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JANUARY * |
2012 Annual General Meeting & Open Mic Night
Come out to vote for the new executive! Please nominate likely people -and consider stepping forward yourself. A full executive is important to the operation of the VWS. Following the election, we will have refreshments, mingling and an OPEN MIC. All members are invited to read from their works of fiction, creative non-fiction and poetry. Please sign up on arrival. Members are invited to advertise and sell copies of their published works. Society members who offer services for writers, such as editing or publishing, may provide information about themselves and their work. 2012 memberships: Please print out the membership form and bring along a cheque ($30 for the year). Guests welcome. |
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FEB. 1st # |
Submissions – Island Writer 10/1 – DEADLINE |
| February | Gareth Gaudin: The Graphic Novel as Literature.
Gareth Gaudin is a life-long cartoonist, illustrator and painter who has committed himself to writing a page-a-day in his on-going, serialized graphic novel Magic Teeth. He has documented the minutiae of his life for over two decades and self-published 130 comic books along the way. Gareth owns a world-famous comic book shop and can talk for hours on any facet of the comic book industry. Just try him. |
| March | Charles Tidler: Adapting Your Story for the Screen
Charles Tidler was born in Ohio in 1946. He studied literature and philosophy at Purdue University. His two connected one-act plays, Straight Ahead and Blind Dancer, premiered in Vancouver and were later published, as was his next play in 1983, Farewell Heart. His collaboration on Make Me Laugh for the Edmonton Fringe Festival was followed by The Butcher’s Apron for Theatre Passe Muraille in 1990, the same year he adapted Jack Hodgins’ Spit Delaney’s Island in Victoria. Previous poetry titles include North of Indianapolis, published in Indiana, and Flight, The Last American Poem. Tidler came to B.C. in 1969. In 1977 he began a long stint teaching playwriting at UVic. Red Mango: a blues (Anvil, 2001) is a monologue about Charlie who follows the ‘large carrot’ between his legs. That carrot goes anywhere there’s music, sweat, and the possibility of getting laid. His novel about a jazz trumpeter entitled Going to New Orleans (Anvil 2004) has been described as a post-Beat neo-bebop gumbo. This first person narrative and sexual odyssey is about the music, history and literature of New Orleans–and a murder. Tortoise Boy (Anvil 2008) is a concert of four monologues from disparate people brought together in the emergency ward of a hospital after a teenager has undergone a psychiatric crisis. Hard Hed: The Hoosier Chapman Papers (Anvil 2011), is described as a ‘contemporary retelling of the Johnny Appleseed story’, and follows an apple orchardist – also a historian – who has just been released from an Ohio jail after serving two years for planting wild apple trees in a city park. PLAYS & BOOKS: Hard Hed: The Hoosier Chapman Papers (Anvil 2011) |
| April | Madeline Sonik: Kindling the Fire: methods of accessing creativity.
Madeline Sonik is an eclectic, award-winning writer and anthologist whose fiction, poetry and creative nonfiction have appeared in literary journals internationally. Her published book-length works include a novel, Arms, a collection of short fiction, Drying the Bones, a children's novel, Belinda and the Dustbunnys, a poetry collection, Stone Sightings, and a book of personal essays, Afflictions & Departures, which has recently been nominated for the BC National Award for Canadian Nonfiction and the Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Nonfiction. A new poetry collection, The Book of Changes, is forthcoming in 2012. |
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MAY 1st # |
Submissions – WRITING CONTEST – DEADLINE |
| MAY * |
Island Writer 10/1 Magazine Launch |
| June | Panel: Getting Your Fiction Published
Four published fiction writers (all present or former members of VWS) will talk about their unique experiences of being published. They will discuss how VWS can contribute to writers getting published for the first time. Come prepared to ask questions.
Jack Stewart has been an active member of the Victoria Writers Society since 2007. His first novel, Odd Ball, was published by Thistledownpress and nominated for the Bolen Books Children’s Book Prize this past October.
Robin Stevenson is the author of thirteen novels for teens and children. Her books include A Thousand Shades of Blue, Liars and Fools, Escape Velocity, and most recently, Hummingbird Heart.
Monique Domovitch embarked on the writing life at the age of fifty six. Four years later she has two self-published books and two separate contracts for books series, one with Obsidian/Penguin, and one with Carina Press/Harlequin.
Edeana Malcolm is the author of four novels based on the life of her ancestors. The fourth one, A Garden in the Wilderness, is published by Borealis Press. A prequel to this novel, The Serpentine Path, is available at Smashwords. |
| JULY * | X |
| AUGUST * | X |
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SEPT. 1st # |
Submissions – Island Writer 10/2 – DEADLINE |
| September | Contest Awards +
Pamela Grant: The life of a restaurant critic
Please come join us as we announce the winners in the Victoria Writers’ Society 11th Annual Writing Contest. Judges will present prizes to the top three entries in each category and the winners will read from their work. In addition, all those writers will be invited to have their story or poem published in the upcoming issue of Island Writer magazine. Following the awards, Pamela Grant, former Catholic school hellraiser, chef and reviewer for the Times-Colonist and Monday Magazine will discuss the life of a restaurant critic and how she accidentally became a published writer. Pamela will be happy to take questions regarding writing, food and wine. |
| October |
Janet Marie Rogers: Victoria Poet Laureate 2012 -2015
Janet Rogers, Victoria’s third Poet Laureate, will speak on her work in the genres of poetry, short fiction, spoken word performance using videos and recordings, and script writing.
Janet is a Mohawk/Tuscarora writer from the Six Nations band in southern Ontario. Born in Vancouver, Janet has been living on the traditional lands of the Coast Salish people (Victoria) since 1994.
Janet’s three published poetry collections to date: Splitting the Heart (2007), Red Erotic (2010) and Unearthed (2011). You can hear Janet on the radio as she hosts Native Waves Radio on CFUV FM and Tribal Clefs on CBC Victoria FM. Her radio documentary “Bring Your Drum” (50 years of indigenous protest music) won Best Radio at the imagaineNATIVE Film and Media festival 2011.
Ojistah Publishing (Mohawk for “star”) is Janet’s publishing label. ikkwenyes (“Dare to Do”)is the collective Janet and Alex Jacobs started in 2011. ikkwenyes invites artists into their collaborations to create projects that promote the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) culture. www.janetmarierogers.com |
| November | Merna Forster: Book Promotion and Marketing Tips for Writers.
Merna has worked with the Department of Canadian Heritage and Parks Canada across the country. She holds an M.A. from Laval University and is now at Uvic as the Executive Director of the Great Unsolved Mysteries in Canadian History.
Ms. Forster is the author of two non-fiction books published by Toronto's Dundurn Press: 100 Canadian Heroines and 100 More Canadian Heroines. She is also co-author of the picture book Children of the Prairie. |
| DECEMBER * |
Island Writer 10/2 Magazine Launch |
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N.B. |
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