Writers Corner

As a Freelance Writer for over 18 years, I want to provide resources for those interested in writing in any form whether white papers, poems, songwriting, fiction etc. etc., or for those wanting information about how to get published and/or about self-publishing etc.. There is a myriad of information on writing that I would love to present here. Anyone wanting to submit an event etc. can contact me at heather.rennalls@oxford.net.                                              

Coronavirus disease
(COVID-19)

PLEASE NOTE: Due to the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) all social activities have been cancelled. (For accurate information concerning COVID-19, visit the Government of Canada website.)
Due to the Coronavirus disease, I will post various on-line resources to encourage creativity.

Local:

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Oxford County Authors
"Join host Ashley Quinton as she speaks to talented local authors from Oxford County. Community Produced by Pam Livingston. " (From Rogers TV website) Also visit Rogers TV Oxford County Facebook
"Hi writers,

The past many days have seen extraordinary protests across the United States and around the world in support of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, David McAtee, and so many more unarmed Black Americans who are killed by police officers, without immediate and meaningful justice.

We've sent a couple of messages that have included anti-racist books and reading lists and suggested organizations that could use your donations right now. We'll include a few more links below.
We've gotten some questions from writers in our community who ask why we're getting involved here, even in our small way.

We're involved because we love and care about Black people.
We're involved because we want to help remove all obstacles to writing creatively, meaningfully, and joyfully. Time, money, and energy are obstacles for all writers that we talk about all the time, and white supremacy, racism, and bigotry make these obstacles loom even larger.

We're involved because we feel a responsibility to challenge our own assumptions and learn more about white supremacy culture and anti-Blackness in the United States, past and present, so that we can avoid further contributing to those legacies.

Our mission statement includes the goal to create a better, more creative world. Thank you for bringing all of your imagination, perseverance, and empathy as we work together to try to do that. We love you very much. 

The NaNoWriMo Staff"

 Resources:

"If you're able, you could donate to the Black Visions Collective, or the Louisville Community Bail Fund. Reclaim the Block, a Minneapolis-based community organization, is maintaining a list of organizations in Minneapolis you may want to support here.

Autostraddle also has a list of bail funds by state, or you can make a donation to be split across 38 bail funds here.

The NaNoWriMo Staff"
In light of the many protests happening, I have posted two videos from Dwayne Morgan, Canadian writer, speaker performer, educator and event producer, whose spoken words are true.
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Live chat with Waubgeshig Rice: TBA

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Author Waubgeshig Rice
Author Waubgeshig Rice will be exploring the themes of his Moon of the Crusted Snow book in relation to the COVID-19 situation​.

"We are living through an unprecedented time of a global pandemic and social distancing. I've seen a lot of discussion online about Moon of the Crusted Snow and how some of its themes are especially timely. So I'll do a live chat on this Facebook page on Saturday at 3 PM ET to further explore these themes and how they relate to our current situation." (From Waubteshig Rice's Facebook)
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FREE BOOKS!

"We are all doing our part by staying home but that doesn't mean we can't enjoy some mystery and adventure!

Read the first in the series of these exciting books for FREE!

Stay safe and enjoy your adventures!"

Maria Pease
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For more information visit Maria Pease's website.

Author Profile:
Waubgeshig Rice

Congratulations to Waubgeshig Rice for winning the 2019 Ontario Library Association’s Evergreen Award for his novel!
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Waubgeshig Rice, author & journalist (Headshot by Shilo Adamson)
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"Waubgeshig Rice is an author and journalist originally from Wasauksing First Nation. His first short story collection, Midnight Sweatlodge, was inspired by his experiences growing up in an Anishinaabe community, and won an Independent Publishers Book Award in 2012. His debut novel, Legacy, followed in 2014. A French translation was published in 2017. His latest novel, Moon of the Crusted Snow, was released in October 2018. Waub got his first taste of journalism in 1996 as an exchange student in Germany, writing articles about being an Anishinaabe teen in a foreign country for newspapers back in Canada. He graduated from Ryerson University’s journalism program in 2002. He’s worked in a variety of news media since, reporting for CBC News for the bulk of his career. In 2014, he received the Anishinabek Nation’s Debwewin Citation for excellence in First Nation Storytelling. He currently hosts Up North, CBC Radio’s afternoon show for northern Ontario.
His proudest roles are as dad to Jiikwis and husband to Sarah. The family splits its time between Sudbury and Wasauksing." (From Waubgeshig Rice's website)

