There’s Still Time to Register for the CanWrite! Conference – June 13-16 [Orillia]

LITERARY MASTERS + WRITERS’ RETREAT + CONFERENCE!

The Canadian Authors Association’s annual CanWrite! conference is for aspiring, emerging and accomplished writers. We are once again incorporating a retreat element into our conference, but with a bit of a twist. Regular workshops and master classes are offered in the afternoons, and you have a selection of options for Thursday, Friday, and Saturday mornings — an à la carte menu to make sure this writers’ conference meets your current needs.

WHAT’S NEW THIS YEAR?

  • Moderated expressive writing circles
  • Special interest sessions (eg. creativity jump start, writers’ guide to social media)
  • Pitch sessions with publishing professionals

WHAT IS ON THE PROGRAM?

  • Optional retreat mornings – personal writing, social or ‘me’ time
  • Selection of half-day afternoon workshops on writing and master classes for published and mid-career authors
  • Book fair and author signings
  • Panel discussions on timely issues in the publishing industry
  • Exhibits by professionals offering specialized services to writers
  • Open mike readings
  • 2013 CAA Literary Awards
  • CAA Annual General Meeting

Stay tuned for more information, options and details to come.

  • Date: June 13–16, 2013
  • Location: Lakehead University, Orillia Campus, Orillia ON

For further information, contact Courtney or Noelle at admin@canauthors.org or call our national office at 1 866 216 6222.

$900 fiction prize and $600 poetry prize in the Second Annual Thomas Morton Memorial Prize in Literary Exellence

the puritanThe Second Annual Thomas Morton Memorial Prize in Literary Excellence recognizes the single best piece of short fiction and poem submitted to The Puritan. Submissions will be read and judged by the editors of The Puritan in a double-blind judging process. Fiction submissions are capped at 12,000 words, and submissions of poetry must be no longer than 3 pages in length.

The cost per each submission is $10 CAD, payable via The Puritan’s PayPal account. Payments should be made under the SAME name attached to the story or poem submitted. Please submit by classifying your work as “Thomas Morton Prize” in our submission category tab. Submissions will be cross-referenced with receipts of payment, and eligible submitters who follow these instructions will receive an email confirming BOTH the receipt of payment and literary submission.

The contest deadline is September 30th, 2013, and the winner will be announced in October. The winners will receive their prize of $900 for fiction and $600 for poetry and a prize package of books from various Canadian publishers (Coach House Books, House of Anansi, ECW Press, Porcupine’s Quill, Freehand Books, Goose Lane Editions, Cormorant Books, Brick Books, Mansfield Press, Pedlar Press, and Tightrope Books) worth approximately $600. Winning entries will also be published in The Puritan (Issue XXIII: Fall 2013).

General Submission Guidelines

Submissions should fall under one of five (5) categories: fiction, non-fiction, poetry, interviews, and reviews. Unless we are soliciting your work, all submissions must be previously unpublished (this includes self-publishing). Only e-mail submissions are accepted (save those trees for maypoles). Send all questions and messages to puritanmagazine [at] gmail [dot] com; use the manager above to submit work for consideration.

For further information and submission guidelines, please see The Puritan’s website.

Looking for a Writer’s Retreat? [Ontario]

lakeHave you ever wanted to go somewhere peaceful and quiet to write? On a deadline and need to get away from the interruptions of daily life? A writer’s retreat is just the thing! Check out these writer’s retreats in Ontario for some time away, be it a weekend, a week or a month at a time:

http://kevintcraig.wordpress.com

http://www.bridgewaterretreat.ca/

http://niagararetreatandconference.com/

http://writescape.ca/writescape/

http://rosspennie.ca

http://www.pec.on.ca/writersretreat/

http://inkslingers.ca/inkslingers/retreats-2013/

http://www.fireflycreativewriting.com/learning-opportunities/retreats/

http://www.writersretreat.com/retreatdetails.php?id=167

[contest] Young Writers Could Win Up to $100 – deadline June 30

INTERNATIONAL CONTEST

Open to Young Writers
Ages 9 to 21 from any Country

Deadline: June 30, 2013

Finalists Announced:
September 20, 2013

Winners Announced LIVE at the Junior Authors Writers Conference on October 19, 2013 (You do NOT have to be at the conference if you win. You will be contacted by email or phone and will get your prize.)

