Dear Members:
We're entering the holiday season with a bang and a NEW WEBSITE!
Here is some of what you'll see included in this month's newsletter:
- Re-sign up for your membership!
- NEW Writing Group & Poetry Club for members!
- Monthly Open Mic is back in February
- Writing workshops!
- Contests, awards, magazines, etc. open for submission
- Monthly Writing Prompt
If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions for future newsletters, please email us: director@peiwritersguild.com.
Events
NEW benefit for members: Writing Group & Poetry Club
We celebrated the start of 2024 by hosting these two new events and we could not have been happier with the turnout and excitement for them. For more information make sure to check out all details on the PEIWG website.
Poetry Club - Saturday, February 3
Writing Group - Sunday, February 18
Writers' Winter Social Success!
Our first Winter Social of 2024 took place on FRIDAY JANUARY 19th and we had such a wonderful turnout of over 30 PEIWG members!
Those in attendance excitedly shared that they'd enjoy more members' socials throughout the year so we'll be doing our best to provide that, so please keep an eye out for updates in our newsletters, on our website, and throughout our social media platforms!
Workshops
FICTION FUNDAMENTALS: AN INTRODUCTION TO WRITING FICTION
**10% DISCOUNT TO PEIWG MEMBERS!** **(not applicable to student/senior rates)**
DATES: March 13, March 27, April 10, April 24, May 8
LOCATION: Charlottetown Library Learning Centre
In this five-part workshop series, explore the art of writing fiction with award-winning Island author Trevor Corkum. Designed for both new and experienced writers, this fun and engaging series of workshops will focus on the key building blocks of writing powerful fiction—character, voice, plot, and more. Through a series of engaging exercises, in-class writing, and discussion, you’ll work through developing and editing your own short piece of fiction. Find your voice, deepen your creativity, and polish your story-writing skills!
Workshops will be held every second Wednesday evening from 6-8 PM in the Program Room (Community Kitchen) at the Charlottetown Learning Centre.
**Limited to 10 writers.**
Cost: $325/$250 (students and seniors) + HST
OVERVIEW Week 1: Character Week 2: Voice Week 3: Plot and Setting Week 4: Structure and Revision Week 5: Editing and revision
A NOTE FROM THE FACILITATOR, TREVOR CORKUM: "If we haven’t met before, I look forward to meeting! I love thinking about and teaching writing, especially in small group settings like this one. I’m an award-winning writer, educator, and scholar who has facilitated workshops and lectured across Canada and around the world. In terms of my own writing, my novel The World After Us is coming out soon with Doubleday Canada. My fiction, essays, journalism and reviews have appeared in Canada's leading periodicals, including the Toronto Star, The Globe and Mail, Walrus and others. My short story “Lost Boys” was recently shortlisted for the 2023 Commonwealth Short Story Prize, out of over 6000 entries from around the world. In Canada, my writing has been recognized with nominations for the Journey Prize, a National Magazine Award for Fiction, a Western Magazine Award for Personal Journalism, the CBC Short Story Prize, and the CBC Nonfiction Prize. I hold an MFA in Creative Writing from UBC, and an MA and PhD in Adult Education from the University of Toronto and my work has received funding from the Canada Council for the Arts, the Ontario Arts Council, the Toronto Arts Council, Innovation PEI, the Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC), Access Copyright Canada (through the Marian Hebbs Grant program) and the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity. On Epekwitk (Prince Edward Island), my partner and I run The Hideout, a rural property which offers retreats and self-directed residencies for Canadian and international writers."
For more information simply reach out to the author through email at trevor@trevorcorkum.com and make sure to identify yourself as a PEIWG member to receive a 10% discount.
Contests, Prizes, Residencies, & More!
Call for writer submissions from Tidewater Press!
**Better Next Year: An Anthology of Christmas Epiphanies** was a runaway seasonal bestseller in 2023. Upon a Midnight Clear is a new collection, to be published October 2024.
Submissions are now open for a second, new anthology, Upon a Midnight Clear, again edited by JJ Lee. Established and emerging Canadian writers are invited to contribute to this new collection of stories that illuminate the best and worst of Christmas.
Tidewater Press is seeking powerful, amusing, moving and heartfelt stories from diverse established and emerging Canadian authors from across the country in an anthology that debunks the popular depiction of Christmas while delivering its messages of hope and renewal.
Submissions of creative non-fiction/memoir should be 3,500 to 5,000 words in length; deadline for submissions is March 31, 2024.
