prize, and the Governor General’s Award. Lee mentors the nonfiction workshop at Simon Fraser University's The Writer's Studio. He lives in New Westminster. jj-lee.com/bio Rob Taylor, Associative Leaps in Poetry (and how to use them in your Prose) By looking at traditional poetic forms from around the world, participants will consider how we jump, as readers and writers alike, from one sound, image or scene to the next, and will explore ways to open up both their poetry and prose to greater movement and risk. This workshop will involve handouts and short writing exercises, so please come prepared with pen and pencil.

Rob Taylor is the author of the poetry collections “Oh Not So Great”: Poems from the Depression Project (Leaf Press, 2017), The News (Gaspereau Press, 2016) and The Other Side of Ourselves (Cormorant Books, 2011). Also a prose writer, Rob's short stories and essays have appeared recently in Queen’s Quarterly, The Dalhousie Review, Grain and Little Fiction/Big Truths. In 2015 he received the City of Vancouver’s Mayor’s Arts Award for Creative Writing (Emerging Artist), and in 2017 The News was a finalist for the Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize. Rob coordinates Vancouver's Dead Poets Reading Series and lives with his family in Port Moody.

Roberta Rich, Writing Historical Fiction: A Guided Hallucination into The Past The illusion of the past is created through: setting, dialogue, character, voice, syntax and, of course, research. A good historical novel is the best textbook for learning how.

Moving from present to past, I have been: a divorce lawyer, student, waitress, nurses’ aide, hospital admitting clerk, factory assembly line worker and child. I live in Vancouver, B.C. and in Colima, Mexico. I have one husband, one daughter, three step-children, a German Shepherd, tropical fish and many over sexed parakeets. When in Mexico, I nurture my husband, and my vanilla vines. When in Vancouver I try to keep dry. robertarich.com/ Winter 2018 ◆ WordWorks ◆ Page 22

BARB DROZDOWICH

W

hen my Bakerview Consuilting blog made TheWriteLife.com list called “100 Best Websites for Writers” this week, I was euphoric. It’s an important list, and that—aside from my ego being stroked—is why I’m sharing some info about this and other lists in WordWorks?

Why are online resource lists The Write Life’s important?

The biggest reason is to counterbalance misinformation—to provide ethical and accurate sources for writers. The Write Life list is an excellent example of a well-researched list, produced once a year, providing great sources of information.

Before we move on the “Why” question—as in “Why do we need these lists?”—I’ll mention five other credible sources of information for writers: The Writer’s Digest magazine (http:// writersdigest.com) also produces a list each year of reliable resources for authors.

Anne R. Allen (http://annerallen.com) Anne has been blogging since 2008 or 2009 and is the author of a dozen mysteries and a couple of non-fiction titles. She

blogs about things beginner authors need to know.

She covers topics ranging from craft, to blogging to Internet trolls. She has a massive audience and her information is clear and no nonsense.

The Creative Penn—Joanna Penn (https://www. thecreativepenn.com/) Joanna is a bestselling fiction author under the pen name of JE Penn - she writes action/adventure and thrillers. She also has a significant number of nonfiction titles focused at authors being business people.

Her blog posts a ton of well-researched articles focused at authors. She also has a very popular podcast.

Self-Publishing Formula (http://www. selfpublishingformula.com/) Mark Dawson and his group are knowledgeable and extremely helpful. From free webinars, to a weekly podcast full of actionable information to a website full of helpful resources, Mark’s site is wonderful.

The Alliance of Independent Authors (http:// allianceindependentauthors.com) and their blog (http://selfpublishingadvice.org) are also a wealth of information. They have a watchdog desk that reports Page 23 ◆ WordWorks ◆ Winter 2018

on unethical folks. They have a vetted list of partner members and a blog filled with all sorts of pearls of wisdom. ***** Let’s get back to the question of why writers need these sources of information.

Let’s face it, most writers are highly creative folks. They spin outstanding stories.

However, publishing in 2018 is a complex, multifaceted proposition that requires way more skills the just writing. From inspiration, and continuing long after ‘the end’ has been typed onto a manuscript, a writer will have to wear many different hats—some that don’t really fit all that well.

As writers, we don’t want to be spending time following poor advice or spending hard earned money on unnecessary products and services. As a beginner author it can be difficult to tell the good guys from the bad during the steep learning curve. Having ethical go-to sites for up to date information saves time and reduces frustration.

