Sept-Nov 2011 Freelance

September to November2011Volume 40 Number 5

Lorna Crozier, recently named an Officer of the Order of Canada, is the 2011 recipient of the Kloppenburg Award for Literary Excellence, presented in September, in Saskatoon.

Freelance

photo: Gary McKinstry

SWG STAFFExecutive Director: Judith SilverthorneAccountant: Lois SalterProgram Manager: Tracy Hamon (Regina)Program Coordinator: Sarah Shoker (Saskatoon)Communications Coordinator and Freelance Managing Editor: Jan MorierAdministrative Assistant: Milena Dzordeski Cover photo credit: Gary McKinstry Freelance is published six times per year for members of the Saskatchewan Writers' Guild. Submissions to Freelance are welcome for editorial review. If accepted, articles will be edited for clarity. The basic criteria to meet in submitting materials are readership interest, timeliness, and quality and following standard submission format (see web site). Viewpoints expressed in contributed articles are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the position of the SWG. We do not accept poetry or prose at this time.

Copyright for articles, reports, photographs and other visual materials or text remains with the creator and cannot be used or re-printed without permission. SWG pays for one time rights/use only. Payment for articles and reports is 10¢ a word (approx $80/published page). Photographs and other visuals are paid at a rate of $25 each.

Deadline for Freelance copy is: mid-November, 2011.

Freelance ISSN 0705-1379

BOARD OF DIRECTORSCathy Fenwick, President, Regina George Khng, Saskatoon Allison Kydd, Indian Head R. P. MacIntyre, La Ronge Scott Miller, EstevanDarla Read, SaskatoonJarrett Rusnak, ReginaCaitlin Ward, Saskatoon Lisa Wilson, Saskatoon Ex-Officio: Judith Silverthorne

Volume 40 Number 5Sept. to Nov. 2011

President's Report .....................................3 Cathy Fenwick

Meet your Board of Directors.......................5

Executive Director's Report .........................8 Judith Silverthorne

Revitalizing Retreats.................................12

Guild Copyright Updates...........................14 Judith Silverthorne

Meet New Personnel.................................16 Saskatoon Shenanigans............................16 Sarah Shoker

Spring Launch.........................................17

Retreat Reflections...................................19 Bernice Friesen

SWG Foundation News.............................20 Jo Bannatyne-Cugnet

SWG Author Readings Progr. Update...........21 Judith Silverthorne

The Question ..........................................23 SWG Members AnswerHog Report Poetery Contest .....................23

CANSCAIP Conference Report...................24 Sheena Koops“That Which does not Kill us...”.................27 Jodi Carmichael

Saskatoon The Word On The Street............28 MariLou Rowley

Yvette Nolan W-I-R S’toon Public Libr.........30 Andréa Ledding

‘Lit Happened..........................................32 Wes Funk

The Space-Time Continuum ......................34 Edward Willett

Books by Members ..................................36

Markets & Competitions ...........................39

We gratefully acknowledge the support of SaskCulture, Saskatchewan Lotteries Trust Fund and the Saskatchewan Arts BoardMailing Address:

Saskatchewan Writers' GuildBox 3986, Regina, SK S4P 3R9 Regina Courier or Drop-off Address:1150 8th Avenue, Suite 100Regina, SK S4R 1C9

Contact:Phone: (306) 757-6310 Toll Free: 1-800-667-6788Fax: (306) 565-8554Email: [email protected] or [email protected] site: www.skwriter.com

Saskatoon Courier or Drop-off Address:205A Pacific AvenueSaskatoon, SK S7K 1N9

CONTENTS

FREELANCE 3SEPTEMBER to NOVEMBER 2011

by Cathy Fenwick

PrESidENT'S MESSAGE

This is my second year as SWG Board President

and my sixth year on the Board of Directors. It has been interesting and enjoy-able. I admire the enthusiasm shown by Guild members, the commitment of everyone on the board of directors and the dedication of our staff. This year we extended a fond farewell to the following SWG board members, who have completed their terms: Jerry Haigh, Danica Lorer, Martine Noël-Maw, Kelly Anne Reiss and Marilyn Poi-tras. SWG service pins were presented to these members at the AGM, along with our deep appreciation. We bid a warm welcome to new mem-bers of the board of directors Allison Kydd, Darla Read, Jerrett Rusnak and Caitlin Ward. I look forward to work-ing with these new board members, along with those returning to the board, Lisa Wilson, Scott Miller, George Khng and Rod MacIntyre.

Everyone involved with the SWG works to create an environment where writers and writing flourish. Maybe it’s the weather, maybe it’s our cooperative spirit, and maybe it’s because of our funders and patrons who so generously support the arts, that Saskatchewan produces some of the best writers and artists in the world. Our Guild is known for having excellent team spirit. A great team ef-fort was evident in the move to our new location, the plan-

ning of our office-warming Open House, the launch of our Spring publication, and the planning and presenting of our Fall Conference and AGM.

On October 13, the day before the conference, Guild staff held an Open House at our new location. Though renovations are not yet com-pleted, people attending the Open House made several positive comments about the location and the pleas-ant environment that was created through the coopera-tion of the building owners, the architect and Guild staff, during the planning of the space. The launch of Spring, our publication for new and emerging writers, was held at the conference venue, with several of the included writers reading from their work. It looks like excellence in writing is assured in our future.

Our Annual Conference and AGM, with this year’s theme Un/Controlled Experiments, offered an impressive line-up of presenters. The Confer-ence kicked off on Friday at 1:00 with a panel discus-sion by writers Guy Gavriel Kay, Sandra Birdsell, Brenda Niskala and Lisa Wilson. The excellence exhibited in this presentation continued throughout the weekend. Highlights of the conference included the Caroline Heath Lecture delivered by Guy Gavriel Kay – by all reports

was very well received and much appreciated. The Short Manuscript Awards lunch on Saturday, with readings by winners Marie Powell and Bernadette Wagner was a stirring event. The John V. Hicks Dinner and Awards presentation to Joanne We-ber for The Deaf House, to Leona Theis for Unsupervised Swimming and Andréa Led-ding for Dans les poches des nos coeurs /In the Pockets of Our Hearts, was grand – each Award winner read from her manuscript. The always-popular Open Mic, hosted by Gerry Hill, ended the day.

The conference wrapped up at noon on Sunday after the AGM. A number of important concerns were expressed at the Stakeholders session on Saturday morning and at the AGM on Sunday. These con-cerns will be discussed and addressed by board mem-bers and staff in the coming months.

Since art and culture is the soul of a nation it is only fitting that we support and recognize our writers and artists. This year the presti-gious Cheryl and Henry Klop-penburg Award for Literary Excellence was presented to Lorna Crozier. The well-attended event garnered excellent media coverage, including a write-up in the Star Phoenix the following day. Lorna gave a heartfelt reply to the honour and gave

SEPTEMBER to NOVEMBER 2011FREELANCE 4

an excellent reading from her memoir, Small Beneath the Sky.

Five years ago the board started a tradition of hold-ing the September meeting in a town or city in rural Saskatchewan; a local writ-ing group hosts a dinner and reading on the Saturday evening before the board meeting on Sunday. So far, we’ve met in LaRonge, Swift Current, Tisdale and Este-van. This past September we met in Lloydminster. The Saturday evening event was once again boisterous and very well received by the writing community and the

Vision As an advocate for the art and craft of writing, the vision of the Saskatchewan Writers’ Guild is to continually support and promote all writers and their vital contributions to a healthy and vibrant society. Mission The mission of the Saskatchewan Writers’ Guild is to support writers by raising public awareness of the value of the work of Saskatchewan writers; to advocate on behalf of writers and work to improve their economic status; to foster a sense of community among writers; to promote excellence in writing; and to support and facilitate public access to and participation in writing.

Values In all its endeavours the Saskatchewan Writers’ Guild offers its members, colleagues and the public the highest standards of leadership, service and professionalism. The SWG is an inclusive organization open to all interested in writing; provides programs and services that are accessible to its members and to the public; is open and accountable in decision-making and the management of Guild resources. The SWG welcomes and encourages member participation; respects the skill, professionalism and diversity of writers; embraces and fosters diversity and inclusiveness; and supports and encourages all writers.

Mandate The Saskatchewan Writers’ Guild is a not-for-profit membership-driven organization that strives to sustain and enhance an environment in Saskatchewan where writers and all forms of writing flourish; to promote the well-being of all writers; and to advocate on their behalf.

local media. A big thank you to Danica Lorer for organiz-ing the Saturday dinner and readings and arranging the venue for the Sunday board meeting.

I’m looking forward to an-other year of excellent team effort and productivity for our Guild.

Best Regards,Cathy Fenwick

SWG New Mandate & Revised Fundamental Statements

Staff photo

2011-2012 SWG Board of Directors, missing Darla Read

The following is SWG’s new Mandate and Revised Fundamental Statements, which were rati-fied at the October 16, 2011 Annual General Meeting


George Khng has been inter-ested in writing since under-graduate days when he was the managing editor of his University newspaper. Trained as an engineer and presently a vice president of an engi-neering company in Saska-toon, he had the chance to travel widely from the Far East to the Americas. He is interested in peoples’ lives, the way they live and how they perceive the world.

He is a student of political and historical events and is often surprised by the varied dominant narratives from different times and different parts of the world. Being the only Asian on the board, he hopes to bring fresh perspec-tive that would further enrich the SWG’s fine tradition of being the outside voice to the people whose voices cannot otherwise be heard. He has published his first novel, Mist Over The Rain Forest, hoping to do his small part for getting those voices heard. Apart from writing, George is a painter of geo-metric art. He is married with two children.

MEET yOur 2011/2012 SWG BOArd Of dirEcTOrS

Cathy Fenwick has been a classroom teacher, therapist, manager of SIAST Career Services, and currently works in private practice as a workplace consultant and part-time instructor at SIAST. She holds a Masters Degree in Clinical Psychol-ogy. Cathy has publications in several journals, magazines and newspapers, and has published two books. Born in Indian Head and raised on a farm near Kendal, Cathy loves the prairies and makes her home in Regina. She is a member of ACTRA Saskatch-ewan and is an active partici-pant in a Saturday morning Improv group. “This is my sixth year serv-ing on the SWG board, second year as President. One of the best things about being on this board is that I get to work with like-minded people who are passionate about what they do and I tru-ly enjoy working with Guild staff.”

Now settled in Indian Head, Allison Kydd still celebrates her return to Saskatchewan after 25 years in other parts of Canada, primarily Edmon-ton. A strong advocate of writing retreats, Allison is grateful to rediscover the vibrant writing community in her home province. At the same time, she feels we should avoid being regional in our thinking.

Allison has recently com-pleted a historical novel set in Cannington Manor, near Moose Mountain Provincial Park, in southeastern Sas-katchewan. Though now only a scattering of empty buildings within and around a historical site, Cannington Manor once considered itself the custodian of English cul-ture in the New World of the Canadian Prairies.

The novel hasn’t yet found a home, but Allison has pub-lished widely in newspapers and magazines and teaches online for Athabasca Univer-sity. She is also delighted to have a novella coming out next year, part of Thistle-down’s New Leaf series.


Born and raised in Saskatoon, Scott Miller was a journalist for 20 years in Saskatchewan and British Columbia before returning to the University of Saskatchewan to obtain a degree in Native Studies. He has resided in Estevan for the last 15 years where he free-lances for motorcycle jour-nals and writes fiction. He has published short stories and a mystery novel Silence Invites the Dead.

As a long-time member of the SWG, he has benefited from a number of its many services over the years. With this commitment to the board, he wishes to contrib-ute in return. He hopes the board can benefit from a per-spective outside of the two major centres. The Estevan area has a thriving writing community.

Scott is married to Laurel, the town’s best librarian. His other passions are motorcy-cles and his home-made beer and wine.

Darla Read is a freelance writer and journalist in Sas-katoon. She has written for Eagle Feather News for seven years and contributes regularly to Saskatchewan Sage and Saskatoon Express. She has also written for The StarPhoenix and its maga-zine, Saskatoon Business, as well as On Campus News, Planet S and others. She also freelances to Missinipi Broad-casting Corporation (MBC) Radio. Currently she is the Communications Advisor to the Royal University Hospital Foundation.

Circa 1983, Rod MacIntyre quit driving cab, bought a computer, joined the SWG and committed to fulltime writing. Although he once worked as an actor and director, he is now primarily a fiction writer (his sixth and most recent title is Apart, Groundwood 2008) and edi-tor (over forty titles). He has served on the SWG board twice and presently makes his home in La Ronge with Sharyn and his two cats. He has ridden his Yammy sea to sea to sea to sea, and played golf and blues harp along the way.

Jarrett Rusnak is President of Dacian Productions Inc. He concentrates his efforts on writing, producing and directing, though you will also find him behind a cam-era capturing images, or in an edit suite pushing but-tons. He has a reputation for creating projects that are distinct for their visual treatments and engaging storytelling. His most recent series, InJustice won Best Historical/Biographical Series at Showcase, 2009.

