Category Archives: Literary News

Upcoming Writing Events- Add Yours for your Location…

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My week has a mixture of events including a meeting with my client regarding my ghost writing project, the Volunteer Fair on Wednesday and Authors for Indies on Saturday.

Monday evening will be spent reviewing the book draft I have been working on for my client. We will utilize our local library for this meeting. It is such a wonderful space for working, reading and meetings.

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Wednesday I will be doing double duty at the Volunteer Fair as secretary of my writers group, Writers Foundation of Strathcona County and as President of the Arts & Culture Council of Strathcona County. I was able to request the tables were side by side so that will help!

volunteer fair 2017

Writers Foundation Strathcona County

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On Saturday I will join other local authors for Indies for Authors at the Sherwood Park Bookworm, a wonderful store full of all genres of books and a book readers dream place. I will be reading from 1-2 pm come down and hear wonderful stories, meet the authors and find your next favorite book.

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What events do you have planned? Care to share?

Other events:

blue met

The Blue Metropolis Festival in Montreal, QC, runs April 24–30 with programming for readers of all ages. http://bluemetropolis.org/

ottawa

The Ottawa International Writers Festival takes place April April 27 to May 2, with details still to come. http://www.writersfestival.org/authors/spring-2017

Do you have a local event to share? Put it in the comments.

Upcoming Writing Events- Add Yours for your Location…

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events

This week most of my time will be dealing with the planning of future events, for instance I have a meeting with the local transit director tonight. This is to discuss shuttle buses to the Heritage Day event hosted by the Arts & Culture Council of Strathcona County in June. I also have to create a schedule for performances for the event too. One of the disadvantages of all this pre-planning is how quickly the year goes by! With an AGM and conference in April, a writing retreat in May, the Heritage Day in June and the upcoming Words in the Park event, which is part of Alberta Culture Days in September – poof the year has almost gone!

I have to take a step back sometimes and look at what month I am actually in. The years pass quickly enough as it is.

How about you? Do the seasons come and go at an alarming rate?

time-flies

Other local events:

March 30, 2017  7:00 pm  Whitemud Crossing Library (Whitemud Crossing Shopping Centre, 4211 – 106 Street)
The WGA and EPL present an evening of new work from six multicultural, multilingual writers in celebration of the completion of the 2016 Borderlines Writers Circle. Join Nermeen Youssef, Tazeen Hasan, Mohamed Abdi, Kate Rittner-Werkman, Asma Sayed, and Aksam Alyousef for poetry, short story, historical fiction, memoir and nonfiction.
To learn more about the writers and the Borderlines Writers Circle, please visit writersguild.ca/programs-services/borderlines-writers-circle/
 Refreshments will be served.

LitFest NewWest celebrates readers, writers, and community March 31–April 2 in New Westminster, BC.

Please feel free to add your events in the comments for your area.

Upcoming Writing Events- Add Yours for your Location…

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events

This week is Board meeting week – my first meeting is tomorrow for the Writers Foundation of Strathcona County – we will be planning our annual conference, which will be held on 22nd April as well as numerous other agenda items. On Wednesday it is the Arts & Culture Council meeting, where once again planning will be in full swing for our AGM on 12th April and our heritage day event in June. So all in all a busy time for the next few months.

I find that involvement in these boards can be time consuming at times but it brings so many benefits. To be involved with these art organizations gives me the chance to meet new people, experience new art forms and have fun planning events!

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I did manage to attend the open mic event last Wednesday evening and read to a full house! I did worry I would begin coughing but manage to read all of my excerpt from The Twesome Loop without coughing once, although my mouth was arid. There were so many wonderful people to connect with and the readings were excellent. One woman read for the very first time in public while others were old hands. We heard poetry, rants, manuscript excerpts and one young poet (14 years old) read an exceptional piece called Beautiful for Women’s Day. She was amazing.

Do you have any writing or reading events this week? Care to share?

Other events:

wordsthaw

In Victoria, BC, WordsThaw returns to warm the University of Victoria from March 16–20.

Writing Wise Words – An Interview with Toni Morrison…

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I found this interesting and enlightening interview on Alan Rinzler’s blog. There is a wealth of information and insight within this blog, so I suggest you bookmark it..!

The interview is with Toni Morrison, a critically acclaimed author.

ToniMorrison

Read the interview here:

http://www.alanrinzler.com/blog/2015/03/21/toni-morrison-write-erase-do-it-over/

Toni’s books:

bluesteyebeloved1sula

Literary News – Colleen McCullough…

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Colleen photo

Again we have lost a wonderful author,Colleen McCullough. I was dismayed at the harsh comments concerning how she looked – what does it matter what the outside looks like? She was an accomplished author and a Neuroscientist. It was her imagination, her drive and her love of life – which is apparent by her gorgeous smile and twinkling eyes. We will value her work and obvious intelligence and her words in some 24 novels and shun the insincerity of ‘face value’, ‘puddle deep’ thinking.

Here is the announcement:

“It is with great sadness that Harper Collins Books Australia advise(s) that the iconic and much-loved author, Colleen McCullough, passed away on Thursday in hospital on Norfolk Island, aged 77,” the publisher posted on Facebook.

Her 1977 novel “The Thorn Birds,” which sold 30 million copies worldwide, was made in to a TV miniseries in 1983, starring Richard Chamberlain, Barbara Stanwyck, Jean Simmons and Christopher Plummer.

The generation spanning novel is set in the Australian outback. “A priest torn between his calling and the lure of a rancher’s daughter in this sumptuous epic…resulted in the second highest rated miniseries ever after Roots,”according to TV Guide.

At the time, the book’s paperback rights sold for a record setting price of $1.9 million.

McCullough was born in Australia, but lived and studied abroad for many years. She was a neurophysiologist and worked at hospitals in Australia and Britain, and for 10 years at Yale Medical School in New Haven, Connecticut.

 Thorn Birds cover

Aside from “The Thorn Birds,” McCullough wrote more than ten other novels including the historical series “The Masters of Rome.” Her most recent novel, “Bittersweet,” was published in 2013.

She was also featured on an Australian Post postage stamp. “She was one of the first Australian writers to succeed on the world stage,” according to HarperCollins Books Australia.

“It is very sad to lose Colleen McCullough. Her contribution to storytelling is the stuff of legend, she will be greatly missed,” Random House Books Australia tweeted.

Did you read The Thorn Birds? Watch the TV series?

Which novel of Colleen’s did you enjoy the most?