Publishing in 2018 is international.

With the presence of Amazon, Barnes &

Winter 2018 ◆ WordWorks ◆ Page 24

Noble, Kobo and iTunes, our books can be available for sale in pretty much every country of the world. With a smart phone and a Wi-Fi connection a reader can download a book and be reading in seconds.

The Internet makes it feasible for writers to “talk” to readers without leaving home.

Websites, newsletters, and social media like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram are today’s tools for communicating with readers. Just like learning the skill of creating compelling dialogue, or seamless transitions from one POV to another, learning the new tools of communication is easier when you are learning from knowledgeable folks.

I encourage you to bookmark the list from The Write Life. Grab yourself a coffee and a comfy chair and learn something new from one of the sites listed above. I’ll keep sharing information on my site that I hope is helpful to writers. Don’t hesitate to drop me a note with a topic you want me to blog about. Happy to help!

Below is a list of prizes, both for books and individual works. I won’t promise that this is a complete list, but I added as many as I could! If you have others, send them my way, and I’ll add them to the list. If you'd rather not type out all of these contests, feel free to go to the FBCW blog, where all of these links can be clicked on!

1. Man Booker Prize: Deadline March 9 The book must be published by a press or imprint in the UK, but it is open to Canadians themanbookerprize.com/ 2. Code's Burt Award for First Nations, Inuit & Metis Literature: Deadline March 31 This award recognizes excellence in Indigenous-authored literature for young adults. code.ngo/burt-award-canada 3. 2017 PWAC Awards: Deadline April 21 There are seven diverse awards given in writing, editing, and volunteer services pwac.ca/awards 4. City of Vancouver Book Award: Deadline May 19 An award for a book that contributes significantly to the city of Vancouver vancouver.ca/people-programs/submit-a-book.aspx 5. Cundill History Prize: Deadline June 1 This prize is for books of history published in English and grounded in scholarly research cundillprize.com 6. Griffin Poetry Prize: Deadline June 30 The worlds largest prize for a first edition single collection of poetry written in English griffinpoetryprize.com Page 25 ◆ WordWorks ◆ Winter 2018

7. Governor General's Literary Awards: Deadlines in March, June, July, and August This award is given to the best published Canadian Book in various language categories. canadacouncil.ca/funding/prizes/governor-generals-literary-awards

8. The Vancouver Writers Fest Adult & Youth Writing Contests: Deadline September 5 Two cash-prize contests with two categories each: Poetry and Creative Short Fiction writersfest.bc.ca/programs/writing-contests/adult-writing-contest/ 9. Writers' Trust Prizes & Awards: Deadlines Vary This prize recognizes exeptional writers in ten categories, including emerging writers, LGBT writers, political writing, and more. writerstrust.com/Awards/Rogers-Writers--Trust-Fiction-Prize 10. Winning Writers Contests: Poetry, Essays, Fiction, Books & More: Deadlines Vary These contests are sponsored by Winning Writers and have more than $20'000 in prizes winningwriters.com/our-contests/ 11. The RBC Taylor Prize: Deadline November 3 The prize commemorates Charles' Taylor's pursuit of excellence and has a $25'000 prize thecharlestaylorprize.ca/submissions.asp 12. CLA Young Adult Book Award & Book of the Year for Children Award: Deadline November 30 This award recognizes an author of an outstanding english language Canadian book written for youth, and the best childrens book cla.ca/cla-at-work/awards/young-adult-book-award/ 13. The Donner Prize: Deadline November 30 This award is for the best public policy book by a Canadian Writer. The grand prize is $50'000, and all nominated titles receive $7'500 donnerbookprize.com/ 14. BC Book Prizes (7 categories) & the Lieutenant Governor’s Award for Literary Excellence: Deadline December 1 Thes prizes were established in 1985, and celebrate the achievements of BC Writers and Publishers. bcbookprizes.ca 15. The Arthur Ellis Award for Excellence in Canadian Crime Writing: Deadline December 15 The Arthur Ellis Awards have eight categories related to crime writing available each year, some with large cash prizes. crimewriterscanada.com/awards 16. Norma Fleck Award for Canadian Children’s Non-Fiction: Deadline December 15 This $10'000 Norma Fleck Award is the largestof its kind in Canadian children's books , and it's a prestigious literary prize. bookcentre.ca/programs/awards/norma-fleck-award-for-canadian-childrens-non-fiction/ 17. TD Canadian Children’s Literature Award: Deadline December 15 There is a total of $80'000.00 available to be won in this category, split into two grand prizes and eight honor prizes. bookcentre.ca/programs/awards/td-canadian-childrens-literature-award/ 18. Geoffrey Bilson Award for Historical Fiction for Young People: Deadline December 15 This is an annual award created in Geoffrey Bilson's honour in 1988, and the prize was increased to $5'000 in 2008. bookcentre.ca/programs/awards/geoffrey-bilson-award-for-historical-fiction-for-young-people/ 19. John Spray Mystery Award: Deadline December 15 This award honours excellence in the mystery book genre, and carries a cash prize of $5'000 bookcentre.ca/programs/awards/john-spray-mystery-award/ 20. Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award: Deadline December 15 Established in 2006, this award honours excellence in the illustrated picture book format, with a cash prize of $20'000 Winter 2018 ◆ WordWorks ◆ Page 26