President

Cathy Fenwick

MeMbers-at-Large

George Khng Allison Kydd Rod P. MacIntyre Scott Miller Darla Read Jarrett Rusnak Caitlin Ward Lisa Wilson

ex-OfficiO

Judith Silverthorne20

11

-20

12

SW

G B

oard


Caitlin Ward is a Saskatoon-based writer. Her literary work has appeared in The Society, in medias res, Grain Magazine, and most recently, Spring Magazine. As a spo-ken word artist, she com-peted in the Saskatoon Slam Poetry Semi-finals in 2011. Ward has also worked as a journalist for several publi-cations, including Planet S Magazine, Wears the Trou-sers UK, Spaces Magazine,

Lisa Wilson is entering her final year on the SWG board. In her role as board member Lisa has been pleased to rep-resent the SWG at a variety of events and to be an am-bassador for the organization within the Aboriginal writing community.

Lisa’s board-related experi-ences include being a found-ing member and first presi-dent of the Saskatchewan

Recently, Jarrett completed a play, That Moment In Between. The play won the Saskatchewan Playwright Centre’s 24 Hour Play Writ-ing Competition, and after further development, was accepted into the SPC’s 2010 Spring Festival of New Plays. Jarrett volunteers at O’Neill High School in Re-gina, teaching script writing, and along with Tara Dawn Solheim, produces The Ver-tigo Reading Series.

Jarrett was born and raised in Regina and has been work-ing in the film & television industry since 1995.

His blog can be found at www.jarrettrusnak.com

and The Humboldt Journal. She is a regular columnist for The Prairie Messenger. In the spring of 2011, she participated in the SWG men-torship program under the tutelage of Dave Margoshes, working on her first novel. Ward teaches grammar and creative writing to teenage

ESL students at the Saska-toon Open Door Society on a volunteer basis. In her other life, Caitlin is the Engaged Learning Coordinator at St. Thomas More College in Sas-katoon, promoting commu-nity engagement to students and creating partnerships be-tween the college and larger community.

Aboriginal Literacy Network, which will celebrate its tenth anniversary next year. More recently, Lisa is a founding board member of the An-skohk Aboriginal Writers’ Circle, Inc. and assisted with the planning of the revived 2011 Anskohk Aboriginal Literature Festival. Professionally, Lisa has worked at the Gabriel Du-mont Institute since 1997. Lisa’s writing has appeared in magazines like Grain and Geist, as well as in a number of anthologies. In fall 2011, Gabriel Dumont Publishing will publish Lisa’s non-fiction book, An Institute of Our Own, about the history of the struggle to establish the first Métis post-secondary institution in Canada. Coteau Books will publish Lisa’s col-lection of short stories, Just Pretending, in spring 2013. Lisa lives in Saskatoon with her husband Declan and their seven children.

photos courtesy of Board Members


ExEcuTivE dirEcTOr'S rEpOrTby Judith Silverthorne

All things are bright and beautiful in our new

Regina Guild office and we thank everyone for their pa-tience and understanding dur-ing our move and the chaos surrounding it.

Although this has set us back somewhat more than we expected in a number of areas, including in our esti-mated time of delivery for the Arts Professions Act material, and we had a few email and computer glitches, we feel confident about being back on track for the most part. We have a new server, new software program running our website, and a new data-base for our author readings program. There may still be some tweaking to do, so if you notice a link not work-ing or something else amiss, please let us know. If you sent an email and haven’t had a response, please send it again, as we may not have received it.

We do try to respond to all emails and phone calls within 24-48 hours, barring press-ing deadlines, sickness, staff away for conferences and vacation, having to do re-search before we can answer and things that may beyond our control. Your communi-cations to us are important. In fact, we will soon have an interactive Forum on our website for members to communicate in another

way. We also hope you take advantage of our Twitter and Facebook capabilities.

If there are questions, con-cerns, or accolades, members are encouraged to individu-ally contact the Executive Di-rector or Board President by email or mail. We can then address the issue, answer questions, do any research necessary and impart addi-tional and accurate informa-tion, which we hope will pro-vide a clearer understanding of the situation. Issues also go to the Board for delibera-tion, thoughtful examination and decision-making.

New Guild Personnel We are pleased to announce Sarah Shoker is our new Saskatoon Program Coordinator. Please drop by and introduce yourself or give her a call with your ideas. We also welcome Rilla Friesen as the new Grain Editor for the next three-year contract. Her experience and vision will assist her in selecting her three associate editors and continuing to publish the Guild’s high quality literary magazine. Both Sarah and Rilla’s bios and photos can be found in this issue of Freelance.

Fall Conference The Guild’s annual confer-ence and AGM from all appearances and comments that have reached our ears and eyes was another overall

success. Highlights are sprin-kled throughout this issue of Freelance, including a quick introduction to your new Guild Board. We thank the many attendees, and the spe-cial volunteers who took time out of their busy schedules to assist, including Regina volunteers Keith Foster and Lucille Nawrocki for stuffing conference kits. Thanks to the Conference Committee for planning an exciting line-up, and to the staff for all your organizing and tireless dedication in making sure it ran smoothly. You did a super job! We are especially grate-ful to our presenters and offer congratulations to all award winners.

Thanks also to those of you who took the time to return evaluation forms. These help us considerably in shaping future gatherings and ad-dressing matters, especially those that we may not be aware of and because we will be making substantial changes to the structure of the conference next year. There is still time to send us your thoughts and make rec-ommendations either through an email or by sending us a completed evaluation form available on our website: www.skwriter.com/programs-and-services/fall-conference-agm.

One of the major changes for the conference next year will be the date. Due to extremely


tight deadlines around the audit process and having the annual report printed and in members’ hands in the required timely manner, we will be moving the confer-ence and AGM two to three weeks later near the end of October or first weekend in November. This will also ease things somewhat for the staff, as several of our grant applications are due October 15, and currently having the conference fall right after Thanksgiving weekend leaves a short week in which to make necessary final arrangements. As we legally have 120 days from our fiscal year end (July 31) in which to hold the AGM, it makes sense to give our-selves the needed extra time for all associated prepara-tions, yet not push the date back too far into the season of inclement weather. At their November meeting, the Board will determine the exact date and announce it shortly thereafter.

SWG AGM Motions Several motions were made at the AGM. One raised the issue of Grain magazine and whether or not the Guild should continue to be the publisher. Over the next three years, the Board is to seek ways to make Grain an independent publication with its own board of directors. As part of this process, the striking of an ad hoc committee will take place and a survey will also be created for members to respond to the proposal. Further information will be forthcoming soon on

both these initiatives if you wish to participate in the discussions.

The passing of SWG’s man-date statement and revisions to the fundamental state-ments also took place. These are printed in full in this issue of Freelance and also avail-able on our website: www.skwriter.com/about-the-swg.

Another motion was made to emphasize the importance that “SWG, as a top prior-ity, establishes contracts for publications (Freelance and Grain) stating that licens-ing is for one-time use only, and the rights revert back to the contributors.” As has been reported previously, we have been working over the last few months to develop such written contracts, poli-cies and other professional aspects, both separately and in conjunction with the Arts Professions Act, which supports this very issue. We hope to have these finalized before Christmas with sam-ples posted on our website and available through the Guild office for members. These are for use in the Guild’s operations and to be used as templates for writers as reference in other negotia-tions.

Creator Rights The Guild’s respect for writ-ers and artists rights has been in existence from its inception as an organiza-tion. In fact the brief state-ment about the copyrights of material submitted to Guild publications has been on the inside front cover of Free-lance in every issue for years.

Although perhaps implied, other creators besides writers were not clearly defined. This is being rectified by rewriting copyright statements to out-line what these rights entail for writers, photographers and/or illustrators in Guild publications. Invoicing Over the past several months we have asked for a signed invoice initiated by the creator, rather than one generated by Guild staff when contributing to Freelance and other publications. This is now a prerequisite in order to trigger payment. Not only is this needed for proper accounting procedures and internal controls, but it provides details for the services being supplied by contributor and indicates their agreement terms of the contract were met. This also assists in record keeping, checking on previous payments, and helps determine attribution related to rights if other records are not available. We appreciate everyone who is already sending these to us. Examples are on the Guild web site (www.skwriter.com/professional-development/business-of-writing/invoicing), though we recommend creating your own invoice template as you will likely be needing these more often in other aspects of the writing and publishing industry. Please note that sending an invoice does not take the place of a contract. These will be required for each contribution to Guild publications as well.


SWG Writers/Artists Retreats In other Guild news, the SWG Writers/Artists Retreats program is undergoing revitalization. Policy reviews and bringing this program into alignment with them is providing some exciting new opportunities. A full detailed explanation is in this issue of Freelance.

Retreats at St. Peter’s Ab-bey in Muenster also face another issue. The Abbey has contacted the Guild Board in regards to the books and equipment stored there for use during the Guild’s winter and summer retreats. With the advent of their renova-tions, the Abbey has less space and has humbly re-quested the Guild remove these belongings due to stor-age issues. These ancillary items include items such as rugs, lamps, indoor games, retreat scrapbooks, sports gear, costumes, a gazebo and lawn chairs.

Under consideration are the following options:

•Investigatingoffsitestorageand transportation possibili-ties for our belongings and associated costs.

•Whetherornottokeepafew reference books only and eliminate all other books and ancillary items in a suitable fashion.

•Askingparticipantstobring their own pleasure reading and/or use St. Pe-ter’s Abbey College Library to which we enjoy 24-hour keyed access, as well as wireless Internet supplied in rooms.

•Makingallancillaryitemsthe responsibility of partici-pants to bring on their own.

•PurchasingKindle/Kobe,etc. readers and loading them for participants to sign out for reading and research.

The Board is investigating the options, while keeping in mind that retreat participants are guests with limited oc-cupation status at the Abbey and the Guild must respect that this is the residence of the monks, who have gener-ously shared their homes. The Board is also reviewing the basic needs for par-ticipants in all retreats and is well aware of views and considerations surrounding St. Peter’s location in par-ticular. A decision must be made about the Guild Library and other belongings before the winter retreat takes place in February 2012.

Facilitated Aboriginal Writers Retreat At the end of August, the Guild held a Facilitated Aboriginal Writers Retreat at the Spring Valley Ranch near Ravenscrag. It was coordinated by Aaron Tootoosis, one of our summer employees who focused on programing for Aboriginal Writers. The rave reviews from retreat participants, host and coordinator of this venture has prompted the Guild to make this a regular program

Program Changes The University of Regina, Centre for Continuing Education Centre, Business & Professional Development department has discontinued offering creative writing classes, and thus our partnership with them has ended. There had been an agreement for reciprocal discounts for classes and Guild memberships. Although anyone could

staff photo

Connie Deiter and Simon Moccasin at the Aboriginal Writers’ Retreat


submit a résumé and apply to teach for them, the Guild negotiated the hiring of SWG members as part of the partnership guidelines, which resulted in several writers from various genres being contracted.

Other possible changes under discussion is the launch of Spring magazine at a differ-ent time of year. This would no longer tie the launch to the fall conference in Regina, as it has been with the maga-zine being published in Octo-ber only every second year. The timing and criteria for the Short Manuscript Awards are also under review as submissions have dwindled considerably

Guild Awards Congratulations to Lorna Cro-zier, this year’s recipient of the Cheryl and Henry Kloppenburg Award for Literary Excellence, the presentation of which was held at the Saskatoon Club on September 7th. We had great media coverage and thank the Kloppenburgs for their gener-ous $10,000 award, as well as Dorothy Knowles for bestow-ing her watercolour painting from which prints are made for the recipient. Congratulations also to the recipients of the John V. Hicks Award, Joanne Weber, Leona Theis and Andréa Led-ding. Kudos as well to Berna-dette Wagner and Marie-Pow-ell Mendenhall, winners of the Short Manuscript Award.

Festivals Thanks again to the Sas-katchewan Festival of Words for another great program and to those who attended the Guild reception during

the exciting annual event held in July. The Guild also participated in The Word On The Street festivities at the end of September and we congratulate organizers on the smashing success on their inaugural full-fledged festival. Thanks to Kelsey Gottfried for working our table at the festival and fill-ing in at our Saskatoon office this fall.

Activities and Events The Guild’s Open House, held before the conference, was a hit, especially thanks to Sharon Elliot of Weyburn who so elegantly played her harp to our delight. For those of you who had the opportu-nity to see the latest office location, we will soon be offering more workshops and other activities in the spa-cious boardroom-cum-library. Members may also want to reserve the space for small readings or book launches. Our annual Christmas gather-ing is scheduled for Decem-ber 8, and we invite you to tour again then, or drop in any time.

Sharon Plumb Hamilton’s Wordpress workshops in Regina and Saskatoon were also well-received. If there are other communities that are interested in hosting one, we would entertain discuss-ing this. A minimum of 10 people are required.

In Saskatoon Weaving Words, which has run three times, is another success-ful workshop that we will continue to offer. Although Buffalo Chips, the Urban Aboriginal Youth workshop, was postponed until No-

vember, it was a great part-nership with Saskatoon’s Core Neighbourhood Centre and Wanuskewin Heritage Park with instructors Curtis Peeteetuce and Andréa Led-ding.

We also held several great Rural Readings and work-shops, thanks to Canada Council for the Arts.

Candace Savage and Arthur Slade (Eastend)Linda Aksomitis (Rosetown)Rebecca Grambo (Manor)Barbara Klar (Manor)Rod MacIntyre and Lynda Monahan (North Battleford)Lynda Monahan (Nipawin)Suzanne Paschall (La Ronge)

Fall activities are in full swing and many others are planned for the coming months.