COMPETITION AGE CATEGORIES

Category 1 — Ages 18 – 21*
*You can be no more than 21 years old as of June 30, 2013.

Category 2 — Ages 15 – 17

Category 3 — Ages 12 – 14

Category 4 — Ages 9 – 11

The first place winning entry in each category will be published on the Junior Authors Contest website and the author of that entry will receive a signed copy of Polly Wants to be a Writer: The Junior Authors Guide to Writing and Getting Published by Laura Thomas. The top six writers in each age category will receive Amazon Gift Cards in the following amounts:

1st place – $100
2nd place – $25
3rd place – $25
4th place – $25
5th place – $25
6th place – $25

For complete rules, go to the Contest website.

via Jim Denney

Deadline Alert: Teen Writers Could Win $100 in Lakefield Literary Contest: Deadline May 10 [closed]

http://www.publicdomainpictures.net/view-image.php?image=4587&picture=woman-behind-laptopAre you ready? The deadline is tomorrow! 

Each year the Lakefield Literary Festival awards six teen writers for their work in fiction, non-fiction and poetry. Winners will receive $100 and see their work published in The Peterborough Examiner and online in the Young Writers Contest Ebook.

The rules:

1. Writers can enter through their schools or by mailing in their entry on their own.

2. There are two divisions: Junior (Grades 9, 10) and Senior (Grades 11, 12).

3. Genres are fiction prose, non-fiction prose and poetry. Writers are free to choose their topic and subject. Literary critiques and journalism assignments are not accepted. Writers can enter only one piece in each category.

4. Entries must be entirely original and suitable for copywright. Avoid using trade names in the piece. Quotations and paraphrases must be attributed.

5. Entries must be 500-1,000 words in length (with a few words either way acceptable). Take time to revise and review before submitting.

6. The title page must be a separate first sheet with name, grade, name of teacher, name of school, writer’s address, telephone number and whether the entry is fiction, non-fiction or poetry. Include an email address if possible.

7. Submit four copies of each entry.

8. The deadline is 6 p.m. on Friday, May 10. Entries can be handed in to teachers or mailed to Young Writers at the Lakefield Literary Festival, Box 1114, Lakefield, Ont., K0L 2H0.

9. Prizes go to best fiction, best non-fiction and best poetry, in senior and junior divisions, six prizes in all. Each winner receives $100 at an awards ceremony at the Lakefield Literary Festival on July 13.

Writer’s Circle Meeting Tonight. New Members Welcome. – Lindsay

Is there a manuscript you wrote years ago still hanging around in the back of your closet? Have you always wanted to write a book, but don’t know where to start?

The City of Kawartha Lakes Public Library and writer in residence, Jessica Becking, invites aspiring writers of fiction and creative non-fiction to attend the Writer’s Circle at 6:30 pm in the Meeting Room of the Lindsay Library.

The Writer’s Circle has grown to form two groups. Each group meets bi-weekly on Wednesdays to critique each other’s work, participate in writing exercises or learn about an aspect of writing. New members always welcome.

Recent graduate of Kingston University’s Creative Writing and Publishing M.A. program and alumni of I.E. Weldon Secondary School, Jessica is a writer of literary fiction. She has studied under many published authors including Kevin Barry and James Miller and has worked with major publishing houses in a variety of capacities. Her short stories and essays can be found both online and in print.

Please contact Diane Lansdell for more information at (705) 324-9411 ext. 1265 or at dlansdell@city.kawarthalakes.on.ca

Teen Writers Could Win $100 in Lakefield Literary Contest: Deadline May 10 [closed]

http://www.publicdomainpictures.net/view-image.php?image=4587&picture=woman-behind-laptopAre you ready? The deadline is fast approaching! 

Each year the Lakefield Literary Festival awards six teen writers for their work in fiction, non-fiction and poetry. Winners will receive $100 and see their work published in The Peterborough Examiner and online in the Young Writers Contest Ebook.

The rules:

1. Writers can enter through their schools or by mailing in their entry on their own.

2. There are two divisions: Junior (Grades 9, 10) and Senior (Grades 11, 12).

3. Genres are fiction prose, non-fiction prose and poetry. Writers are free to choose their topic and subject. Literary critiques and journalism assignments are not accepted. Writers can enter only one piece in each category.