bookcentre.ca/programs/awards/marilyn-baillie-picture-book-award/ 21. Amy Mathers Teen Book Award: Deadline December 15 This award honours excellence in teen/young adult fiction with a cash prize of $5'000 bookcentre.ca/programs/awards/amy-mathers-teen-book-award/ 22. Okanagan Short Story Contest: Deadline December 29 Open to all residents of the southern interior of BC, this contests accepts unpublished works of fiction from 1000-4000 words fccs.ok.ubc.ca/news-events/ongoing/short-story.html 23. Leacock Medal Award: Deadline December 31 This award is accompanied by a $15'000 prize and has been awarded since 1947 for the best Canadian book of literary humour leacock.ca 24. James Knudsen Prizes for Fiction & Poetry: Deadline January 1 Two prizes offered by Bayou Magazine, each offering a prize of $1000, and a subscription to the magazine. bayoumagazine.org/writing-contests/fiction-contest-guidelines/ 25. Magazine Awards, Writing Awards: Deadline January 20 This award recognizes excellence by Canadian magazine writers. Cash prizes and certificates are available to be won magazine-awards.com/index.php?ci_id=1746&la_id=1 26. The ReLit Awards: Deadline January 30 This award was founded to acknowledge the best new work released by an independent publisher therelitawards.blogspot.ca 27. The Sunburst Award for Excellence in Canadian Literature of the Fantastic: Deadline January 31 The Award is a juried award which celebrates exceptional writing in three categories: adult, young adult and short story sunburstaward.org/ 28. The Word Guild, Word Awards: Deadline January 15 With ten very diverse categories, the Word Awards provide many opportunities to Christian writers thewordguild.com/ 29. Scotia Bank Giller Prize: Deadline February 15 The Giller prize recognizes excellence in Canadian Fiction—long format or short stories—with a cash prize of $25'000 scotiabankgillerprize.ca/about/submissions/

Page 27 ◆ WordWorks ◆ Winter 2018

Imprint: A Memoir of Trauma in Puzzle of Pieces the Third Generation Claire Sicherman Caitlin Press, December 2017 ISBN: 9781987915570, $22.95

NEW TITLES BY FEDERATION OF BC WRITERS MEMBERS If you are an FBCW member with a newly published book, (self or traditionally published) let us know! We'd be happy to promote it here.

Books from the past 6 months are given priority, but we are happy to promote older books if there is room. Books may only be promoted in Launched once each.

Winter 2018 ◆ WordWorks ◆ Page 28

Imprint is a profound and courageous exploration of trauma, family, and the importance of breaking silence and telling stories. When her son almost died at birth and her grandmother passed away, something inside of Claire Sicherman snapped. Her body, which had always felt weighed down by unknown hurt, suddenly suffered from chronic health conditions.

Sicherman grew up reading Anne Frank and watching Schindler’s List with almost no knowledge of the Holocaust's impact on her specific family. Though most of her ancestors were murdered in the Holocaust, Sicherman's grandparents didn't talk about their trauma and her mother grew up in Communist Czechoslovakia completely unaware she was even Jewish. Now a mother herself, Sicherman uses vignettes, epistolary style, and other unconventional forms to explore the intergenerational transmission of trauma, about the fact that genes can be altered and carry memories, which are then passed down—a genetic imprinting.