Some have come at the suggestion of members and we’d like to hear more about what you’d like to have of-fered. Hope you’re having a productive and warm autumn.

The elegance of the harp charmed the guests at the SWG Open House on October 13. We thank Sharon Elliot of Weyburn for sharing her music.

staff photo


REVITALIZING RETREATS

As many of you know, the Guild Board and staff

have been reviewing policies and programs to bring them in alignment with previous directives and new initiatives. Grain magazine and Retreats (Colonies) are the last of the arms length committees to be incorporated whole-heartedly as programs of SWG, though the initiative was man-dated a few years ago. There are a number of alterations and en-hancements that have now become policy after conducting vari-ous Board discussions, consultations, reviewing reports and additional research material, and receiving emails and letters from members, retreat participants,

heads of facilities, funders and other interested parties.

As a program of the Guild, and therefore following these policies, the Retreat Coordi-nator and Guild office staff manage operations (budgets,

other financial aspects and fees, advertising, research of new facilities and make nec-essary decisions in arrang-ing retreats). The Executive Director hires and oversees the Coordinator the same as any other staff member or contract worker who man-

ages programs.

Within the new param-eters, the adjudication structure has been improved, including the criteria for assessment, so that other factors including maturity and suitably are also taken into account along with quality of work so that we maintain high stan-dards and serious intent of participation. As well, all genres are welcome.

The Guild is seeking four adjudicators to serve on the new SWG Writers/Artists Re-treats Adjudication Committee. The role of this committee is to review applications and make recommendations for those to be accepted for attendance at the winter, spring and summer retreats. One artist and three authors will be selected and serve a one-year term which may be renewed once for a total of two years. Those chosen for the Adjudication Committee must have substantial publication history (artists to have similar exhibition history) and have attended retreats of some kind previously or have some experience with retreat philosophy. Adjudication Committee members may not apply for or attend retreats while they serve their terms, which begin in November. A total honorarium of $200 per year to adjudicate all three main retreats will be given to each Adjudicator.

Please send a cover letter and brief resume outlining your experiences with writing/artist retreats. Deadline for Adjudicators applications is 4:30 pm, November 18, 2011. For more information on the revised SWG Writers/Artists Retreats Program, please visit the Guild website: http://www.skwriter.com/sk-writers-artists-retreats.

WriTErS/ArTiSTS rETrEATSprOGrAM AdJudicATOrS NEEdEd

continued on next page

July, 2011 Retreat at St. Peter’s Abbey Clockwise from left—Kathleen Wall, Julie Burtinshaw, Hazel Kellner, Myrna Garanis,

Virginia Eckert, Bernice Friesen


ADJUDICATIONCOMMITTEE

A new Retreats Adjudication Committee will serve for that purpose only with the follow-ing parameters:a. The Adjudication Commit-

tee’s main role is to re-view the applications and make recommendations for those to be accepted for attending the winter, spring and summer re-treats.

b. The Adjudication Commit-tee is to be made up of one artist and three writers.

c. Those chosen for the Ad-judication Committee must have substantial publica-tion history (artists to have similar exhibition history) and have attended retreats of some kind previously or have some experience with retreat philosophy.

d. Adjudicators will be ap-pointed for a one-year term, which may only be renewed once for a total of two years.

e. A total honorarium of $200 per year will be paid to each Committee mem-ber to adjudicate all three seasonal retreats.

f. Adjudication Committee members may not attend retreats while they serve their terms, as per the Conflict of Interest and program policies.

g. Adjudicators will be ap-pointed annually after the summer retreat, so that adjudications can start taking place mid-to-late November for the winter retreat.

FEES

Fees have been restructured to more closely align with the actual costs of atten-dance at SWG retreats, which means all fees have been increased. The costs for operating the Retreat Pro-gram include the Coordinator fees and travel, meeting/ad-judication costs, facilities (ac-commodations and meals), and supplies and materials, which for the St. Peter’s Ab-bey in Muenster location are minimally $550 per person per week. Other retreat loca-tions are substantially more, and as such fees will be charged accordingly.

The Retreats Program is funded through the Guild’s operating budget which comes entirely from Sas-katchewan provincial funds to support Saskatchewan residents, and as such, the Guild is able to offer subsi-dies for our members, who reside within Saskatchewan. In order to cover the costs of the retreats, fees for non-members and out-of-province participants had to be raised. Therefore, members from Saskatchewan pay the sub-sidized amount; out-of-prov-ince members pay the full amount, minus the current cost of the highest member-ship; and non-members pay the full amount to participate in the SWG retreats.

When retreat facilities be-come cost prohibitive and require guaranteed numbers, careful consideration is given to finding more suitable loca-tions, such as in the case of

the retreats at Emma Lake, which had to be discontin-ued for the time being. The Spring Valley Ranch at Ra-venscrag will be the June retreat location this year. We also continue to seek additional options for facili-ties and ways to make them affordable.

As well the Guild is consid-ering the possibility of add-ing more retreats, regular or facilitated, such as those for specific genres (e.g. poetry, fiction, non-fiction and sub-genres if requested, such as sci-fi, mystery, romance, etc.), different languages and cultures (Aboriginal, French, Asian, etc.). The length and venue of these retreats may be variable as well. These may be particularly possible, as partnerships and funding may be available for instruc-tors for additional facilitated retreats.

For more information on the revitalized SWG Writer/Artist Retreats Program, and to ap-ply to attend, please see our website: www.skwriter.com/sk-writers-artists-retreats.

The call for applications to serve on the Retreats Adju-dication Committee is also on the website and else-where in this issue of Free-lance.


Over the past year, and more intensely in the

last few months, the Guild has been reviewing policies, procedures and following the proceedings of new copy-right laws, while striving to develop written materials, including basic contracts for the writing community. This includes both updat-ing and creating policies and statements, separately and in conjunction with the Arts Professions Act. Throughout this process, SWG has been consulting with lawyers and various organizations across the country including The Writers Union of Canada (TWUC), Canadian Freelance Union (CFU), Professional Writers Association of Can-ada (PWAC), ACCESS Copy-right and others.

The Guild has always held that the writer (creator) maintains ownership of copy-right of their materials. This ongoing practice is, and has been, that when the Guild licenses a piece of work for any of its publications (Freelance, Grain, Wind-script and Spring, etc.), it is for one-time use only, and the rights revert back to the contributor. This means all copyrights, including republi-cation rights, remain with the copyright owner and sub-missions will not be used or reprinted without permission and further compensation.

As such, the brief state-ment about the copyright of materials submitted to Guild publications has been on the inside front cover of Free-lance in every issue for years. However, this statement has been revised for clarity and to include materials submit-ted by photographers and illustrators.

Therefore the new policy statement reads:

Copyright for articles, re-ports, photographs and oth-er visual materials or text remains with the creator and cannot be used or re-printed without permission. SWG pays for one time rights/use only. Payment for articles and reports is 10¢ a word (approx $80/published page). Photographs and other visuals are paid at a rate of $25 each.

The Guild’s collection of pho-tographs, both printed and digital is undergoing a thor-ough re-cataloguing process in attempts to identify the attribution of photographs that are as yet unknown. Thanks to Gerry Hill, who some years ago was hired to create a photograph log for the Guild’s hundreds of pho-tographs, a major portion of this has been done. However there still remain a number that are unidentified and we will be seeking further assis-tance from the Guild mem-bership as we create a more advanced searchable and retrievable database.

We have also been reconsid-ering, updating and creating documents for other profes-sional aspects of the writing

industry. For instance some months ago, we instituted a revised Guild invoicing process whereby, rather than internal staff produced expense forms, the creator must generate their own invoices to receive payment for submissions as proper ac-counting procedures dictate for internal controls. Not only does this assist in confirming details of records and attribu-tions, but it indicates agree-ment terms were met with the creator. We recommend that writers develop their own invoices. The Guild does have an invoice template on the SWG website that may be adapted for individual use.

Full written policies for Guild publications and sample contracts are gradually being rolled out as they are com-pleted and will be available on the Guild website in the Members Section. The first of these developed is a short standard agreement for sub-mitting articles to Freelance which will be posted shortly to the members-only section. A longer, more substantial contract is also available, courtesy of PWAC on the members-only section.

Although the Guild will provide additional example contracts for member’s use, these are simplified, basic samples only, and it is up to each individual to ascertain whether or not they suit their needs. Consulting with a lawyer is recommended in all legal matters if you are in any doubt about clarity of rights. (A straightforward first step is to have a conver-sation with the licensor so

Guild Copyright Updatesby Judith Silverthorne


you understand the intent of the contract offered. Most are open to discussions and consider changes.)

Some important items to note in the whole profes-sional process around rights and proper documentation is that when the Guild pur-chases one-time rights for an article, report, photograph or illustration, this includes the rights for the digital ver-sions (PDF and Flip) that are posted on the SWG website. This follows the Supreme Court ruling (in Thomson vs Robertson), wherein a digi-tal version of a publication is simply that, another ver-sion of the same edition. As long as the digital version presents the material sub-

stantially in the same way (similar layout, organization, etc) then it is simply a dif-ferent version of the same edition. (Info provided thanks to Michael O’Reilly of The Canadian Freelance Union.)

At this point, the Guild is in-vestigating whether or not to maintain archival online edi-tions of Freelance and other publications so that they are perpetually available. Under consideration are the implica-tions around this decision as far as one-time rights usage, if additional payment is re-quired in certain circumstanc-es and whether or not there is a difference if the archive is behind a “members-only” firewall. We will keep you posted about this and many

other rights issues over the course of the next few issues of Freelance, Ebriefs and on our website.

Please note that contracts are very important to all cre-ators as protection for rights in order to receive proper us-age of material, recognition, and payment. If there are any problems, the onus of proof is on the claimant.

In other words, it is the creator’s responsibility to make sure they have proper contracts in place to protect these rights. It is further the responsibility of the cre-ator to monitor their works. Therefore, the Guild advo-cates creators having appro-priate contracts in place as proper practice.

Poetry: First Place: Marie Powell “Urban Glances”

Fiction: First Place: Marie Powell “Angelwing”

Non-Fiction: First Place: Marie Powell“ One Week in Wales” Children’s: First Place: Bernadette Wagner “Crybaby”

Congratulations to the Recipients of the SWG Short Manuscript Awards 2011

Bernadette Wagner, Marie Powell

The Saskatchewan Arts Board has launched an events calendar on the front page of their website at www.artsboard.sk.ca. SAB offers client organizations the opportunity to have events posted. Please send your list of events for the 2011-12 year to [email protected] photo


New Grain Editor announced: Rilla Friesen, originally from Riding Mountain, Manitoba, took her first stab at editing when she was ten years old. Sending out a call for sub-missions to her family and friends, she collected short stories, poetry, and family tales, which she dutifully pho-tocopied and stapled for dis-tribution. Since then, she has completed her B.A. and M.A. in English at the University of Saskatchewan, going on to co-edit and co-write two ju-venile fiction novels for Kwae Zhen Press. Rilla is currently a freelance editor and some-time poet.

We welcome Sarah Shoker SWG’s new Program Coor-dinator for Saskatoon to our team! She has a wealth of ex-perience and enthusiasm.

Sarah is a graduate from the University of Saskatchewan, where she is currently finaliz-ing her Master of Arts degree in Political Studies. Growing up in Saskatoon, she attended several SWG workshops and is now excited that she can con-tribute to the organization that influenced her personal devel-opment in writing fiction. She speaks three languages flu-

ently and has been responsible for organizing and managing many events.

SWG members in Saska-toon will be pleased to

learn that we have a busy fall schedule! We recently wrapped up Culture Days, a citywide initiative meant to showcase the arts in Saska-toon. SWG, along with sev-eral participants in the Dance Saskatchewan building, par-ticipated in this initiative by hosting Culture Crush. More exciting fall news: in Septem-ber, Lorna Crozier became the 2011 recipient of the Klop-penburg Award for Literary Excellence. Well done!

SWG has many upcoming ex-citing workshops and events for the Saskatoon area. We held a workshop on food and recipe writing. Our Plate to Page event was on Saturday, October 29th, led by award-winning food writer dee Hobsbawn-Smith. We are also holding a workshop by award-winning author Brenda Baker, who will help workshop par-

ticipants master effective reading techniques in our No-vember 19th workshop, How to Give an Effective Reading.

SWG is also working hard to partner with local organiza-tions. Together with the Core Neighborhood Youth Co-op, we conducted a workshop for Aboriginal youth called Buf-falo Chips: Stories from the Core, held Nov 1st-Nov 4th, and Nov 7th. Additionally, in partnership with the Global Gathering Place, we are host-ing another creative writing workshop for new Canadians and immigrants to Saskatoon. Weaving Words has been a resounding success, the past one resulting in a printed col-lection of stories.

Please stay tuned as new workshops are announced! If you have any questions about the further SWG programs in Saskatoon, please contact Sarah at (306) 955-551 or at [email protected]

Saskatoon Shenanigansby Sarah Shoker


Spring Volume Seven, October 2011

Spring, new work from emerging Saskatchewan writ-ers, was launched October 13 in Regina, just before the Annual Fall Conference. Excitement was in the air, ushered in by Mari-Lou Row-ley, our hostess for the evening. Eight readers presented their works. A mix-ture of fiction, non-fiction and poetry from an eclectic

collection of Saskatchewan writers. Thanks go to the readers and all contributors

with special thanks to Spring editors Mari-Lou Rowley, Helen Mourre and Randy Lundy. The Spring launch was sponsored by Access Copyright.