Moon of the Crescent Snow

A daring post-apocalyptic novel from a powerful rising literary voice

"With winter looming, a small northern Anishinaabe community goes dark. Cut off, people become passive and confused. Panic builds as the food supply dwindles. While the band council and a pocket of community members struggle to maintain order, an unexpected visitor arrives, escaping the crumbling society to the south. Soon after, others follow.
The community leadership loses its grip on power as the visitors manipulate the tired and hungry to take control of the reserve. Tensions rise and, as the months pass, so does the death toll due to sickness and despair. Frustrated by the building chaos, a group of young friends and their families turn to the land and Anishinaabe tradition in hopes of helping their community thrive again. Guided through the chaos by an unlikely leader named Evan Whitesky, they endeavor to restore order while grappling with a grave decision.
​
Blending action and allegory, Moon of the Crusted Snow upends our expectations. Out of catastrophe comes resilience. And as one society collapses, another is reborn.” (From ECW Press website)

Author Readings:

TBA

Book Launch: ​

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They Call Me George: The Untold Story of Black Train Porters and the Birth of Modern Canada By Cecil Foster

About The Book:

Nominated for the Toronto Book Award

"Smartly dressed and smiling, Canada’s black train porters were a familiar sight to the average passenger—yet their minority status rendered them politically invisible, second-class in the social imagination that determined who was and who was not considered Canadian. Subjected to grueling shifts and unreasonable standards—a passenger missing his stop was a dismissible offense—the so-called Pullmen of the country’s rail lines were denied secure positions and prohibited from bringing their families to Canada, and it was their struggle against the racist Dominion that laid the groundwork for the multicultural nation we know today. Drawing on the experiences of these influential black Canadians, Cecil Foster’s They Call Me George demonstrates the power of individuals and minority groups in the fight for social justice and shows how a country can change for the better. " (From Amazon.ca website)

Journalist.  Novelist.  Academic.

"Cecil Foster is often described as a renaissance man because of his many intellectual interests. He is an author, an academic and a public intellectual. But should you ask him to describe himself he would probably explain that he is a writer who uses many genres to tell stories about the human condition and the struggles by individuals for a better world. These stories might be in the form of his acclaimed fiction or told through his journalism and media commentaries. Or they might be in his award-winning academic writing and teaching. Or they might be in general nonfiction. These stories are about hope and about social justice and freedom.
Cecil Foster would also tell you that he is intrigued by living in the Americas, that historically idealistic place of second chances for so many individuals and traditional groups of outcasts, the rejected and marginalized, a region teeming with the hybridity and improvisation of peoples and cultures.  Foster was born in Barbados which still provides much material for his writing across genres. He moved to Toronto, Canada, where his writing blossomed and where he eventually became a full-time scholar/academic. He was a professor in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at the University of Guelph, Ontario, Canada. Currently, he is Professor, Director of Graduate Studies, and Associate Director of Canadian Studies in the Department of Transnational Studies at the State University of New York at Buffalo. An author of several acclaimed works of fiction and non-fiction, Foster is one of Canada’s leading public intellectuals on issues of citizenship, culture, multiculturalism, politics, race, ethnicity and immigration. His fiction is often described as post-colonial in terms of the Caribbean. According to the New York Times newspaper (Nov. 5, 2002), he is one of Canada’s leading fiction voices, who depicts the immigration experience and provides a non-traditional perspective on Canada, citizenship and issues of belonging." (From Cecil Foster's website)

Click here to check out the full list of Cecil Foster's books.

 Conferences: 

The Book and Periodical Council (BPC) - "The Umbrella Organization for Writing and Publishing in Canada. The BPC acts as a forum for its members to network, identify common goals and coordinate action to benefit the Canadian writing and publishing industry." (From website) This site lists academic, editing, library, publishing & writing conferences. ​
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TBA
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"The Ontario Writers’ Conference is dedicated to the celebration of writing by inspiring, educating & connecting writers of all levels; providing participants with an opportunity to network with writers and other publishing professionals; and encouraging writers to publish, promote and sell their work." (From Ontario Writer's Conference website) 
TBA
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 37 Canadian writing conferences and literary festivals:
(From Dreamers Creative Writing website)  
Contests:
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TBA
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Brian Henry's The Canadian Writers’ Contest Calendar "is a book that gives a full listing of annual writing contests in Canada arranged by deadline date. It lists contests for short stories, poetry, children’s writing, novels, and nonfiction – contests for just about everyone." To order contact Brian Henry. (From Quick Brown Fox Website.)
7 Tips for Winning a Writing Contest
Creative Writing Camps:
Events:
 Festivals:
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The Writers' Union of Canada
​The Writers' Union of Canada "is the national organization of professionally published book authors. The Union was founded in 1973 to work with governments, publishers, booksellers, and readers to improve the conditions of Canadian writers." 
​
For a full list of Canadian Festivals and Reading Series throughout Canada visit The Writers' Union of Canada website.)
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TBA
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Festival September 23 - 27 2020
​Downtown Kingston, Ontario 
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Local Writing Groups:
  • Woodstock Writer’s Circle -  meets the 1st & 3rd Wednesday each month at the Woodstock Public Library, 445 Hunter St., Woodstock, ON, from 6:00 – 8:15 p.m. in the Meeting Room, next meetings: TBA
  • Thamesford The Write Stuff - meets the 3rd Thursday each month at the Thamesford Public Library, 165 Dundas St., Thamesford, ON, from 6:30 - 8:00 p.m., next meeting: TBA
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(For more information please contact Eric Schmiedl at ericschmiedl@yahoo.ca or 519-539-5926)

