One of the most important tasks of our Annual General Meeting on May 4 is to elect the Board of The Writers’ Collective. The Board guides the work and development of The Writers’ Collective, including making decisions about programming and finances. This year, five individuals have been nominated to the Board. We have three continuing Board members and two new members to add to our team!

Executive

President – Hilary Friesen

Hilary joined the Board in 2008 as Secretary and became the President in 2009. Hilary has been published in Juice, the University of Winnipeg’s creative writing journal, as well as in Collective Consciousness, The Writers’ Collective journal. Hilary works as a Client and Strategic Services Manager at ChangeMakers, a Winnipeg marketing agency.

Vice-President – Eve Dutton

After a year as volunteer layout artist for the Collective Consciousness, Eve  joined The Writers’ Collective Board in 2008 and became Vice-President in 2009. Her third-grade report card reads as follows: “Eve loves to write. Unfortunately, we cannot get her to stop.”

Members-At-Large

Thembani Mdluli

Originally from Winnipeg, Thembani served a short term as Programming Coordinator at The Writers’ Collective before becoming a Board member following a move to Toronto. She now volunteers her time directing the newly rebranded Collective Consciousness while balancing other hats working in media production as the Director of Brand Marketing for film industry directory Fonebook, and as a screenwriter and filmmaker.

Kelly-Anne Riess

Kelly-Anne Riess is the author of three books, including the poetry collection To End a Conversation (Thistledown Press), which was featured on CBC and the Writer’s Almanac with Garrison Keillor. As a freelance journalist, she has written for the Globe and Mail and Canadian Geographic. She has also worked on a number of documentaries that have aired worldwide on networks such as A&E Biography and History Television.

This will be Kelly-Anne’s first term on The Writers’ Collective Board.

Kimberley Sperling

Kimberly Sperling is a Real Estate Broker, Home Stager, Property Manager and Writer. Her writing experience has spanned several venues: advertising and marketing ads, articles, short stories, children’s books, motivational pieces, poems, law, fiction and non-fiction. She also likes to use her creativity in photography with photos of nature, trees, homes, and interior design. She is new to Winnipeg and spent the last 3 years in Calgary. Kimberley has extensive Board and volunteer experience.

This will be Kimberley’s first term on The Writers’ Collective Board.

Please join us at the AGM on Saturday, May 4, at 3:30 in the Carol Shields Auditorium at Millennium Library, to learn about The Writers’ Collective’s activities over the past year and our plans for the next, and to meet the Board.

Inside Publishing is a free and open-to-all “glimpse behind the curtain” of the book industry. In four 50-minute sessions you’ll get the inside scoop from the authors, editors, or publishers of four different books. We’ll look at various genres, hear about habits, processes, favourite Slurpee flavours, what really fires an editor’s rockets, and a whole lot more.

We are proud to present this new event in partnership with Millennium Library!

When: Saturday, May 4, 10 am – 3 pm

Where: Millennium Library, Carol Shields Auditorium

The Line-Up

10 am – Jodi Carmichael, author of Spaghetti is NOT a Finger Food, and Carol Szuminsky from Peanut Butter Press

11 am – Meira Cook, author of The House on Sugarbush Road, and Maurice Mierau from Enfield & Wizenty

1 pm – Chadwick Ginther, author of Thunder Road, and Jamis Paulson from Turnstone Press

2 pm – Charlene Diehl, author of Out of Grief, Singing, and Karen Haughian from Signature Editions

Moderated by Joanne Kelly

But wait… there’s more!

Stick around after Inside Publishing for The Writers’ Collective Annual General Meeting.

We are seeking an e-news publisher to compile and distribute our weekly e-news update. The update includes information about The Writers’ Collective programs and events, member news, and other literary events and writing opportunities in Winnipeg, Manitoba and beyond, with a sprinkling of writing facts and follies from around the web.

The e-news publisher will be responsible for creating the e-newsletter using MailChimp, an online service, in our established template and distributing it once a week. The e-update is currently distributed on Wednesdays. Our Programming Coordinator will provide details of upcoming Writers’ Collective events, as well as forwarding mailings we receive with other events and opportunities of interest to our members. The e-news publisher will add 1-2 articles or quotes of interest related to the writing life, as well as researching current contests and markets to include in the update.

We are looking for a volunteer with the following skills:

• Ability to organize and present information in a clear, easy-to-use way
• Excellent writing, editing and proofreading skills
• Experience using online editors
• Time management, maintaining a regular schedule
• Researching and selecting relevant information for an audience

As the e-news publisher, you can expect to gain and/or enhance the following skills:

• E-news creation and distribution
• Online communication
• Marketing communication

Volunteer time required is approximately 4 hours per week.

We will provide training and feedback. We will also provide a reference appropriate to your work upon request.

There’s our Programming Coordinator, of course. We have had quite a few over the years, and their dedication and commitment to emerging writers is invaluable – as is their attention to emails, their willingness to answer questions and their general administrative prowess.

A not-for-profit organization like The Writers’ Collective has another important human component – the Board. Organizations like ours need a Board made up of our members – it’s part of what gives us our special (charitable) status and defines us as a community-based, community-serving organization.

The Board oversees the operations and finances of The Writers’ Collective. We hire the Programming Coordinator; brainstorm, approve and help to develop new programs. We assist at events like Awards Nights and Library Out Loud; apply for grants to fund new programs; and decide the future direction of The Writers’ Collective.

We are what is called a “working Board” – Board members, all volunteers, play an active role in the development and operations of The Writers’ Collective. We collaborate with and support the Programming Coordinator. We take on individual and group projects that help The Writers’ Collective continue its work.

