Spring has sprung! May 4, 2012
Posted by thishotplace in Saskatchewan Writers Guild, Workshops.Tags: Bethune, Regina Beach
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The bees have found fulltime work in my back yard. At present they’re working on the white blossoms of the Nanking Cherry tree. Soon, they’ll be able to move to the neighbours’ apple trees and my ornamental plum tree.
While they’re busy with that, I’m busy preparing for a few events. My neighbourhood celebrates the 21st annual Cathedral Village Arts Festival beginning May 21 with a parade and a picnic in the park, followed by a stream of events throughout the week, and ending with the largest street fair in the province on May 26. Again this year, I’m the co-ordinator of literary events and hope to see many of you at them. I’ll again be hosting the Poetry Slam, which is always a lot of fun!
The following week, I head out of town for a road trip to Regina Beach and Bethune where I’ll work with some students at South Shore Elementary School and Clive Draycott Elementary School. I always look forward to school visits because they give me the opportunity to offer students something I wish I would have received when I was young and venturing into writing. The Saskatchewan Writers Guild must be commended for continuing this program year after year. It builds future writers, employs current ones and promotes the SWG all at the same time. It’s a win-win-win!
Details of the events are here.
One more tour. And some news! September 30, 2011
Posted by thishotplace in Awards, Ramblings, Saskatchewan Writers Guild, Tour, young adult fiction.Tags: swg short manuscript awards, ya
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In October, I’ll be making my way to the Maritimes for a couple of readings (details forthcoming), a couple of CD launches and a radio appearance as well as a stop in Ottawa to visit my daughter and give a reading with a group of writers I’ve met through various parts of the writing community, including two of the finest writing schools in the country, the Sage Hill Writing Experience and the Banff Centre.
It’ll be great to finally see eastern Canada as well as to meet and reconnect with singers and writers!
But before I do that, I’ll be celebrating the success of my new work! An unpublished excerpt from the young adult fiction I’ve written has netted me First Place in the Children’s Literature category of the Short Manuscript Awards sponsored by the Saskatchewan Writers Guild.
(Do you know how many entries I’ve sent to that competition over the years?)
To say I’m very excited to receive this recognition is an understatement. When I sat down to write this manuscript, I thought I was going to write a poem about divorce. But the voice of the main character, Chrissy, took over. I knew enough about writing to know that I needed to listen to the work, to let it guide me. And I did. The working title quickly became Crybaby. This work quite literally cried its way out of me. Needless to say, a theme running through Crybaby is the reclamation of crying as a healthy human capacity.
So, yes, of course I cried when I learned the work had placed first. I laughed and squealed and hollered, too. And I jumped up and down!
I feel quite privileged to be both a product and a beneficiary of the programs, services and other assorted offerings of the SWG. I’m thankful the judge, Janet McNaughton, saw fit to single out my work at this time. It’s a great vote of confidence! I’m also very grateful to have the support of the Canada Council for the Arts to work on this manuscript. And, I am truly honoured to be named a winner of a SWG Short Manuscript Award!
It’s been a long time coming!