Sicherman weaves together a story that not only honours her ancestors but offers the truth to the next generation and her now nine-year-old son.

A testimony of the connections between mind and body, the past and the present, Imprint is devastatingly beautiful—ultimately a story of love and survival.

Sally Hill Brouard Friesen Press, November 2017 ISBN: 978153203251, $18.99 When I started writing this story, I didn’t want the story to be so much about a mystery or a crime as it was about human nature and what drives a person to do the things they do. A common thread in a life in our society is that we all do at least one act that changes our life forever, like a rite of passage or a point of no return. While there is a crime and some mystery in this story, it’s not the whole story.When we judge ourselves to have done something wrong, we often punish ourselves in any number of ways. We try to rationalize the act so we can live with it. And, in the end, how we come to terms with our conscience, the universe and maybe even a God if we have one. I have tried to make this story about a journey of the human spirit and all the things that go into making each of us so perfectly human. For more information about the book, to make any comments, or to find where the book is available, please visit: www.sallybrouard.com

Can't Buy Me Love Martin Humphries Self-published, November 2017 ISBN: 9780995944404, $0.99

In this first volume, a girl in trouble needs a wealthy man while a gay man with money needs someone to help him hide his troubled past. It's a match made in heaven where love is not required.

Can't Buy Me Love is a coming of age tale and the first volume in ‘The Cost of Loving' trilogy that runs from the swinging sixties to the beginning of the AIDS epedemic. It's a wild, bittersweet and pulse-racing ride that keeps all 1,400 pages turning in its wake.

Written by first time author, Martin Humphries, who resides quietly on Gabriola Island, but lives an exciting life vicariously through his well-defined and fascinating cast of characters. He is busy working on more books to add to the series.

For more information and a link to the Amazon Kindle store for more information on all three volumes, and the opportunity to buy the books, please visit martinhumphriesauthor. com

How Many Times Can You Say The Chocolate Pilgrim Good-bye?

Susan Pederson

Self-published, November 2017 ISBN: 9781775061502, $14.95 Her best friend was dying, and Susan Pederson knew she couldn’t save her. With 1000 kilometers between them, she also knew that she could do little to help her friend (or herself) through the darkest days of their 25-year friendship. How Many Times Can You Say Goodbye? chronicles, through short notes, an 18-month roller coaster of cancer treatments and raw emotion, through to the moment of one of Canada’s first physician-assisted deaths, on January 11, 2017. It is the story of enduring friendship, an illness that takes over both of their lives, and a remarkable woman who had the courage to live–and die–on her own terms. It can be purchased from Mulberry Books in Parksville and Qualicum Beach.

Marie Maccagno Adventures in Writing, October 2017 ISBN: 9781775072102, $25.00 Marie Maccagno is passionate about walking, the great outdoors, and chocolate. In the spring of 2009 she made a commitment to walk 800 kilometres through Spain in the hopes she could eat all the chocolate she could find. What she didn’t expect was to find herself. A walk that long gives a person a lot of time to think. Marie’s mind dished out big lessons around forgiving her mother, entertaining the idea of possibly leaving her husband, and honoring herself as a parent. One step at a time is how Marie completed the Camino de Santiago and learned to love herself after all the years of inner self-hate.

Place book orders using this link: mariemaccagno.com/books/ Marie has followed a path to reclaim her voice and love her words. Using her rich background in counselling, meditation and yoga, she is now a midwife for writers supporting the birth of stories through writing circles and private mentorship. Contact Marie regarding your writing needs and dreams: mariemaccagno.com

Page 29 ◆ WordWorks ◆ Winter 2018

The Sandpig and the Slippery-headed Fish

The Modern Heritage of Nelson The Pillerton Secret Architecture

Pamela Moreside

Peter Bartl PB+J Studio, October 2017 ISBN: 9780973627671, $37.00

When an almost forty-year-old Canadian on vacation meets a gorgeous young Jamaican on the beach things quickly heat up, despite their age difference...

When Peter Bartl moved to Nelson in 2012 he was well aware of the city’s reputation as a heritage town full of Victorian homes but he is a modernist, born and raised in Switzerland and didn’t particularly like the fussy gingerbread architecture. He spent almost three years researching and photographing the art deco, mission revival and modernist building from the 1920s to the 1960s.