Each SWG member will receive a copy of Spring, coming soon to a mailbox near you.

First Place: Joanne Weber The Deaf House—hearing loss offers a unique point of view Second Place: Leona Theis Unsupervised Swimming vignettes and journal entries create an anti-memoir Third Place: Andréa Ledding In the Pockets of Our Hearts, an untold story of Batoche

Andréa Ledding, Leona Theis, Joanne Weber

James Weseen of Saskatoon reads Waltzing Matilda, a non-fiction selection from Spring, Volume Seven. Staff photo

Cover artwork “Cheerio” by Nancy Lowry

Lori Pollock of Saskatoon reads The Death of Walter Hoskins, a fiction selection from Spring, Volume Seven. Staff photo

Congratulations to the Recipients of the John V. Hicks Awards 2011

Staff photo

We thank Access Copy-right for sponsoring the Spring launch


Un / Controlled Experiments

Thanks to the 2011 Conference

Committee:

Brenda SchmidtJeanette Montgomery

Melanie SchnellMarie Powell

Kelly Anne Riess

Guy Gavriel Kay and John-Paul Fiorentino Genre-soluble: Insights, Reactions and Possible Solutions

2011 Conference -a place where writers gather,

experiment with wordsand share the joys and

challenges of their craft. Cathy Fenwick, President SWG

2011 Conference

October 14-16, Regina

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s

SWG StaffTracy Hamon & Lois Salter

at theRegistration

Desk


When I think of the Sas-katchewan Writers/Artists Retreats, the two words that come to mind are solitude and community, ideas that are opposites; these are the two main things that creative people need other than their hands, hearts, and minds… if you don’t count money.

I personally benefit from attending the retreats. As an emerging writer in my mid-twenties, it gave me access to the community of others who needed solitude to produce art. Friendships began and grew because of it and writers groups. I know of books that would not exist without it. Because of it, Saskatchewan itself has a greater presence in the nation’s literature.

In the past few

years, the Retreats have been a life-line for me, a subsidy of my sanity as I try to write through the years of young motherhood, the only place I go where I don’t have to cook, pick up after child-hood’s daily tornado, or answer the constant cries of Mummy!—a place I can listen to my thoughts all day long — a place I can get away and work, but not too far; I am still attached by two psychological umbilical cords, and don’t want to be too far.

And perhaps this is one of the most important things about the Retreat program. It’s here. It’s ours. Every stay at the retreat is a financial

Retreat Reflections

Bernice Friesen

grant to a writer—writers who are mostly local. This is a precious program, a pre-cious place. Other creators, whether from Ontario or British Columbia, envy us the retreats, a program they haven’t been able to create for themselves, possibly be-cause of changing economic times.

The Saskatchewan retreats were established at a time of rare government financial lar-gess—a time that seems to be over. New programs like this have very little chance of being created, especially as governments continue to cut funding for the arts, at the same time as places like the Emma Lake Kenderdine

Campus double their fees, making attendance finan-cially impossible for most creators.

Please consider a donation to help maintain the Re-treats program, so they can keep on providing a place where creators can step away from life, and look back at it, and understand.

Reprint of the donation letter sent to SWG members November, 2011

The Saskatchewan Writers’ Guild will be holding a Winter Retreat at St Peter’s Abbey February 3-24, 2012. Cost is $300 per week for Saskatchewan Writers’ Guild or CARFAC SASK members (Saskatchewan Residents), $475 (Out-of-Province residents, members of SWG or CARFAC SASK ) or $550 per week (Out of Province residents, non-members of SWG or CARFAC SASK). Deadline for receipt of applications is 4:30 pm, November 30, 2011.Please send completed applications to: Saskatchewan Writers’ Guild, Attention Retreat Coordinator, Box 3986, Regina, SK, S4P 3R9. To apply online please visit: www.skwriter.com/sk-writers-artists-retreats. For more information, please contact the retreat coordinator at [email protected]

SWG Writers/Artist Retreat - Winter 2012

Dominga Robinson at the first Aboriginal Writers’ Facilitated Retreat

staff photo


Donations may be made by cheque mailed to the SWG Foundation c/o the

SWG office, online by Pay-Pal, or cash, if you want to drop by the street address.

dear SWG Members: Since my last note about

the SWG Foundation plans to procure a building for the Saskatchewan Writers’ Guild to rent we have:

1. a name for this endeavour —The Legacy Project

2. presented the idea to the members-at-large at the SWG AGM and a motion of support was passed by the membership.

3. a motion passed by the SWG Foundation that all funds donated to The Leg-acy Project are to be used only for the procurement and/or maintennce of a building.

So now that the basic ground-work of bringing the various stakeholders (SWG Founda-tion, SWG Board, SWG mem-bership) to the table, we begin the work of procuring funds. At the SWG AGM I men-tioned my idea of asking every SWG member to put aside $1.00 per week for 50 weeks. I was allowing for a two-week holiday with you able to spend the $2.00 on anything frivolous. If all 700 plus members were to donate $50.00 this would result in approximately $35,000.00. If we as a group were to do this over a five-year period it result in $175,000.00 This would give us a decent down payment on a building. More importantly it gives me vali-dation when we approach do-

nors outside the SWG to say we are serious and the mem-bership is onboard supporting the Legacy Project. How can I ask others for money when we are not willing to dig into our own pockets? A most wonderful surprise awaited when I returned to the table I was sitting at. Two cheques were waiting for me and three more arrived very shortly thereafter. By the time I left the meeting I had cheques for $450.00 in hand. Interesting-ly all the cheques were from women. Thank you ladies. I was absolutely delighted to have your immediate support. There has been an expression of concern about members who cannot afford to sup-port this project. The thought was that young people in particular might not be able to come up with the money. My friend Rod Dickinson—and co-chair of the Legacy Project—gave me the best bit of advice: “Stop being a so-cial worker. People will make their own decisions about what they can and will give. You will have those who do-nate $50.00 and those who will donate $10,000.00.” So folks—I leave it up to you. When you are donating funds to the SWG Foundation, please ensure that you have indicated that the money is for the Legacy Project. Also indicate if we can acknowl-edge your donation in Free-lance, etc. Receipts for dona-tions for 2011 will be sent out from the SWG office in Febru-

ary. We will keep track of your total donations, as when the building is a reality, there will be a special recoginition for all those who helped make it happen.

We have discussed ways to be efficient in our soliciting and will not be using the tradi-tional mail out as 80% of our membership is reachable by e-mail. Please be patient with us as we launch this project. Rod and I look forward to your input; however we have both decided, we are more likely to listen if you donate! (Sorry, I just couldn’t help myself.)

I like the new building where the SWG office is now relo-cated—once I found it. But we are paying over $40,000.00 per year in rent. Imagine what the SWG outreach could be with that money. Your contri-butions to the Legacy Project can make this happen. If the money comes in faster, then we can make this happen faster. I have seen buildings for sale that would suit our needs and would also allow us to have additional tenants but until we have money, we can only dream of the possi-bilities. I will talk about that in the next Freelance.

Regards,Jo Bannatyne-Cugnet

Jo Bannatyne-Cugnet


This year the SWG Author Readings Program was

open-ended for host appli-cants without a set deadline. The intent was to make the program available year round with only a six-week lead-time for applications, so that teachers and other hosts who weren’t able to plan a year in advance could take advantage of programming throughout the year.

However, applicants unex-pectedly swarmed in at the beginning of the fiscal year and gobbled up the $30,000 subsidy funding before mid-October. We are extremely apologetic to announce that due to the popularity of the program, our funding has depleted quicker than antici-pated and we are unable to fund more readings at this time. We’re asking hosts to let us know if they wish to be on the waiting list in case funding does become avail-able, as there are sometimes cancellations.

These conditions are similar to what has happened in the past when the deadline was

for May 1 and hosts had to plan a year in advance. As a result, we will be giving seri-ous considerations regarding the implementation of the program in the future and re-viewing the process for how best to accommodate hosts during a full year.

Despite the glitches we ex-perienced with delays while enhancing our database processing system this fall, which caused some letters of approval to go out later than planned, we did man-age to notify hosts by phone to confirm their readings. We also responded to authors with inquiries as quickly as we could under the circum-stances and appreciated everyone’s patience.

The rather harrowing condi-tions included the unexpect-ed sheer number of appli-cants all at once, the chaos around the Guild’s move with computer/email and fax ma-chine problems (some faxes weren’t received), a key staff person being sick for a week, and sent approval emails all bouncing back because of system firewalls in libraries and

schools. Measures have been put in place to rectify these problems, and all should go smoothly from here on in.

One of the issues that en-sued, regardless of the time lapse, was that some hosts did not confirm readings with the Guild office before they proceeded, as required. It’s really important that hosts receive approval and that they contact the authors to confirm and make final ar-rangements before proceed-ing with readings. It is equal-ly important for the authors to have received approvals and to contact the hosts to verify and finalize prepara-tions for readings before they undertake them.

As this is the inaugural year for the changes to the SWG Author Reading Program pro-cess, we can assure you that the glitches have been or will be worked out before next fall, and criteria and funding disbursements will be exam-ined to provide a more equi-table and longer-extended practice. Of course, we are always searching for more funding to augment this valu-able program and our great-est hope is find a sponsor so that we could be even more

far-reaching than we cur-rently are. Suggestions for improvement and funding sources are always wel-come.

We thank everyone for their patience and most im-portantly for participating in this important Guild pro-gram. SWG authors reach a great many young minds and budding writers.

SWG Author Readings Program Updateby Judith Silverthorne

Guy Gavriel Kay cracking wise with fellow presenters Brenda Niskala, Sandra Birdsell and Lisa Wilson on panel “Into the Great/Un/Known - Emerging vs Established”

SWG Oct. 14-16/11 Conference, Un/Controlled Experiments Regina

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Professional evaluation at a sensible feeThe Manuscript* Evaluation Service assists writers at all levels of development who would like a professional response to their unpublished work. The service is avail-able to ALL Saskatchewan writers, and uses the talents of Saskatchewan Writers’ Guild (SWG) published mem-bers. You do not have to be a member of the SWG to use this program. The SWG offers this service with the generous partnership of the Saskatchewan Arts Board.

Full details & fees atwww.skwriter.com/pro-grams-and-services/man-uscript-evaluation-service. Send your manuscript and payment to the following ad-dress:

Manuscript EvaluationServiceSaskatchewan Writers’ GuildBox 3986Regina, SK S4P 3R9

For more information, phone 306-791-7743 or [email protected]

MANuScripT

EvALuATiONSErvicE

* Manuscripts:• Prose• Poetry• DramaticScripts(theatrical)

The Playwrights Reading Series 2011/2012, hosted by the Department of Theatre, University of Regina in partnership with the SWG presents Daniel David Moses, reading from his recent dramatic work.

November 24, 2011 at 8:00 p.m. Shu-Box Theatre, University of Regina

Upcoming:

Feb. 29, 2012 8 p.m. Sharon Stearns ED 114March 7, 2012 8 p.m. Hannah Moscovitch ED 114

The readings are open to the public and free of charge.

For more information please contact the Theatre Depart-ment at 585-5562.

Playwrights Readings Series

SWG Book Table for members and guests of the 2011 Conference

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As a short story writer, I’ve always been amazed at anyone who can produce a novel, let alone more than one, in a lifetime. It can almost become one’s life work.

A novel is not merely a short story that has grown out of control. A novelist must weave a single thread throughout the entire piece and tie that thread tightly enough to bind all the elements together, securely and seamlessly.

Even writing a novelette is beyond the reach of many. After countless revisions, how many times does it have to be submitted before it’s accepted? For every novel published, at least a dozen more lie dormant in a desk drawer.

One thing is certain—writing a novel is definitely not for anyone with a short attention span.

What steps are necessary when switching from writing short fiction to novels?

Berni Friesen:

Keith Foster:1. Relax

2. Stretch into a bigger space to play.

3. Dive deeper into the hu-man psyche; the idea has to be important to justify 200 or more pages.

3. Develop a tolerance for feeling stupid and terrified, because the thing will be unfinished—not good enough —for years.

4. Realize you can’t stop writing just because it feels like:

a) trying to strangle a snake that takes five years to die.

b) being the architect of a forest, but trees haven’t been invented.

c) being the idiot who put all the pages on a table and turned on a fan, and is running around, putting the pages back on the table while they blow off.

The Hog Report Poetry Contest was a thril l ing success of pig tales and media coverage, garnering interest from CKRM and CBC radio, and SCN television. Thanks to all who entered into the spirit of the contest and helped promote SWG along the way.

Congratulations to the win-ner Carrie Ann Schemenauer of Paddockwood, SK for her epig poem Lessons From Hogs. Runner-up was Deb-bie Adair of Regina with My Hog Has a Blog.

Our gratitude to CKRM, our co-sponsor for this fun con-test and reading the winner on the Ag Report. They also supplied swell swag for the winners.

Sharpen your pens for next year’s competition! Where there’s a swill, there’s a way!