4. Entries must be entirely original and suitable for copywright. Avoid using trade names in the piece. Quotations and paraphrases must be attributed.

5. Entries must be 500-1,000 words in length (with a few words either way acceptable). Take time to revise and review before submitting.

6. The title page must be a separate first sheet with name, grade, name of teacher, name of school, writer’s address, telephone number and whether the entry is fiction, non-fiction or poetry. Include an email address if possible.

7. Submit four copies of each entry.

8. The deadline is 6 p.m. on Friday, May 10. Entries can be handed in to teachers or mailed to Young Writers at the Lakefield Literary Festival, Box 1114, Lakefield, Ont., K0L 2H0.

9. Prizes go to best fiction, best non-fiction and best poetry, in senior and junior divisions, six prizes in all. Each winner receives $100 at an awards ceremony at the Lakefield Literary Festival on July 13.

Ad Astra Convention has lots of programming for writers

Ad-Astra-300x202The upcoming science fiction and fantasy convention, Ad Astra, has lots of programming for writers in addition to appearances by many authors.

The convention happens April 5, 6 & 7 at the Markham Holiday Inn, a mere hour and a half from Kawartha Lakes.

Take in writing-specific panels such as:
– Alternate Canadian Histories
– Changing Face of the Paranormal in YA fiction
– Is the Stand Alone Novel an Endangered Species?
– Creating a Successful Alternate History
– How ePublishing has changed the market for traditional press
– You Must Finish
– Hey, Come Back Here!
– All About Agents
– Fan Fiction to Published
– HOOK: Reeling in Your Reader
– Cross Promotion and Networking in the Age of Social Media
– Let’s Hear Your Elevator Pitch
– How Do You Know Its Done?
– Creating Storyboards for Film
– Things Your Editor Needs to Know
– Save the Cat: Writing Has Rules

Look for authors such as: Jim Butcher, Kelley Armstrong, Robert J. Sawyer, Guy Gavriel Kay, Dennis Lee, and many, many more.

Peterborough Speculative Fiction Writers Group Seeks Members

Do you write speculative fiction? Are you looking to meet with other writers of your genre? Check out the Peterborough Speculative Fiction Writers Group:

The main objective is to develop and prepare stories for submission to magazines and publishers, with the goal of being published.
Writing can be from a wide variety of speculative genres including traditional fantasy, urban fantasy, science fiction, paranormal, horror, magic realism, etc. Stories can be for either the adult or YA market, both novel chapters and short stories.
Members will submit material ahead of time for the rest of the group to review, with the actual critique done at the meeting.
Also discussion about books, writing issues and problems, and the publishing industry.
Meetings are held every second Thursday from 7:00 – 9:30pm.

For more information, visit this Kijiji ad.

Teen Writers Could Win $100 in Lakefield Literary Contest [closed]

Each year the Lakefield Literary Festival awards six teen writers for their work in fiction, non-fiction and poetry. Winners will receive $100 and see their work published in The Peterborough Examiner and online in the Young Writers Contest Ebook.

The rules:

1. Writers can enter through their schools or by mailing in their entry on their own.

2. There are two divisions: Junior (Grades 9, 10) and Senior (Grades 11, 12).

3. Genres are fiction prose, non-fiction prose and poetry. Writers are free to choose their topic and subject. Literary critiques and journalism assignments are not accepted. Writers can enter only one piece in each category.

4. Entries must be entirely original and suitable for copywright. Avoid using trade names in the piece. Quotations and paraphrases must be attributed.

5. Entries must be 500-1,000 words in length (with a few words either way acceptable). Take time to revise and review before submitting.

6. The title page must be a separate first sheet with name, grade, name of teacher, name of school, writer’s address, telephone number and whether the entry is fiction, non-fiction or poetry. Include an email address if possible.

7. Submit four copies of each entry.

8. The deadline is 6 p.m. on Friday, May 10. Entries can be handed in to teachers or mailed to Young Writers at the Lakefield Literary Festival, Box 1114, Lakefield, Ont., K0L 2H0.

9. Prizes go to best fiction, best non-fiction and best poetry, in senior and junior divisions, six prizes in all. Each winner receives $100 at an awards ceremony at the Lakefield Literary Festival on July 13.