Writers Fair
BC Living Arts and KAC present Writers Fair November 19th & 20th, 2010 Please read through the information carefully. Scroll to the end to find both an online registration form and a printable registration form! About the Conference The Kamloops Arts Council (KAC) exists to support emerging artists – this includes new writers, as well as providing exposure for established BC authors. We have joined together with the BC Living Arts group as well as mentorship from the Federation of BC Writers to bring more visibility to the literary arts in our community. “Books are the carriers of civilization. Without books, history is silent, literature dumb, science crippled, thought and speculation at a standstill.” Barbara W. Tuchman, historian & author, 1912 -1989 Register Now! Online KAC Writers Fair Registration KAC Writers Fair Registration Form 2010.pdf Conference Schedule FRIDAY NOVEMBER 19th: MEET & GREET, Hosted by the BC Living Arts, 7pm Free for registrants/$10 for general public 7pm – no-host bar & wine and cheese 7:30 – opening remarks
The Old Courthouse Cultural Centre
Sponsored by
SATURDAY NOVEMBER 20th, 9am to 5pm
9:00 to 9:30 - registration
9:30 to 10:00 – courthouse tour, with Elizabeth Duckworth, Kamloops Museum
10:00 to 10:30 – keynote speaker, Gail Anderson-Dargatz, novelist & UBC MFA Creative Writing Instructor
15 minute coffee break
10:45 to 12:00 - morning session (2 workshops to choose from)
Workshop 1
Gail Anderson- Dargatz, novelist & UBC MFA Creative Writing Instructor
Writing Home, turning fact into fiction
Workshop 2
Patricia Donahue, novelist & UBC Okanagan instructor
Character and Dialogue: Mutually defining elements in creative writing
Noon to 1pm – lunch
Lunch is included with your registration fee
Book sales: please see details below
1 to 2:15 – afternoon session (2 workshops to choose from)
Workshop 3
Janet Whitehead, author & creativity coach, workshop topic
Finding Your Creative Muse
Workshop 4
Sue Buis, freelance author & English instructor at TRU, workshop topic
Developing your Editing Skills
15 minute coffee break
2:30 to 3:30 – closing session
Moderator: Elma Schemenauer, author & editor
Panel discussion topic: Publishing
Followed by questions from the audience
3:30 to 3:45 - closing remarks and door prize draws followed by book sales (see details below)
to 5pm - books sales continue
Blue Pencil Critique
Blue Pencil Critique sessions are on a first come basis. Register early!
Have your work critiqued by experienced writers. For this 15 minute session bring a maximum of 3 pages of work and please make sure it is typed, double spaced in a standard font and size, such as Bookman Old, size 12.
Book Seller Tables
Book sales will be from noon to 1pm, and again at the end of the day. This is your opportunity to sell your book. We suggest you book your spot early as there are a limited number of spaces available. Booking your spot is $15.
Biographies
Gail Anderson-Dargatz
Gail is the internationally acclaimed and best-selling author of The Cure for Death by Lightning, A Recipe for Bees, and Turtle Valley, among other titles. Both The Cure for Death by Lightning and A Recipe for Bees were short-listed for the prestigious Giller Prize. Gail teaches novel, advanced novel and fiction in the University of British Columbia's optional-residency MFA creative writing program. Previously she taught fiction at UBC's Booming Ground creative writing program, and has been a guest lecturer at Simon Fraser University's summer publishing program, among many other venues. She gives workshops and lectures on crafting fiction and on living the writing life. Visit her website and forums, in which she has regular on-line chats with many of Canada’s best-known writers, at http://www.gailanderson-dargatz.ca
Janet Whitehead
Besides being a lifelong advocate for the creative soul, Janet Whitehead is a certified life and creativity coach, and a licensed creative muse group facilitator. Her background and experience helps her to understand that creatives have their own unique ways of moving forward. Janet understands the barriers to success for creatives, and the empowering ways to get past those barriers.
Patricia Donahue
Patricia Donahue was born in New Brunswick into a large bilingual family of storytellers. After studying to become a Registered Nurse at St. Mary´s Hospital in Montreal, she traded one seacoast for another when she moved to Vancouver. There she took her bachelors and masters degrees at the University of British Columbia, and raised her three children. Her first publications were in international academic journals in psychology. Later, when she turned to fiction writing, her short stories appeared in anthologies and magazines. She has taught psychology and writing at universities for over ten years while running a private practice as a psychotherapist for twice that stretch of time. Visiting seaports, maritime museums and the experience of being a trainee on the tall ship, Bark Europa, crossing the North Atlantic for the Acadian Sail 2004, formed part of her research for this novel. She is a member of the BC Federation of Writers, The North Shore Writers, an associate of The Canadian Authors Association, and a founding member of the Okanagan Writers League. Currently, she lives in the beautiful Okanagan Valley and is a writing instructor at UBC Okanagan Continuing Studies Department.
http://www.borealispress.com/mightyorion.html
Sue Buis
Susan Buis lives on an acreage near Kamloops BC. She holds a BFA from the University of Saskatchewan and an MFA in Creative Writing from Cal. State University Long Beach. Her poetry has been published in literary journals in the US and Canada. Her hobby is collecting second place awards, most recently, the 2009 Annie Dillard Creative Nonfiction Award (US) and the Arc Poem of the Year 2009, as well as making the list for the 2010 Far Horizons Award for poetry, Malahat Review. She recently attended Writing With Style at the Banff Centre.
Elma Schemenauer
At age eight I wrote a poem about spring, stuck it in a bottle, and threw it into a pond on my parents' farm in Saskatchewan, Canada. That was my first foray into writing and publishing. They've been my passions ever since. I'm the author of 75 books published in Canada and the USA. They include: -JACOB JACOBS GETS UP EARLY, middle-grade novel (Nimbus) -YESTERSTORIES, four books of historical short stories (Globe/Modern and Prentice-Hall) -NEWTON MCTOOTIN AND THE BANG BANG TREE, picture book (McClelland & Stewart) -NATIVE CANADIANS TODAY AND LONG AGO, factual book (Nelson) -SALMON, factual book (Grolier) [sold over a million copies]. I'm now writing novels partly based on my Mennonite heritage. I've edited many books for major publishers, most of them as a Toronto-based freelancer. I'm a graduate of the Universities of Saskatchewan and Toronto, and Briercrest Bible College. Before starting my publishing career, I was a teacher in Saskatchewan, Montana, and Nova Scotia. I live with my husband on a mountainside in Kamloops, British Columbia.
General Information:
Venue
The Old Courthouse Cultural Centre is located at 7 Seymour Street West (corner of Seymour and 1st Avenue)in Kamloops, BC. This historic three-storey brick building is a Kamloops landmark. The Court House was built in 1909 and stands as a symbol of justice and authority.
Places to Stay
Kamloops Towne Lodge (Conference Sponsor!)
1250 Rogers Way
250-828-6660
Downtown Kamloops boasts many quality hotels which are in walking distance of the Old Courthouse Cultural Centre.
Coast Canadian Inn (2 blocks)
339 St. Paul Street
250-372-5201
Plaza Heritage Hotel (4 blocks)
405 Victoria Street
250-377-8075
Hotel 540 (5 blocks)
540 Victoria Street
250-372-2281
The Thompson Hotel & Conference Centre (6 blocks)
650 Victoria Street
250-374-1999