The Saskatchewan Writers’ Guild acknowledges Marie Powell Mendenhall as the photographer for the photograph of Sharon Nichvalodoff and Gary Hyland inadvertently used on page 3 of the July/August 2011 issue of Freelance. Marie has since been compensated for the use of her photograph. We extend our sincere apologies.

This is a QR (Quick Response) code which responds to a code scanner from your smart phone. A scan of this particular code takes you right to the SWG web site.


from yodelling to tight-rope walking, from Cana-

dian Idol: Picture Book Edi-tion to an evening candlelight labyrinth walk, from writerly fortune cookies to muse-ful mugs, the ninth CANSCAIP Prairie Horizon conference is worth the two-year wait. Set against the golds, greens, reds and browns of the Qu’Appelle Valley at Lums-den’s St. Michael’s, folks from BC to Ontario join the Canadian Society of Children’s Author’s, Illustrators, and Performers’ prairie gathering. “I like meeting other authors, but being part of the commu-nity is what I love the most, and they’re all very accom-plished. I was born in Sas-katchewan, and I’m so proud of what they’re all doing here,” says first time confer-ence attendee, Beryl Young of Vancouver.

Keynote speaker, Shane Peacock of Cobourg, On-tario, is also glad to be at St. Michael’s. “I have always

enjoyed coming to Saskatch-ewan; it’s either the people or the landscape, but Sas-katchewan just seems to give birth to writers and writing. I am impressed by the people who have come to the con-ference, about how under-standing they are about the industry; they haven’t come with rose-tinted glasses, and they all seem to be working very hard.” The weekend opens with the first ever Canadian Idol: Picture Book Edition in which the first ten conference registrants requesting to join, could take the opportunity to pitch a picture book to three industry insiders: Shane Peacock, Kathryn Cole, and Georgia Graham. A sea monster, rock star, hockey hopeful, Snowbirds, creepy bug, feathered friend, green crayon, buffalo voice, flower power, and quirky collector took the stage with only five minutes to make an impres-sion. While the judges delib-erate, many light candles and walk in single file to the laby-rinth. They brave wind gales, and a half-lit path, but all return, some arm-in-arm, to hear the results of Canadian Idol. The judges discuss the difficult job of distinguishing the presenter from the poten-tial of the manuscript. What is at stake? Three trips to the top of Tundra Book Pub-lisher’s slush pile. And the winners are… Dianne Young, Marie Powell, and Jennifer Cugnet.

No stranger to awards him-self, Tundra’s internationally recognized Shane Peacock opens his keynote, “The Art of Shane Peacock” with a story. In the days after 911, artists were often quoted as feeling that their art seemed insignificant. “I wanted to yell, ‘No. No. No.’ Now is the time you have to believe in what you do,” says Peacock. Author of The Boy Sherlock Holmes series, Shane’s pas-sion permeates everything he says. “I’m intrigued by the human condition, and I really like weirdos. I take lots of notes until there is a buzz in my soul. Art is the reflec-tion of what it means to be alive. Always leave room for surprise.” Later, Peacock gives a public presentation, Becoming an Author: Imagine That, to tell his own story. Although he was not a reader as a child —wanting to be a hockey player—by university he decided he wanted to be an artist. It didn’t hurt to have Robertson Davies as a pro-fessor. “A really good writer will work horizontally and vertically. The horizontal is the narrative, what it is that I want to say? The vertical is the meaning, the subtext,” says Peacock. Oh, and on a mission to understand every-thing about The Great Farini, Shane learned to tightrope walk. Now that’s subtext!

Back on the ground, Kathryn Cole’s Publisher talk, The

Beyond the Horizon: Imagine the Possibilities! CANSCAIP Prairie Horizon Conference

By Sheena Koops

“You have five minutes,” says Dianne Young, CANS-CAIP Prairie Horizon’s official Open Mic timekeeper. “At four minutes, I’ll stand. At four and a half, I’ll move half way. At five, you’ll be done.”

“Dianne, but aren’t you go-ing to yodel,” says organiz-ing committee member, Jo Bannatyne-Cugnet.

“Yodel ay hee, yodel ay he he!”


Horizon is a Circle, inspires her audience to face change and the often frightening art-ist’s life with hope and opti-mism. Retelling a memory of sitting on the dock as a child and realizing that the world is round and she wasn’t fall-ing off, Cole revisits this im-age from a 360 degree, ninth story rooftop, and again she realizes the earth is round and we’re not falling off. In the publishing world, she adds, things work in circles and what goes around comes around, taking her audience through the series of chang-es she’s seen in her 43 years in publishing, and how, yes things change, but we’re still reading and publishing books. Not that everything is a smooth ride, and bad things can happen, but we don’t fall off the spinning globe. “Change is opportunity. Mes-sages will get out. Books will be there, one way or another. For you, the earth is not flat, and you will not fall off,” she says.

Steady on their feet, the award winning, dynamic duo

of Anne Patton and Wilfred Burton jig up a storm in their presentation, Dancing the Stories Together. Highlight-ing the collaboration process in their Fiddle Dancer pic-ture book series, Anne says, “Merging our cultural knowl-edge allowed us to go further than either of us could have gone alone.” Their presenta-tion is a dance, back and forth, switching leads, teas-ing, laughing, and sharing something beautiful.

Georgia Graham’s rustically framed prints, full of barn-yard chickens, appaloosa horses, and quirky characters graced the book table area, adding an art-show flare to the event. In her discussion Perceptual or Conceptual: The Art Must Fit the Story, Graham says, “Writing is the skeleton, but the illustrations are the flesh.” Her demon-stration of sketching an apple included starting light as you draw, then correcting it each time you go over it. Layer on to it, and add shadows to let it pop. In a public presenta-tion to follow, she explored

her own story in The Art and Stories of Georgia Graham. “I most enjoyed how she presented her large, specially made books for presenta-tions,” says Sandra Davis of Shaunavon. “She lifted the flaps to show photo referenc-es that influenced her draw-ings. It was very impressive. I even wrote down tips for my daughter, just entering art school.” The conference is full of eclectic people. “I feel like I’ve found home. It’s com-fortable. Everyone’s on the same wavelength that I am. I hear them echoing all my creative struggles, and I tell them what I’m doing, and they know what I’m talk-ing about. It’s my first time, and it won’t be my last. You know they say, ‘shoot for the moon, and you land among the stars’, well, I did!” says Judy Swallow from Alam-eda, Saskatchewan. Regina’s teacher-librarian Lisa Haut-coeur has attended the con-ference four times. “Why do I keep coming back? Because

Conference Delegates at the CANSCAIP Prairie Horizon Conference

Photo: Linda Askomitis


the people are beautiful. The ideas and connections are amazing. I’m not only a book geek, I’m a writing geek, and I find it fun. It’s inspiring to hear all these wonderful people share their stories. I learn about authors and I learn about books, and I can book talk them, and the kids like the books.” “The Anita Factor” an entire writing group, minus two, from Winnipeg, are attend-ing for the first time. “We took a workshop with Anita Daher last October, and she told us we were so close, we just had to keep meet-ing. There’s two here from Brandon; we’ve got to start a Manitoba chapter,” says Jodi Carmichael. “I’m here with Suzanne Leclerc, Candice Sareen, Melanie Mattheson, and Gabriele Goldstone.”

The mentorship dinner, Sat-urday evening, gave oppor-

tunity for each conference participant to share a meal with one of the conference celebrities. All the presenters, established writers Judith Silverthorne and Gillian Rich-ardson, as well as Regina’s own Heather Nickel, current president of the Saskatch-ewan Publishers Group and owner of Your Nickel’s Worth Publishing, acted as mentors. “We’re always trying to do something to benefit authors; that’s the whole thing with the mentorship dinner, some-one helped us, and we’re ready to help others,” says Jo Bannatyne-Cugnet.

The conference committee members, Gillian Richard-son, Linda Aksomitis, Valerie Hort-Warren, Anne Patton, and Jo Bannatyne-Cugnet have worked tirelessly. “I’m a person who’s had the benefit of other people arranging this event, and I just thought it was my time to take a turn,” says Bannatyne-Cugnet of

Weyburn. “I ended up doing different jobs than I an-ticipated, but the outcome is beyond our expectations, beyond the horizon, with a record attendance of 50, and we give credit to the fact that we had wonderful speakers, tried a few ‘novel’ ideas, like Canadian Idol: Writers Edition. We put our spin on it.”

On Sunday morning CANS-CAIPers are packing up rooms, hugging their pre-goodbyes, arranging rides to the airport, and getting ready for the wrap up meet-ing. Anne Patton begins the closing traditions, including the total-books-published-and-under-contract-count totalling 182 books together. And how many from the regions at the wrap up meet-ing? Four from BC; five from Alberta; twenty-five from Saskatchewan; seven from Manitoba; and three from On-tario. “Congratulations to all the participants,” says Linda Aksomitis, “With all your possibilities and imagination, you’ve brought colour to the valley. When we arrived the valley was green, and now we have the golds and reds.”“Our committee has been full of generous spirit, friend-ships, I can do that, and I have contacts, and we are really happy to pass this op-portunity along to the next organizing committee, for the 2013 conference,” says Linda Aksomitis. Stepping up to the call, imagining new possibilities are Maureen Ulrich, Sandra Davis, Judy Swallow, and Miriam Koerner from Sas-

Wilfred Burton teaching conference participants to Jig

Photo: Linda Askomitis


by Jodi Carmichael

Thank you, Friedrich Ni-etzsche for that little pearl of wisdom. Those would’ve been comforting words, if I hadn’t been so certain I was going to drop dead from a panic attack. They may even have given me an extra shot of courage, if I could’ve thought beyond; breathe, smile, look at the audience, and most importantly don’t talk at super-sonic chipmunk speed.

This past weekend, I attend-ed Prairie Horizon’s CANS-CAIP conference, drank the Kool-Aid and signed up for the Open Mike night. I was feeling the writer-love that our Saskatchewan hosts so graciously shared with me and my fellow rookies. I must have suffered a rare form of selective amnesia, forget-ting the audience included; the illustrious editor Kathryn

katchewan and two of the Manitoba newcomers, Jodi Carmichael and Suzanne Leclerc, from Winnipeg. They will call CANSCAIP Prairie Horizon friends together again September 20-22, 2013, celebrating the 10th conference and the 20th year anniversary. “I always learn something, every single time I come to CANSCAIP, and I feel motivated,” says Paula Jane Remlinger. May the next two years be full of art-full possibilities and productivity so that there is much to share in 2013.

Cole, the critically acclaimed author, playwright, journalist, and screenwriter Shane Pea-cock and the incredible talent of artist Georgia Graham.

When I recovered from my Saskatchewan love-in, and remembered this detail, I almost baled and surrendered to my fear, but I was given some advice that resonated with me far deeper than would any rantings of a long dead German philosopher.

Saskatchewan children’s author, Jo Bannatyne-Cugnet said to me, “It’s not about you, it’s about your story and it needs to be shared, or you wouldn’t have written it.”

Her comment reminded me of what being a writer is all about; we have these sto-ries inside us and a burning desire to share them. That seems more poignant when

“That which does not kill us makes us stronger.”you write for children. What we write and the characters and worlds we create help foster creativity and imagi-nation in our readers and if done well, can provide a place for children to feel in-cluded and accepted. This is true for all writers, whether you’re from Saskatchewan, Alberta, Manitoba…or far beyond our prairie borders.

With Jo’s encouragement, and heart pounding loudly up my throat, I continued down the bumpy road to publication. I took the plunge and read to my audience of fellow writers and famous people. They laughed in all the right places and I felt in-cluded and accepted into the folds of CANSCAIP. Not so surprisingly, it didn’t kill me. I survived and I may possibly be stronger. Except for the ulcer, but there’s medication for that.

TALKING FRESH: “PROJECTING THE NOVEL:

BOOKS ANd FILM”

March 2 & 3, 2012

Location TBA

Featuring: Nino Ricci Gail Bowen Esta Spalding Alison Pick

Stay tuned for more details


by Mari-Lou Rowley

After over two years of plan-ning, Saskatoon’s first an-nual The Word On The Street was by all accounts an out-standing success. Customar-ily held on the last Sunday of September to celebrate liter-ary arts and support literacy, the one-day national event is heavily weather-dependant. But then, people of Saskatche-wan are used to gambling with mother nature. September 25, 2011 was not only sunny and warm—it was one of the warmest on record, with the tempera-ture reaching 30 degrees. This year, Saskatoon joined Toronto, Vancouver, Halifax, Kitchener and Lethbridge in hosting the festival. Our in-augural event showcased 32 readings and performances on three stages. Author read-ings, a poetry slam, a panel discussion, a singer song-writer, and an improv theatre group delighted audiences of all ages.

Three thousand people braved the heat come to out to listen to the readers and performers, browse the book tables, or simply mingle. The best thing about The Word On The Street events is just that—readers mingling with writers mingling with pub-lishers mingling with those who support reading, writing and literacy.

Held on 23rd Street between the City Hall and the Francis Morrison Library, Saskatoon’s inaugural event reminded me of the very first The Word On The Street in Toronto 21 years ago. It had the same buzz of energy, curiosity and excitement. (Back then the Toronto event spanned two blocks of Queen Street West; now it takes over the entire Queen’s Park and attracts roughly 220,000 people.)