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YOZine

"YOZine is a brand new zine for Oxford County Library tweens and teens. Created by you, for you! YOZine will be published every 2 months and will be made from the writing, poetry, cartoons, art and more that you create and submit.

Deadlines:
Submit your material by June15th to be included in the first issue released Wednesday July 1, 2020

How to submit something: 
Email YOZine@ocl.net and include
    Your name
   ​Your age
                     Your email address
     Attach your originally created content (Word document, Google document, JPEG image) NOTE: Only your first name and age will be published with your work.

What kinds of things can I submit?
Readers Cafe:
Submit a book title and author along with 2-3 sentences about why you liked the book.
Sparks:
Submit ideas and instructions for crafts, experiments, games or activities.  This could include websites or other activity sources that you would recommend.
Poetry/Creative Writing:
Submit a poem or short story.  It can be about anything or try writing about Summer Dreams.
​Build your own story adventure:
Continue the story starting with this sentence: 
“I watched my pencil roll off the table and land at the feet of someone I had not seen standing there.”
Write up to 5 more sentences in the story.
Famous Artists:
Submit a picture of a drawing or piece of art you made.
YO Funny!
Draw a comic or send in your favourite joke.
Challenge of the Week
Send us a picture of what you did using 5 items, your creativity and imagination.
Use these 4 items plus one of your choosing: a cereal box, a stick, an empty can, any kind of tape." (From Oxford County Library website)
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"National Novel Writing Month, also known as NaNoWriMo is a month-long creative writing challenge that takes place every November. During the month participants from all over the world are challenged to write a 50,000 word first draft of a novel.

There is no charge to take part in the challenge, although it is all run by a not for profit [organization] and participants have the option to donate to the cause and purchase official NaNoWriMo merchandise, all profits from which are funnelled back into the program.

Once participants have signed up they receive access to support and encouragement to help them hit their writing goals; this includes access to a range of articles and tools to assist in planning their novel, the option to join a local group of writers and meet up for in-person writing events, online forums and facebook groups. Published authors also offer mentorship through articles and pep talks.

If you feel that there is a story inside you just waiting to be told and would like to get more involved, visit www.nanowrimo.org for more information or to sign up." (From National Novel Writing Month website) 
NaNoWriMo is a nonprofit organization that supports writing fluency and education."
NaNoWriMo handbook for young writers
"The official NaNoWriMo handbook that inspires young people to tackle audacious goals and complete their creative projects. Includes pep talks from today’s biggest authors...with an introduction by Jason Reynolds! " For more information refer to the NaNoWriMo website.

Poetry Contests: 

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Poem of the Year Contest
TBA
​​Arc Poetry Magazine Contests:

Poetry Conferences:

League of Canadian Poets Annual Poetry Festival and Conference - Hosted each year in a different Canadian city

Poetry Publications:

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Tower Poetry - publishes a poetry book twice a year, summer and winter. Deadlines for TOWER POETRY submissions are February 28th for the Summer issue and August 31st for the Winter issue each year. Submit by email to: info@towerpoetry.ca." (For further information on Submission) 
Poetry Reading:
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NEW: Poetry London’s 2019-2020 Season
TBA
Location:  Landon Library’s basement, 167 Wortley Rd., London, ON

Questions? Email: poetrylondon.ca@gmail.com (From Poetry London website) ​

Poetry Workshops:

The Hamilton Poetry Centre Workshops​
"The Hamilton Poetry Centre offers free public workshops throughout the year. These are a place to share your work in progress and receive supportive and thoughtful feedback from your peers. New and experienced poets welcome!
Please bring 12-15 copies of one poem to share with fellow workshop participants.