This is an opportunity to be published in a bestselling Canadian literary anthology.
2024 CBC Nonfiction Prize is now open
2024 CBC Nonfiction Prize is now open!
The 2024 CBC Nonfiction Prize is currently accepting submissions until Friday, March 1, 2024 at 4:59 p.m. ET.
You can submit original, unpublished nonfiction that is up to 2,000 words. There is no minimum word requirement. Nonfiction includes memoir, biography, humour writing, essay (including personal essay), travel writing and feature articles.
Work that has been published online or in print or recorded for broadcast is considered "previously published" and is not eligible.
While the competition is active, submit online by creating an account through Submittable. A fee of $25.00 (taxes included) for administration purposes is required for each entry.
You may submit as many times as you like; each entry will require the $25 submission fee.
For more information click HERE!
2024 Amazon Canada First Novel Award is now open for submissions
Established in 1976, the First Novel Award program has launched the careers of some of Canada’s most beloved novelists. Previous winners include Michael Ondaatje, Joan Barfoot, Joy Kogawa, W. P. Kinsella, Nino Ricci, Rohinton Mistry, Michael Redhill, Mona Awad, Katherena Vermette, Casey Plett, Michelle Good, and last year’s winner, Jasmine Sealy.
The winner of the Adult Novel Category will receive $60,000, and the five finalists will each receive $6,000 in prize money. The Youth Short Story Category invites authors between the ages of thirteen and seventeen to submit a short story under 3,000 words. The winner in this category will receive $5,000 and the five finalists will each receive $500.
Submission Details
**Adult Novel Category** The winner of the Adult Novel Category will receive $60,000, and the five finalists will each receive $6,000 in prize money.
Submissions for novels in the Adult Novel Category published between April 1, 2023 and March 31, 2024, must be received no later than 5:00 p.m. (EST) on February 4, 2024. Entrants in the Adult Novel Category with novels slated to be published between February 5, 2024, and March 31, 2024, must submit advance copies of the novels no later than 5:00 p.m. (EST) on February 4, 2024.
**Youth Short Story Category** The Youth Short Story Category invites authors between the ages of thirteen and seventeen to submit a short story under 3,000 words. The winner in this category will receive $5,000 and the five finalists will each receive $500. Submissions for the Youth Short Story Category must be submitted no later than 5:00 p.m. (EST) on February 4, 2024.
For more information please use the link provided above, or click HERE
Applications Now Open for 2024 Hideout Residencies
Scholarship deadline for Maritime writers is March 1
Applications are now open for a unique writing and creative residency program in Prince Edward Island. Now in its fifth year, the Hideout Residencies welcome writers, artists, and self-care practitioners to a quiet rural setting on PEI’s south shore each spring and fall. Residencies are a week in length and allow for uninterrupted time to work on a creative project. The 2023 Hideout residency scholar was PEI writer Lauren Jean Lawlor.
In order to support Maritime writers and practitioners, one full scholarship covering residency costs is available to an emerging or established writer or practitioner with financial need. Writers or wellness practitioners who identify as BIPOC or 2SLGBTQ+ are especially encouraged to apply. The scholarship deadline for 2024 is March 1. For more information about the Hideout Residencies, the application process, or scholarship, click HERE!
Updates
Resign up for your membership!
We have officially made the move over to our NEW WEBSITE! To sign up for membership, please visit the website here.
If you were already a member, please use the code that was emailed to you—we know our members have already paid for some months when you renewed your membership the last time, so we wanted to be sure that you receive this new membership at a reduced rate. If you did not receive an email with a code, please contact director@peiwritersguild.com.
If you have ANY issues signing up for your membership, please contact admin@peiwritersguild.com with any questions. We’re hoping to make this transition as smooth and easy as we can!
And, finally, here are some new and exciting things that we’re doing for members in 2024:
- A FREE monthly writing group for PEI Writers’ Guild Members
- A FREE monthly poetry club for PEI Writers’ Guild Members
- Other discounts on workshops, Wild Threads events, ILA submissions, and more!
Donate
The PEI Writers' Guild exists to serve the writing community of Prince Edward Island. Your donations help us to provide services, programming, barrier-free memberships to those who need them, and so much more.
Donate through our Canada Helps page below or by clicking here! You will receive a tax receipt for your donation(s).
You can also donate by cheque or cash to PEI WRITERS' GUILD, 81 PRINCE STREET, CHARLOTTETOWN, PE C1A 3R4, or by sending us an e-transfer to payments@peiwritersguild.com.