Upbeat in the Heat— Saskatoon Welcomes

The Word On The Street

Headliners were Saskatoon’s own Yann Martel and Re-gina’s Sandra Birdsell. Other crowd pleasers were Saska-toon’s five-member poetry slam team who have been performing to rave reviews and winning slams across the country, popular Métis singer-songwriter Don Freed, and Arthur Slade, Gover-nor General award winning author of The Hunchback Assignments. Authors David Carpenter, Don Kerr and Charles Hamilton en-gaged the audience with

their eloquent and convivial panel discussion “The City as Literary Text.” On average, readings and performances had audiences of between 40 and 80 people—compa-rable to festivals in larger cities such as Toronto and Vancouver—with headliners attracted between 80 and 125 people. The festival marketplace was abuzz with 49 exhibitors,

Photo: Bob Anderson


including booksellers, pub-lishers, independent authors, non-profit organizations, micro publishers, and inde-pendent authors. A primary mandate of The Word On The Street nationally is to promote literacy, with each festival donating ten percent of exhibitor space to literacy organizations. Saskatoon exhibitors to benefit from the initiative were Frontier Col-lege, Raise-a-Reader, READ Saskatoon, Saskatchewan Aboriginal Literacy Network, and the Saskatoon Public Library—a major sponsor of the event. “We had over 100 applica-tions for library cards the day of the event,” said Carol Johner, board member and the library’s manager of Community Relations. “The front desk could hardly keep up.” This comes as no surprise, as Saskatoon has one of the highest library lending rates in the country—one reason why the city was primed to host the event. Other reasons, of course, are the number and stature of resi-dent writers, the community of writers in the province, and the support we receive from our readers and part-ners. Special thanks to the Saskatchewan Writers’ Guild who helped get the event off the ground, and to Bob Calder and Jerry Haigh, SWG past presidents and The Word On The Street board members, for their vision and commitment to raising awareness of the literary arts in Saskatoon.

Heartening for the Saskatoon event’s ongoing success is how the entire community rallied to support the event with cash, media and in-kind sponsorship. Major support-ers included BHP Billiton, the University of Saskatch-ewan, Saskatoon Commu-nity Foundation, the Canada Council for the Arts, the City of Saskatoon, the Saskatch-ewan Arts Board, SaskCul-ture/Saskatchewan Lotteries, RBC Foundation, Tourism Saskatoon, and SaskTel. And media support and coverage was tremendous thanks to our media partners. What really made The Word On The Street Saskatoon happen was the commitment of a dedicated team of stellar board members, our excep-tional executive director Colleen McKay, and a host of volunteers who worked so hard behind the scenes and during the event to make sure everything ran without a hitch.

As the event came to a close after a long, hot day, and while we were helping to dismantle the booths, col-lect garbage and pack away gear, everyone experienced a feeling of exhausted exhilara-tion. We realized that we had “done it.” And it felt fantastic.

“We were absolutely delight-ed with our first full festival,” says Bob Calder, president of The Word On The Street Saskatoon. “The authors, exhibitors and sponsors were pleased, and attract-ing around 3,000 to a new festival was very good. We’re all excited about mounting an even bigger and better one next year.”

Spoken like a true leader, and echoing our unrelenting, if sometimes anxious, opti-mism. If we build it, they will come. And they did!

Featuring:David Bergen, writerRay Hsu, poetKevin Loring, playwrightYvette Nolan, playwrightNorman Nawrocki, performance poet

for more info:[email protected]

WRITING NORTH: WRITING THE ExTRAORdINARy

A Writer’s Workshop January 20th & 21st, 2012

University of Saskatchewan

Department of English


AEL: Tell us about yourself and your journey as a writer.

I always wrote; it took me a long time to find my form - theatre for the past twenty years. I come from two people who love words, who understand the power of language, getting the right words in the right order so you can “nudge the world a little” (Tom Stoppard, “The Real Thing”). My mother was a polyglot, her first lan-guage Algonquin, her second French, her third English. When she died she was a master of English, and was in fact teaching English as a Second Language to im-migrants. My father was the first place speaker of Irish in Ireland when he was in high school. And of course comes from the country of Yeats and Beckett. I always had books, no matter where we lived, I used to receive books in the mail, and I learned to read very early.

When I was very small, I would learn poetry to recite for my father as a gift on his birthday, or Father’s Day. “I must go down to the sea again, to the lonely sea and sky, and all I ask is a tall ship, and a star to steer her by...” John Masefield. Age five or six. It wired my brain for words, for poetry.

I wrote stories, reviews, let-ters, bad poetry. When I was working at the first Winni-peg Fringe Festival in 1988, I watched a bunch of plays and thought, wow, surely I can do better than this. And I have been trying ever since.

AEL: What is it about theatre that draws you?I love theatre because it is about giving voice, about getting and giving infor-mation through dialogue, through the voices of people who want different things, need different things. The-atre is my way of working things out in the world.

AEL: What is the Aborigi-nal writing scene like these days?

There are some of our bril-liant high-profile writers— Joseph Boyden, Richard Van Camp, Eden Robinson—who are an inspiration to us all. Theatre has in recent years blossomed - Marie Clements, Ken Williams, Tara Beagan - which inspires young people to write for the theatre, so then there’s a flurry of activ-ity by younger artists like Keith Barker, Clifford Cardi-nal, Waawaate Fobister, Falen Johnson. Having role models makes such a difference. It opens one’s eyes to the pos-sibilities.

AEL: What are some of the things you are looking for-ward to during your Writer-in-Residency in Saskatoon? What projects are you work-ing on?I miss the sky. I miss the

land. Toronto is a great city in a bunch of ways, but it is kind of divorced from the land, and that is hard for me. I just spent two weeks in Sas-katchewan, first at the Festi-val of Words, and then taking care of my dog Smudge while my partner Philip Ad-ams was running the Sage Hill Writing Experience at Lumsden. In that time I was

in Moose Jaw, Lumsden, Regina, Bengough, Buffalo Pound, and Saskatoon, just getting reconnected to the land. SO great. Of course it will be great to be reunited with Philip and Smudge for a while. And I am working on some terrifying and exciting projects. After eight years at Native Earth Performing Arts, Canada’s oldest professional Aboriginal theatre, I am feel-ing the need to write down what I think I know about Native Theatre in Canada. And I am working on an adaptation of The Birds by Aristophanes, for the Gate-way Theatre, set on the west coast and exploring the inter-section of the First Peoples and the settlers. And some-thing else, that is too fresh to talk about, for fear I jinx it. Ha. Looking forward to meet-ing some of the community and reading what people are

Saskatoon Public Library’s 31st Writer in Residence, Yvette Nolan – playwright, dramaturg, director, and educator from To-ronto – shared a few thoughts with us, and we’re excited to welcome her to Saskatchewan.

by Andréa Ledding

Talking to yvette Nolan, Writer-in-Residence, Saskatoon Public Library

“i love theatre because it is about

giving voice ... Theatre is my way of working things out in the world.”


working on. I know lots of the playwrights, of course, from my work over the years with Sas-katchewan Playwrights Centre.

AEL: Anything else? Advice for writers, a good recipe, the key to happiness?

I just heard a great piece of advice for writers that Judith Thompson (who is one of my heroes) gave, repeated to me by Ric Knowles, a friend and advisor who teaches at Guelph University. Judith told a student with whom she was working who was incapacitated by expectation, “all you have to do is write for forty minutes a day”. That freed the student from the blank page, the blank screen, the size of the task before her. Just forty minutes a day. Because of course, once you start, the forty minutes fly by and you are free to continue, to write for eighty min-utes. Or two hours. Or four. And that’s the way the work gets done. So simple.

Reprinted by permission of the author

SWG Visiting Writer needed to fill a three-week high school residency in Regina. Applicants must be residents of Saskatchewan. Please send your résumé to Tracy Hamon, SWG, Box 3986, Regina SK S4P 3R9; Email [email protected]. Deadline for receipt of applications is 4:30 p.m. Nov. 25. For more information, please call Tracy at 791-7743; Email [email protected] or visit web page. The Visiting Writer program is funded by a grant from the City of Regina Arts Commission.

Grain Magazine announces the winners of the 23rd Annual Short Grain (with Variations) writing contest.

The results for Grain Magazine’s 2011 writing contest, Short Grain (with Variations) are in! Judges for this year’s contest were Zsuzsi Gartner, Fiction, and Jeramy Dodds, Poetry. Winning entries and judges’ comments will be published in Grain’s Winter 2012 issue, Vol 39 No 2.

Congratulations to the winners!

Fiction 1st Prize, $1000 Pete Duval of Philadelphia, PA, USA 2nd Prize, $750 Zack Haslam of Victoria, BC 3rd Prize, $500 Zoey Peterson of Victoria, BC

Poetry 1st Prize, $1000 Tim Bowling of Edmonton, AB 2nd Prize, $750 Phoebe Wang of Toronto, ON 3rd Prize, $500 Vincent Colistro of Victoria, BC

Grain Magazine, a literary quarterly, publishes engaging, eclectic, and challenging writing and art by Canadian and international writers and artists. Published by the Saskatchewan Writers’ Guild, Grain continues to earn national and international recognition for its distinctive content and design.

www.grainmagazine.ca

23rd Annual Short Grain Contest

Jesse Archibald Barber and Brad Belledgarde (aka InfoRed) along with Thomas Roussin presented “Formal Hypotheses: Observations on the Oral/Written Relationship

SWG Conference OCTOBER 14 - 16,

2011 Regina

Staff photo


by Wes Funk

It’s the middle of January and it’s cold out. I am sitting in a downtown coffee shop, staring at the frost on the inside window ledge. I am peering around the café, at the various folks with hands wrapped around toasty bev-erages. People seem antsy, rambling about upcoming winter holidays and hopes of an early spring manifesting. I am patiently waiting for my friend Curtis to show up. I am not worried, he has just texted me and told me he will be there as soon as he drops his kid off at school. Eventually he steps through the door, smiles, waves, and orders a coffee and a scone.

“Friggin’ cold out,” he says.

I nod, recollecting how we met. A year prior, he inter-viewed me for the Arts-and-Entertainment segment of Shaw Cable News. My novel Dead Rock Stars had been doing very well in sales and he’d come to my workplace to film a brief chat with me about it all. We must have hit it off that day, because we’d been in contact since and here we are braving the freezing weather and chat-ting over java. As we sit in the coffee shop we comfort-ably spill out ideas to each other about our own creative pursuits and we come to some crazy mutual epiphany —a regular weekly TV pro-gram where authors around the province finally get some much-deserved coverage by being interviewed about their books.

As Curtis takes a gulp of coffee, he surprises me as he quips, “Yeah man, you’d be a good host for something like that.”

It’s crazy how life plays out because here I am in a TV studio, six weeks later, hauling in three of my clos-est friends, all of whom have also had success with self-publishing their manuscripts. As I sit at a funky thrown-together set of orange and black drapery, a crew mem-ber straps a microphone on me, and I have this sudden panic—what the hell am I doing, I am not formally trained in broadcasting? Then I realize, I was not formally trained in creative writing or pub-lishing and yet I managed to have success with it. As the camera begins rolling, I shrug—what’s the worst that can happen?

A week later, I am sitting on the couch, reading the morn-ing paper, my first coffee of the day in hand. My partner switches on the television and we hear a silky female voice say, “Coming up, our new weekly program Lit Hap-pens with host, local author, Wes Funk.” Darwin and I glance at each other and watch and wait.

The interview eventually comes on—my filmed chat

with Jacqueline Moore about her book The Saskatchewan Secret. Darwin and I watch in wonder, a little blown away by how natural and professional it all looks and sounds—the conversation is relaxed and interesting, the set is warm and comfortable, and the show’s logo is hot.

Months fly by. The crew of the show and I fall into a pat-

tern of taping four episodes one morning a month. I place an ad on the Saskatch-ewan Writers’ Guild online newsletter and receive numerous requests from writers who wish to be on

the program. There are all types who have expressed interest—novelists, poets, freelancers, columnists, blog-gers etc. The series is noth-ing, if not diverse, showcas-ing a plethora of emerging and established writers. The mood is upbeat on those mornings in the Shaw studio, as the exuberant guests of the show nervously filter into the room.

Spring manifests into sum-mer and summer into fall and the Programming Director of the TV station and the crew and I assemble for a morning meeting to see if we are all still on the same page (pun intended). The gang pleas-antly surprises me when they tell me they feel the show is a hit and that it can only get better. They throw out ideas

Lit’ Happened

we come to some crazy mutual epiphany—a

regular weekly Tv program where

authors...get some much-deserved

coverage


for a sleeker set and better graphics. I am elated.

Every Thursday, I try to check out the show as I am puttering around the house. I switch on the boob-tube and throw on the appropri-ate channel and can usually manage to catch myself on the screen. There are days when I beat myself up, when I know if I could have been just a little more organized, the episode would have been better. I often sigh—if I could have only had more time—more studio time, more research time. I find myself often doubting my skills—who was I to tackle such a project? There are probably countless others more qualified.