Self-published, October 2017 ISBN: 9780995163102, $22.95

Their sexy two-week romance—lazy days cavorting in turquoise seas under the blazing sun and sultry nights dancing to reggae music—sounds like every woman’s dream.

But, within weeks of returning to build a life with him, she finds herself living in the remote countryside in a 12 x 12 cabin without running water, electricity, or indoor plumbing. Add in family and neighbours who despise her on sight, a brush with police, a reappearing ex-girlfriend, a court case and a possible paternity suit— all happening in a language she doesn’t understand—and the dream quickly turns into a nightmare. Alternately hilarious and heart-wrenching, The Sand Pig and The Slippery-headed Fish takes you on a journey that travels beyond the fancy all-inclusive vacations and into the reality of life in a developing country, while exploring the challenges of a cross cultural, long distance relationship, and questions the notion that love can conquer all. Available on Amazon in soft cover and Kindle versions.

Winter 2018 ◆ WordWorks ◆ Page 30

The Modern Heritage of Nelson Architecture is a 150 page full colour book filled with almost 500 photographs, both archival and current of over 70 buildings in Nelson, documenting forgotten treasures, long lost buildings and continually renovated spaces. There is information about the architects, builders, dates and the quirks of each building as well as timelines of the major architects in town.

Peter Bartl is a professor emeritus, having taught visual communications at the University of Alberta for almost thirty years. He and his wife, Jane Merks co-designed and produced this book.

Contact: bartlmerks@shaw.ca

Gayle Siebert iUniverse, September 2017 ISBN: 9781553805083, $20.99 On the death of her estranged mother, Kathy Klein returns to Pillerton, a small (fictional) town in southern Saskatchewan. It's the first time she's been back since she left twenty years previous. She rekindles an old romance, becomes embroiled in a dispute with a powerful cult, and finds the house and town she grew up in have secrets. Dangerous secrets that put her life in peril.

Trailer Park Elegy Cornelia Hoogland Harbour, September 2017 ISBN: 9781550178159, $18.95 Cornelia Hoogland’s tightly scored long poem explores the thin membrane between the living and the dead. In response to her brother's sudden death, Cornelia Hoogland explores the shift in gravity his dramatic absence creates. Set on the Salish Sea on Vancouver Island’s east coast, Trailer Park Elegy reaches back two thousand years to the First Peoples, as well as to the brother whose delight was summers spent at Deep Bay. Hoogland looks to her child-experiences of death, as well as to literature, chaos theory, dark matter, geological time and the effect of noise pollution on whales. She turns grief round and round, enlarges it, pushes beyond received ideas of closure and grief ’s stages. Death is not only part of life; the dead assign their unfinished work to the living. Hoogland’s narrator puts in the time. Listens. Attends. But the responsibility for connection belongs as much to the dead as to the living. The book’s form, a long poem, provides thematic coherence for the multiple contingencies that disturb the narrator’s present. Like keeping balls up in the air, Hoogland expertly catches and tosses, thus sustaining her imaginative energies throughout the book. Here she is, contemplating the cliché that life flashes before the eyes of the dying, or questioning the memories stored in her body like trauma or fat, when suddenly there she is, fifty years earlier, constructing the highway at the accident site. www.corneliahoogland.com

The Storks Came Back—A Boy Hand-me-downs grows up in Denmark under Nazi Occupation Robyn Gerland Afiena Kamminga Friesen Press, September 2017 ISBN: 9781525511585, $16.99 In April 1940 when his country, Denmark, is invaded and occupied by Nazi Germany, seven year old Morten Mors has no idea how his life and that of his family and all other people in Denmark is about to change. School is interrupted. Danish resistance against the German occupiers grows stronger step by step. Morten, eager to join the local branch of the underground resistance movement, is told that he is too young to get involved. Five years later, now twelve, he is still told the same thing. The Resistance is sabotaging railway transports to prevent German troops from heading south to reinforce Hitler’s army battling the Allied on the Western front. When a German search party is about to discover an explosives stash of the local Resistance—a discovery that would implicate Morten’s family and friends—Morten devises an ingenious plan to save the day. Aided by a friend and his dog he spirits the explosives away against all odds, saving the lives of a number of local resistance fighters.The Storks Came Back can be ordered online in Print and E-book at: friesenpress.com/bookstore amazon.ca BarnsandNoble.com Chapters-Indigo Author’s website: afienakamminga.com

Barley Wick Publishing, August 2017 ISBN: 9780993658716 Historical Fiction “I am Maggie and I am a story teller. Tellers of tales are the collectors of moments and years.