Workshop dates: the following Thursdays from 7:00 – 8:45 p.m.​​​
  • TBA

Workshop location:
Westdale Branch of Hamilton Public Library, 955 King St. West, Hamilton, Ontario
Telephone: (905) 546-3456 ​ (From Hamilton Poetry Centre website) 
Tower Poetry Society 
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Monthly poetry workshops are held at Westdale Public Library, 955 King St. W.
in Hamilton, Ontario.
"Workshop Format: The poet brings 24 copies which are passed out to those present, and reads the poem while the rest of us follow along on the printed copy. Then the group discusses the poem, providing feedback on what seems to work or not work well for the reader, and making suggestions. The poet listens, but makes no comment. It is by listening to all the opinions that a sense of what enhances the poem becomes clear. There is often disagreement. After the group has finished discussing the poem, the poet has the chance to comment, if he or she wishes to do so.
If you are writing in a lonely vacuum, find or form a group with other poets. It will enhance your work and theirs too. If you live close to Hamilton, come and join us!

We meet one Saturday a month from 2:00–4:00 p.m.
Location: Westdale Public Library, 955 King St. W., Hamilton, ON​​​​​TBA

​ No workshops are held in the summer months." (From Tower Poetry Society website) ​
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​ TORONTO POETRY SLAM is a twice-monthly spoken word competition, where the judges vote on each poem presented. Open to a all ages to attend, compete/perform on stage. 
Home venue is the Drake Hotel Underground, 1150 Queen St. W., Toronto, ON (From the Toronto Poetry Slam website)

Author of The Autobiography Of Miss Jane Pittman Ernest J. Gaines, Dies At Age 86
​January 15, 1933 - November 5, 2019

Remembering Toni Morrison 
​February 18, 1931 - August 5, 2019


Remembering Derek Walcott
​January 23, 1930 - March 17, 2017 
Nobel Prize-winning Poet & Playwright 

Publishing Links:
Workshops:

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Check out the workshop and course schedule for all levels of writers listed on Brian Henry's website Quick Brown Fox.
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Writer's Clubs with Membership:
Writer's Groups:
Writing Jobs:
Writing Links:  
Writing Retreats:
​Algonquin Park Writing Retreat at Arowhon Pines Resort
​ Friday, June 5 – Monday, June 8, 2020
Arowhon Pines Resort, Arowhon Pines Rd, Little Joe Lake, Algonquin Park, Ontario, Canada
"Give yourself a long weekend of writing time – a weekend of instruction, inspiration and creativity. Award yourself with time away from distractions, with no dishes to do and wonderful food at every meal, as you sit with your feet up and write in the most beautiful wilderness setting in Ontario. This is where the Group of Seven got its inspiration (Tom Thompson is buried just a couple of lakes over); it’s a wonderful place for you to find your inspiration, too.The retreat will feature both instruction and guided writing exercises, plus one-on-one critiquing and coaching from Brian.  You’ll also have lots of time to relax, rejuvenate, and reconnect with your creativity. 
All writing levels welcome.
Click here for more information or to register, email: brianhenry@sympatico.ca" (From Quick Brown Fox website)
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Two-Day or Four Day Retreats
September 23 - 27 2020
Downtown Kingston, Ontario 
"Our Writers Retreat offers you the opportunity to learn practical writing techniques from a dozen award-winning and critically acclaimed authors in an intimate, judgement-free environment. Whether you’ve been writing for years, or just putting pen to paper, these classes will improve your skills, increase your confidence, and help you to become a more expressive, effective writer." (From Kingston Writers Fest website) 
46 Incredible Writing Retreats to Attend in 2020
​21 Facilitated Writing Retreats in Canada
​International Conferences/Workshops:
  • Abroad Writers’ Conference
    This summit of international authors and aspiring writers features conferences led by some of the worlds most talented authors, journalist, poets, playwrights, screenwriters and literary agents. Stimulating talks, interviews, readings, Q&As and workshops.
  • ASJA Writers Conference
    The American Society of Journalists and Authors annual writers conference is one of the premier events in the United States for professional independent writers, with more than 600 attendees each year.
  • Freefall Writing Calendar 2019/20
  • Geneva Writers’ Conference
    The international conference brings together English-language writers for high-level instruction, inspiration, support, advice, networking and feedback. Writing genres covered include fiction, creative non-fiction, children’s writing and poetry. (From The Book and Periodical Council (The BPC))
Writer's Quote:
(From the internet)
Writing Tip:
Tip 26: "Avoid long sentences."~ Sylvia  (From 34 Writing Tips That Will Make You a Better Writer website)
Quote: “The idea is to write it so that people hear it and it slides through the brain and goes straight to the heart.”
~ Maya Angelou