I continue to work at my day job (never quit your day job!) in support staff of the Sask Health Region. One particu-lar morning, I am having a downer of a day, nothing is going right. I watch a nurs-ing instructor strut down the hallway of the facility, a gaggle of young nursing students behind her. The woman is attractive, and her education and intelligence shine through in her voice as she lectures her students on proper nursing procedures. As the group marches by me, she glances over toward me and does a quick double take. Pulling her glasses down her nose, she directs her atten-tion toward me. “Hey,” she

says. “Aren’t you that guy on Shaw? The guy who in-terviews…”

One of her students inter-rupts. “And aren’t you the guy who wrote that book?”

I nod and grin (what else does a guy do?).

We all stand and laugh lightly together. The instructor who was so staunch mere mo-ments before, is suddenly so giggly and adorable. “What a great moment this is,” she says. “The closest I’ve come to meeting a star.”

I smile and wave and contin-ue with my work, my mood improving.

The Saskatchewan Writers’ Guild is seeking applications for the 2012 City of Regina Writ-ing Award, funded by the City of Regina. This competition is an award for literary merit in creative writing; it is open to writers in all genres. The $4,000 award is designed to enable one local writer to work on a specific solo writing project for a three-month period. The award competition is juried by professional writers from outside Saskatchewan.

You are eligible to apply for this award if you are 19 years and older and if you have been a Regina resident as of January 1, 2011 and if you have not won the City of Regina Award in the past five years. Applicants may submit one entry to this competition per year.

The recipient of the award must complete the three-month grant period by the end of Feb-ruary 2013. The decision of the jury will be final. Jurors may choose to not award the prize if they believe no submission merits it.

For complete guidelines, please visit: www.skwriter.com/awards/city-of-regina-writing-award Applications must be postmarked by Monday, January 30, 2012 or via email by midnight at [email protected].

For more information: Tracy Hamon, Program Officer,Saskatchewan Writers’ Guild; Phone: 791-7743;Fax: 565-8554; Email: [email protected]

City of Regina Writing Award deadline January 30, 2012


The Space-Time ContinuumBy Edward Willett

As I write this, I’m about to fly off to the World

Fantasy Convention in San Diego, where I’ve been as-signed to moderate a panel entitled “You’ve Got Science in My Fantasy!,” featuring fellow writers Gregory Ben-ford, Yves Meynard, Brent Weeks and L.E. Modesitt.The panel is described this way: “In Operation Chaos, Poul Anderson’s shapeshift-ers’ abilities were limited by the law of conservation of mass. Do such consider-ations enhance the narra-tive?”

It’s such an interesting ques-tion to me I thought that, with your indulgence, I’d use this column to work out my thoughts pre-panel.You’ve undoubtedly heard the phrase “willing sus-pension of disbelief.” It comes from Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s 1817 book Bio-graphia literaria or biographi-cal sketches of my literary life and opinions. The full quote runs like this:“In this idea originated the plan of the ‘Lyrical Ballads’; in which it was agreed, that my endeavours should be directed to persons and characters supernatural, or at least romantic, yet so as to transfer from our inward na-ture a human interest and a semblance of truth sufficient to procure for these shadows of imagination that willing suspension of disbelief for the moment, which consti-tutes poetic faith.”

The willing suspension of disbelief (although I kind of wish the term “poetic faith” had caught on instead) is essen-tial for the enjoyment of any work of fiction or drama. We know we’re watching an actor or reading a made-up story, but we pretend that what we are seeing is real or what we are reading really happened.

However, “willing suspen-sion of disbelief” is easier in some cases than in others. A story set here and now in which nothing happens that could not happen in the world as we know it requires little suspension of disbe-lief. Fantasy stories, using, say, Coleridge’s “persons or characters supernatural,” or featuring powerful wiz-ards, require a Golden Gate Bridge’s level of suspension.Some people find that they cannot suspend their disbe-lief that much, and so spurn on all tales of fantasy, horror or science fiction, muttering, “That could never happen.”Even those of us whose disbelief is usually suspended as easily as a soap bubble on spider silk can be thrown out of a story when something violates our own internal sense of what is and isn’t believable.

A case in point for me: the giant floating island in Yann Martel’s Life of Pi. I loved the book, but that one sequence

caused my suspended soap bubble of disbelief to wobble severely. Up until then the

book, for all its unlikely occur-rences, seemed thoroughly rooted in the real world: at that point, because I knew such islands do not exist, I was

plunged into a realm of fan-tasy, and since I did not think I was reading fantasy until I encountered that island, I was discombobulated.

The argument, then, in fa-vour of getting “science into fantasy” is that a brief nod of the authorial head to scien-tific law, even when magic is involved, makes suspension of disbelief a little bit easier.In my new fantasy novel Magebane (written as Lee Arthur Chane), for example, the energy for magic comes from heat: the MageLords in their palace actually have a giant coal furnace whose energy they draw on as required for major works of magic. (Smaller spells can draw energy from the air itself, which turns ice-cold as a result.)

To me, that little bit of grounding of the story in the laws of physics enhances the tale in two ways: it helps readers suspend disbelief, and it also places interest-ing restrictions on what the characters can do with magic—and just as grapes stressed by lack of water and high temperatures make the best wine, so do struggling

science

fantasy!

you’ve got

in my


characters make the best stories.

But when I posted some of these same thoughts online, one commentator said that when she reads of someone mixing science and fantasy, she figures the writer “could not grasp that something might exist, even in fic-tion, that didn’t reduce to hard principles, something that tapped into poetry and imagery instead, something that could be implied instead of explicated,” and feared it was a sign that “I am facing yet another book in which all the magic has been leached out of ‘magic’.”

Similarly, in a recent inter-view in New York Magazine, bestselling author George R.R. Martin said that, “When treating with magic in fan-tasy, you have to keep it magical. Many fantasy writ-ers work out these detailed systems, and rules, and I think that’s a mistake.“For magic to be effective in a literary sense, it has to be unknowable and strange and dangerous, with forces that can’t be predicted or controlled...It functions as a symbol or metaphor of all the forces in the universe we don’t understand and maybe never will.”

So, does mixing a scientific understanding of the world with magic strengthen or fatally weaken a tale of fan-tasy?

It promises to be a lively dis-cussion in San Diego—and I promise to report back.

A CD Recording of Your Work?

So your book of poetry or your novel has come out, and you’re scheduled for a reading at McNally’s or some other public venue. Have you ever thought of having a permanent audio recording of your writing? Think about it. Why not also have a CD recording of you reading your own work that could be included for sale along with your autographed publication? And don’t forget the archives: in that precarious mode called the future, readers, academics, and fans would also have the benefit of a permanent record of you performing your own work.

Ray Stephanson has a home studio in Saskatoon and uses state-of-the-art analogue to digital software and hardware to record high quality sound onto CD at very reasonable costs. (These costs will very likely be legitimate tax write-offs for most writers.)

If you’re interested in finding out about a recording session then please e-mail Ray at [email protected].

oetryPshort fiction

MYSTERY

Romance

Science FictionHumour

HistoricalChildren's

Young Adult

u

freelance invites you

to share your expertise in the craft of

writing.

SWG members - if you have a memory to share about time spent with or lessons learned from Glo-ria Sawai, Sally Crooks or Robert Kroetsch, please submit them to Freelance for the final issue of the year (December/January) where we will publish tributes to these influen-tial writers.

Send tocommunications@

skwriter.com


BOOKSby MEMBErS

The Books by Members feature is a promotional service for individual Guild members.

To let others know about your latest book, send a copy and a description along with a brief autobiographical note. The book will also be displayed in the SWG library.

The fifth novel in the Other Side Series, The Other Side of Torn, continues with the story of Eddie’s life in Ger-many after the Second World War. He has to make a major decision that will affect both his wife and children as well as the German family. He is desperate to confer with his wife on the matter. However, communication between a Canadian soldier and his fam-ily in the 1940s was painfully slow. There were two forms of communication available to them: letters and tele-grams. Letters typically trav-eled by boat and took several weeks and sometimes even

The Other SIde of Tornby Marie Donais CalderBorealis Press

review by Lynda Monahan

Here is a collection about the farm, about the people and life Bill Blum is so famil-iar with. He takes you along with him, exploring the plac-es he has been, meeting the people he has met along the way. The title, Picking Roots, describes the entire scope of this collection of poems, go-ing back to his roots as he does in many of the poems, poems that get to the root of who we are, as in “Leaving”:

“Me with scars of my own, have a long appreciation / for how wide and deep they can run./ And while many heal through time or a good therapist / others linger like yesterdays clothes / left piled in a laundry basket./ Sud-denly rising humpbacked and headless/ shuffling through the darkness near the closet door.”

Picking Rootsby Bill BlumPasquia Publishing Ltd.

months to reach their desti-nation. Telegrams were ex-pensive and therefore rarely used. A soldier’s family was often notified of their death by telegram. Hence, the sol-diers rarely used this method of communication. Eddie will have to make his decision without the luxury of hear-ing his wife’s thoughts on the matter. Which family will ben-efit from his decision?

Picking Roots is available by contacting [email protected] or by writing Box 364 Carrot River, S0E O1O

Le Bestiaire des Anges, the french translation of The Book of Beasts by Bernice Friesen, has recently been published by Québec Ame-rique. Its translators are Lori Sant-Martin and Paul Gagné, four-time winners of the Governor General’s Award in Translation.

Le Bestiaire des Angesby Bernice FriesenQuébec Amerique


Notes from Over the Hillby Martha MorganLast Mountain Times, Inc.

“The pages before you will offer a dose of humour and insights to ease doubts as the golden years approach. Consume liberally.” Dr. Lynda Haverstock

After writing for magazines, radio and television, Martha Morgan found her niche with her column, “Notes From Over the Hill,” launched in 1993. With the percentage of elderly on te rise Martha’s humorous looks at the quirks and foibles of again strikes a responsive chord.

A signed copy of the book can be obtained directly from Martha at [email protected] or (306) 653-1347 or at 2001-1223 Temperance St. Saskatoon SK S7N 0P2. $18. a copy.

Adrianna Marella-Wolfe, a woman of deep and lively faith, loves sharing her in-sights and loving hope with others. A Time for Prayer is her second publication of per-sonal spiritual reflections. She is a first-generation Canadian, has lived in Regina most of her life. Adriana received her Bachelor of Education degree at the University of Regina and taught for ten years.

She has given presentations and motivational workshops and is in a Lay Ministry For-mation Program. Adrianna has a lively and enthusiastic faith in which she takes joy in sharing with others.

A Time for Prayerby Adrianna Marella-WolfePeople of the Archangel Publications

Fresh and relevant, Susan has inspired men, women and teens with the Word of God from a young age. In her book Golden Apples in Silver Settings she shares that legacy in 20 chapters and fulfills her own dream of writing. Her delightful style has enthralled listeners and sound doctrines have forti-fied faith. God’s Word has identical power in the past, present and future, and it is her hope that this book will catalyze change for you.With brilliant images and real life applications, Susan takes the reader on a journey that is empowering and practi-cal. Be transported in these pages to towns, cities and islands, in silver settings of Canada and the Caribbean (no visa required.) Peek into churches or slip away to re-treats, and be energized with truth as timeless as golden apples. Read, dream and make it happen.

Golden Apples in SilverSettingsby Susan Harriswww.susanharris.ca/

A search for Regina Riot - Tracking the Trekkerson You Tube.com, on the SWG Channel, you will view a 4-minute video feature on the Walking Tour held last July. The tour and film screening was a partnership with the SWG, the Regina Plains Museum and the Regina Public Library. More vids to come!


Secrets lie buried in Bone Coulee. And one secret above all haunts Mac Chorniak. Re-tired from farming, he’s given up all but a small part of the farm to his son. But he’s hold-ing on to Bone Coulee.

His wife dead, Mac now lives alone in town, and drinks too much coffee with his old bud-dies. On his own, he reads the poems of Taras Shevchenko, trying to find his Ukrainian roots. But memory worries away at him.

When Roseanna Des-jarlais, an Aboriginal woman, moves to town with her daughter, An-gela, some long-buried secrets will soon start to be uncovered.

This is a dramatic, com-pelling vision of a small town and farming com-munity, created by a masterful storyteller.

For the Love of Graceby Tisdale Writers GroupPasquia Publishing Ltd.

For the Love of Grace is a progressive story, written by members of the Tisdale Writers’ Group. The story takes place during the early 1900s and is set in the area of North Battleford (then still in the North West Territories). Grace MacAllan has travelled from a city in Eastern Canada to teach in a country school there in the west. She is met at the train by handsome Nicholas Kruger, whose fa-ther Henry, is chairman of the school board. Almost instant-ly, Grace is made aware of her new life style, beginning with an eighteen-mile ride in a horse-drawn wagon. Grace manages to cope with each problem as it arises and soon wins the affection of the chil-dren and admiration of the parents. Romance, marriage, pregnancies and an affair all play a part in the story which includes both tragedy and lasting love.

HouseHoliday

Thursday, December 8

4:00 to 6:00 p.m.

1150-8th ave, Regina SK757-6310

Refreshments! Merriment! Holiday Cheer!

Join Us!

open

Bone Couleeby Larry WarwarukCoteau Books

Board Member George Khng peruses the information table

at the SWG Fall Conference

Staff photo


Inclusion in the Markets & Competitions listing is not an endorsement of any contest, market, event or otherwise. This is only an informational resource. We encourage all readers to thoroughly investigate all contests or markets before submitting their work.