They are the custodians of joys and celebrations and of sadness and despair. I am Maggie and this is my story. It begins a very long time ago with my Grandpa Beryl and my Grandma Margaret, for whom I am named, and my Grandpa Tommy and Grandma Clara.”

“Who am I? And why am I? There is some present belief that our DNA, our deoxyribon acid, is also a custodian of joys and celebrations and of sadness and despair. That, if the results were traumatic enough, it might be possible to change my future by something that my grandmother said or did - that handme-downs are not just old shirts or shoes or even old photographs, the deep auburn of my hair or the blue of my eyes but also the results of how and where my ancestors lived their lives. It might be called generational nurture.”

Maggie’s words introduce Robyn Gerland’s second novel as it follows three generations over a span of seventy years, exploring the legacy of our ancestors, with reviews from, author, Mary Elizabeth Wray and doctor, Dawn Morris, B.Sc., M.D. and genealogist.

“A truly excellent exploration of a family’s generational DNA told in a riveting narrative.” Available in libraries across Canada

Page 31 ◆ WordWorks ◆ Winter 2018

I Should Have Married a Cowboy BARBARA ROBIN

I Should Have Married a Cowboy I Heard the Curlew Call

The Spanish Knight's Secret

Barbara Robin Self-published, August 2017 ISBN: 9780995850309, 25.00

Oonagh Rodgers Self-published, June 2017, ISBN: 9781525507021, $17.00

Peter H. Christopher

I should have Married a Cowboy is a collection of life stories told by a true Canadian war baby.

Barbara came of age in north central British Columbia during the "everything is possible" era following the Second World War. The oldest of nine children she was provided with endless opportunities for adventure and discovery, but at fourteen she was stricken with rheumatic fever, spent months in hospital and had to learn to walk again. That setback, followed by two years in a convent boarding school, did not prevent her from becoming a teen-age bride soon followed by the daunting challenge of raising a handi-capped son in a small community devoid of any services. A back to the land romantic, Barbara was determined to nurture her sons in a rural environment—complete with horses, chickens, 4-H and freedom. Constrained for many years in an abusive relationship, she ultimately found the strength to follow her own path- building a career in real estate and serving as a municipal politician. Sidetracked more than once by love, she always held to the dream of a little ranch, with a good looking, long legged cowboy to keep the home fires burning.

Barbara is a master story teller. Each chapter is told with wisdom, gumption and humour that speak to the author's history and the influences that have shaped her demanding life. I should Have Married a Cowboy is available by emailing the author, barbsie@telus.net

This is the story of one woman's spiritual odyssey. Not just a record of events, the author explores what it means to be an artist rather than a victim of life's events. In a world struggling with fear and loss of meaning, this book offers a creative perspective on the evolving soul journey we all must take. A native of Ireland, Oonagh Rodgers has over 30 years international experience as a teacher of English Literature, Drama and Religious Studies. She has also given numerous adult workshops in Creative Writing and Spirituality through the Arts.

The Spanish Knight’s Secret is a historical fiction/thriller revolving around The Great Siege of Malta. Five hundred Knights of St. John, in 1565, although Hospitallers, were successful in thwarting the advance of 40,000 Ottoman Turks. Its outcome, one of the extraordinary upsets in military history, was to determine the survival of Christianity as we know it.

We follow a Spanish knight, Juan de Guaras, during the siege battling against the overwhelming odds. The novel, also, (in alternate chapters), takes place in the present in the form of a mystery regarding a Maltese cross brooch which once belonged to de Guaras.

An affluent knight, his resplendent brooch, which had been missing for 450 years, was thought to be the key to the immense wealth he collected as a corsair raiding the richly laden merchant ships of the sultan, Suleiman, the Magnificent. The novel’s characters, (in the chapters that take place in the present), are determined to find the brooch’s whereabouts, but the closer they come to discovering its location, the more they are threatened by unknown antagonists who want the Maltese cross brooch, and its secrets, for themselves.

Winter 2018 ◆ WordWorks ◆ Page 32

FriesenPress, February 2017 ISBN: 9781460297087, US$18.00

434 pages. Three maps. Hard and soft cover and e-book on Amazon. spanishknightssecret.com - home

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