MArKETS & cOMpETiTiONS

The Interdisciplinary Centre for Culture and Creativity at the University of Saskatchewan is now accepting applications for the M.F.A. in Writing, an intensive two-year program in which students write in sev-eral genres and complete their study with a creative thesis. For more information, LaVina Williams at [email protected] or Jeanette Lynes at [email protected], or call the ICCC at: (306) 966-4327.

The Fiddlehead’s 21st Annual Literary ContestTwo contest categories: po-etry and short fiction. Prizes for each category: $1500 for winner + publication payment and $500 for 2 honourable mentions + publication pay-ment. Winning entries will be published in the spring 2012 issue of The Fiddlehead (No. 251) and on the web site. One short-fiction entry is one story (6,000 words maximum). One poetry entry is up to 3 po-ems; no more than 100 lines per poem. No simultaneous submissions and no previously published works. Entry Fee: $30 for an entry from Canada and $36 for an international entry. The entry fee includes a one-year subscription to The Fiddlehead. For full contest de-tails go to www.thefiddlehead.ca/FHcontest.html or contact us at [email protected].

William Saroyan International Prize for Writing for works of fiction and nonfiction. Co-sponsored by the Stanford University Libraries and the William Saroyan Foundation. Prizes of $5,000 each are giv-en biennially. Visit the website for more information, including entry forms, contest rules, and complete guidelines.

For More Information: http://library.stanford.edu/ saroyan/ Email: sampetersen@ sbcglobal.net

Kim Aubrey (Saskatoon Writ-ers’ Coop member and one of Red Claw Press’s editors) so-licits submissions for Red Claw Press Anthology. Red Claw Press will be publishing its sec-ond anthology in fall 2012 on the subject of sleep, in all of its meanings and associations. They are looking for stories, es-says, poems, and artwork.Please see the website for de-tails

Deadline: Jan. 6, 2012Deadline: Dec. 1, 2011

Deadline: Jan. 31, 2012

Deadline: Feb. 1, 2012

PRISM International (www.prismmagazine.ca) Literary nonfiction contest 1st prize $1,500; entry fee $28 for 1 story, plus $7 for each ad-ditional piece, deadline Nov. 30. Short fiction contest 1st $2,000. 2 runner-up prizes of $200 each; entry fee $28 for 1 story, plus $7 for each addi-tional piece, deadline Jan. 27, 2012. Poetry contest 1st prize $1,000. 2 runner-up prizes of $300 & $200; entry fee $28 for 3 poems, plus $7 for each additional poem, deadline Jan. 27, 2012

Prairie Fire 2011 Annual Writ-ing Contests www.prairiefire.ca The Banff Centre Poetry Award, Short fiction, Creative non-fiction. Prizes in each cat-egory: 1st $1,250, 2nd $500. 3rd $250. Details on website.

Deadline: Nov. 30, 2011

Deadlines: Nov. 30, 2011 and Jan. 27, 2012

The Writers’ Trust of Canada is now accepting submissions for the RBC Bronwen Wallace Award for Emerging Writers. This year, the prize will be giv-en for outstanding unpublished short fiction. The winner will receive $5,000 and two hon-ourable mentions will each re-ceive $1,000.

The award will be presented in late spring.

website:

w w w. w r i t e r s t r u s t . c o m /Awards/RBC-Bronwen-Wallace-Award-for-Emerging-Writers/Call-for-Submissions_2012.aspx

Briarpatch Magazine first an-nual creative writing contest, Writing in the Margins! Ac-cepting submissions of origi-nal, unpublished writing in the categories of short fiction and creative non-fiction (memoir, personal essay, literary journal-ism). Award-winning author Lee Maracle as judge and $600 in cash prizes. In addition to a chance to win and be pub-lished in Briarpatch, your $25 entry fee gets you a 1-year subscription to Briarpatch. Winning Regina-area entry gets a free lunch with Sandra Bird-sell at the Willow (Regina). For full contest details, visit the website.

Deadline: Dec. 1, 2011Deadline: Jan. 30, 2012


Our Canada (published by Readers Digest) Short Fiction & Poetry Contest

1st prize $1,500. 2nd prize $750. 3rd prize $250.

All winners will be published in Our Canada

www.ourcanada.ca/fiction

BookLand Press submissions (book-length manuscripts only)

NON-FICTION – Canadian History; NON- FICTION – Ca-nadian Sports; ABORIGINAL LITERATURE – book-length manuscripts of fiction, non-fic-tion, and poetry by Aboriginal authors; FICTION; POETRY

Send submissions via email (preferably in a Word file as an attachment) to [email protected] For details visit www.booklandpress.com

2012 Bristol Short Story Prize is open to all writers, UK and non-UK based, over 16 years of age.Stories can be on any theme or subject and entry can be made online via the website or by post. Entries must be previous-ly unpublished with a maximum length of 3,000 words (There is no minimum). The entry fee is £7 per story. All 20 shortlisted writers will have their stories published in the Bristol Short Story Prize Anthology Volume 5. The winning story will, also be published in Bristol Review of Books and Venue magazine.

Field: Contemporary Poetry and Poetics (www.oberlin.edu/ocpress) Published twice a year by Oberlin College Press, Ober-lin, Ohio. Reads submissions August through May. Accepts poetry only. Pays contributors at the rate of $15 a page. Po-ems (2-6 at a time) should be submitted through their online submission manager.

Arc Poetry Magazine Send your best to the Arc Poem of the Year Contest—this year with a $5,000 grand prize. For past winners, contest mailing address, entry fee and submis-sion details, visit Arc Poetry Magazine at arcpoetry.ca.

Deadline: March 31, 2012

August through May


Accenti: The Magazine with an Italian Accent, published in Montreal - 7th Annual Writing Contest and 5th Annual Photo Competition. The new issue of the magazine, issue 23, has a special section dedicated to the episode of the internments of Italian Canadians during WWII. Visit the magazine’s new web-site: www.accenti.ca


The Vanderbilt - Exile $5,000 Short Fiction Award presented in memory of Carter V. Cooper Open to all Canadian writers. Two winners will be chosen from finalists, as selected by Ms Gloria Vanderbilt$3,000 prize for best story by an emerging writer$2,000 second prize for a sto-ry by a writer at any stage of his/her careerThe 10 finalists will appear in an anthology published by Ex-ile Editions, and selected sto-ries to appear in ELQ (Exile: The Literary Quarterly)$30.00 per story submission. Each applicant will receive a one-year subscription to Ex-ile Quarterly, value $34.95 More info/details at: www.The-ExileWriters.comThe prize will be awarded in June, 2012, at a gala event to be held in Toronto.Submission address:$5,000 Vanderbilt - Exile Short Fiction Competitionc/o Exile Quarterly and Exile Editions170 Wellington Street West PO Box 308 Mount Forest, ON, N0G 2L0

The Canadian Children’s Book Centre announces a major new Canadian children’s literature award. The Monica Hughes Award will honour excellence in the children’s science fiction and fantasy genre and comes with a $5,000 cash prize which will be awarded annual-ly beginning in October 2012. Complete details of the Monica Hughes Award for Science Fic-tion and Fantasy can be found at www.bookcentre.ca


Glimmer Train www.glimmer-train.org Quarterly fiction pub-lication edited by two sisters in Portland, Oregon, and en-tering its 19th year of publica-tion. Payment rates range from $700 to $2,000. Submissions should be made online. Details on website. Charges reading fee. Pays on acceptance

Sky Pony Press Skyhorse Pub-lishing, Inc 307 West 36th St, 11th Fl. New York, NY 10018, USA

w w w . s k y p o n y -p r e s s . c o m / g u i d e l i n e s / Manuscript submissions: Sky Pony will consider picture books, early readers, middle grade novels, and non-fiction for all ages. Not actively seeking YA ficion. Some of the subjects they look for include ecology, independent living, farm living, wilderness living, recycling and other green topics. They are also interested in books with special need themes. To sub-mit a manuscript or proposal, please send an email to [email protected] Attach all materials as Word documnts, or as a jpeg if art is included. Include your publishing history, a website link and, for information books, your qualifications as an expert in your subject area.



W ELcOME NEW MEMBErS

Robin Adeney, Regina SK

James Anderson, Bruno SK

Jesse Archibald Barber, Regina SK

Chris Brown, Regina SK

Grace Chan, Regina SK

Kimberley Christianson, Elfros SK

Laura Cockrum, Nipawin SK

Connie Deiter, Regina SK

Anne Dooley, Saskatoon SK

Mark Eisenzimmer, Saskatoon SK

Jessica Field, Saskatoon SK

Sharon Fraser, Regina SK

Sydney Gossard, Regina SK

Jacqueline Guest, Bragg Creek AB

Matthew Hall, Saskatoon SK

Michelle Hatzel, Weyburn SK

Wanda Jonas, Moose Jaw SK

Holly Klym, Moose Jaw SK

Edward Makarow, Rose Valley SK

Andrea McClelland, Estevan SK

Karen Olsen, Regina SK

Heather Peat Hamm, Forget SK

Betsy Rosenwald, Saskatoon SK

Dinesh Singh, Regina SK

Jefferson Smith, Saskatoon SK

Tara Dawn Solheim, Regina SK

Darlene Speidel, Saskatoon SK

Jeff St Onge, Regina SK

Aaron Tootoosis, Fort Qu’Appelle SK

Kendra Walker, Regina SK

Brittinee Wiley, Regina SK

Elizabeth Withey, Edmonton AB

Dwayne Young, Regina SK

I would like to donate to:

q Saskatchewan Writers’ Guildq Grain Magazineq Patricia Armstrong Fundq Writers’ Assistance Fund (WAF)q Writers/Artist Retreats

Please make cheque or money order payable to: Saskatchewan Writers' Guild,Box 3986, Regina SK S4P 3R9 You can also donate via Paypal at:www.skwriter.com/payments-and-donations

SWG Registered Charity Number 119140556 RR 0001

Thank you for your donation. A tax receipt will be issued.

YES, i'd LiKE TO MAKE A dONATiON

q Gary Hyland Endowment Fund

Please make cheques or money orders payable to The South Saskatchewan Community Foundation Inc. #2-2700 Montague St. Regina, SK S4S 0J9

Please make cheques or money orders payable to the SWG FoundationPO Box 3986, Regina SK S4P 3R9

You can also donate via Paypal at:www.skwriter.com/payments-and-donations

SWG Foundation Reg. Charity Number 818943870 RR 0001

I would like to donate to:

q SWG Foundationq Caroline Heath Memorial Fundq Endowment Fund q Facilitated Retreats q Judy McCrosky Bursaryq Legacy Project


CONTRIBUTORS (up to $50)Armstrong, WilliamBaker, BrendaButala, SharonDean, JeanetteEhman, Amy JoFahlman, JeanFreeman, JeanGossner, CarolGrandel, LoaineGuymer, Myrna Halsband, IlonkaHamilton, Sharon Hindle, JeanHusband, Carol & JohnKoops, SheenaLonsdale, Margaret Martin, MiriamPopp, MurielRae, AnnieSchwier, KarinSt George, Marie ElsieTrussler, MichaelWardill, William

FRIENDS ($50-$99)Aksomitis, LindaAubrey, KimBirdsell, SandraBowen, GailCampbell, SandraCharrett, Doug Epp, Joanne Fenwick, CathyFisher, ChrisFunk, WesHillis, DorisKostash, Myrna MacFarlane, ShanonMiller, Dianne

SUPPORTERS ($100-$199)Birnie, Howard Clarke, HelenConacher, MyrtleDurant, Margaret Edwards, KarenHaigh, JerryHalsband, IlonkaHertes, David Khng, GeorgeMcArthur, WendaMonahan, LyndaNilson, John & LindaRobertson, WilliamSchmon, KarenTuharsky, Terry

BENEFACTORS ($200-$499)Calder, RobertCurrie, Robert Goldman, LynLorer, DanicaMacIntyre, RodSchmidt, Brenda

PATRON (over $500)Lorne Erickson Estate

WAFKerr, DonaldUrsell, Geoffrey

RETREATSGalbraith, WilliamKrause, JudithLawrence, KatherineLorer, DanicaSemotuk, VernaSmith, Tammy

GRAINKloppenburg, Cheryl

SWG FoundationThanks Our Donors

SWG FOUNDATIONAdam, SharonBidulka, AnthonyBoerma, GloriaBrewster, ElizabethCalder, RobertCarpenter, DavidConacher, MyrtleDutt, MonicaHertes, DavidKerr, DonMalcolm, DavidMartel, YannMcArthur, Wenda

FACILITATED RETREATHogarth, Susan

JUDY MCCROSKYBURSARYMcCrosky, Judy

LEGACY PROJECTFriesen, BerniceGossner, CarolLohans, AlisonPowell Mendenhall, MarieRemlinger, Paula JaneYeager, Michele

BAcKBONETH

ESWG Thanks Our Donors

SEPTEMBER to NOVEMBER 2011FREELANCE 44SEPTEMBER to NOVEMBER 2011 FREELANCE 44

Publication Mail Agreement #40063014Return Undeliverable Canadian Addresses to:Administration Centre Printing Services111–2001 Cornwall StreetRegina, SK S4P 3X9Email: [email protected]

September to November 2011Volume 40 Number 5

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Sept-Nov 2011 Freelance