You can be part of this important, dynamic and diverse group of people. We are looking for more minds to plan our future, more voices to add to the discussion and more hands to share our to-do list.

What you need

• Be a member of The Writers’ Collective – for a day or a decade
• Have four to eight hours a month to volunteer as a Board member
• Be willing to share or learn skills such as: communications/marketing; online promotion (blogging, website updates, Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr); applying for and managing grants; fundraising; financial/business management; networking and community-building; event planning and management
• Ability to work independently and as part of a team
• Comfortable communicating in-person, over email and online (video chat)

Our Annual General Meeting is coming up on May 4 – this is when the full slate of Board members (new and continuing) is elected by the members. We are currently seeking a Secretary and a Treasurer, as well as Directors-at-Large. Other Board executive positions will be open in the next few years.

If you’re interested in being part of the future of The Writers’ Collective, email us! Tell us a little bit about yourself and what you would like to get out of being a Board member.

Library Out Loud – All Genres

Sunday, March 24, 1:30 p.m., Millennium Library

The Winnipeg Public Library and the Writers’ Collective of Manitoba invite new and established writers to try out their works by reading them aloud in a supportive environment. To get your (approximately three-minute) reading on the list, email Anita. Writers’ Collective members get first dibs.

Speaking Crow – Poetry

Tuesday, April 2, 7:00 p.m., Free Press News Cafe (237 McDermot Avenue)

Featured Reader: Charlene Diehl

Speaking Crow, Winnipeg’s longest running poetry series, is a program of the Writers Collective of Manitoba, supported by the Manitoba Arts Council, and hosted by the always charming Bruce Symaka. It takes place (usually) the first Tuesday of each month and showcases one featured poet, followed by an open mic (three minutes each). Visit Speaking Crow on Facebook.

Enter in one – or all – of three categories:

1. Marie Barton Postcard Fiction Contest
   In honour of the late Marie Barton, a dedicated local writer, teacher and former member of the Canadian Authors’ Association.
   We challenge writers to tell a story based on a postcard in 100 words or less. Send us your postcard or quality photocopy of a postcard image along with your tale.
   Prizes: First, $100; second, $50; third, $25
2. Eileen D. Pruden Award for Historical Fiction
   A new contest, thanks to a generous donation from the Pruden family.
   Open to adults age 40 and over. Your original story must feature a fictional character set sometime in Manitoba’s past. It must be unpublished and between 1,000 and 1,500 words.
   Prizes: First, $150; second, $75; third, $50
3. Winnipeg Free Press/Writers’ Collective Fiction Contest
   Three categories: Junior student (Grades 7-8); Senior student (Grades 9-12); and Adult (age 18 and over). Stories must be original, unpublished works of fiction between 800 and 1,000 words for the junior student category and between 1,000 and 1,500 words for the senior student and adult categories.
   Prizes: Junior student & Senior student – $150, $75, $50 in each category, plus one Human Spirit award of $100; Adult – First, $200; second, $150; third $100

Summary of Rules

• All entries must be original, unpublished works.
• Author’s name must not appear on the manuscript.
• Each entry must include an entry form (one form per entry).
• Each entry must include the $5 fee (for members) or $15 fee (for non-members). Make cheques payable to: The Writers’ Collective.
• Submit four (4) copies of your story, typed, double-spaced, printed one-sided on 8.5 x 11 paper, and stapled individually.
• Entries must be submitted to: The Writers’ Collective, 565 – 167 Lombard Avenue, Winnipeg, MB, R3B 0V3 and must be postmarked by Monday, April 15, 2013.
• One prize per writer. Prizes will be presented at an Awards Gala in May.
• Canadian residents only.
• Entrants not complying with these rules will be disqualified.
• For full contest rules, please see the entry form for each contest.

Download the contest package – includes all entry forms and contest rules.

Questions? Contact us.

Review for The Winnipeg Review

Writers’ Collective members are invited to write book reviews for The Winnipeg Review literary e-magazine, no experience necessary. The editor is willing to work with you and help you develop your skills. For details, contact our Program Coordinator.

Your Questions Answered by the Writers’ Resource Hotline

The Writers’ Resource Hotline is here to answer your questions about the publishing journey! Have questions about traditional versus self publishing, e-books, grants, agents, fuzzy slippers or stretch? The Writers’ Resource Hotline (aka, our intrepid Program Coordinator, Anita Daher) can help! Members can call or email Anita with their questions. She is and has been an author, editor, teacher and book publicist and may be able to offer a suggestion or two.

Members get other benefits too – check them out here, along with the membership form.

Non-Fiction Awards
First Place – The Deal by H.L Edwards. Prize: $500
Second Place – Smoke Break by Robert King. Prize: $300
Third Place – Adventures with Ludwig Van by Debbie Strange. Prize: $100
Honourable Mention – A Wild Ride by Elenore Wieler
Honourable Mention – The Ice Jumpers by Robert Wood
Honourable Mention – Wilderness by Richard Hurst

Poetry Awards
First Place – “Tis the Season to Better Watch Out” by Jocelyn Boileau. Prize: $150
Second Place – “Reisegern” by Paul Friesen. Prize: $100
Third Place – “When I’m With You” by Andrea Mudge. Prize: $50
Honourable Mention – “Dark Ride” by Jocelyn Boileau

In addition to the cash prizes, all winning entries will be published in Collective Consciousness Magazine and the Winnipeg Free Press. Look for the winning stories and poems in the Free Press starting December 24.

Our thanks to: Gerald Flood and the Winnipeg Free Press; judges Gerald Flood, Shereen Ramprashad and Allison Norris; event reader Tracy Whalen; the Winnipeg Public Library; Manitoba Culture, Heritage and Tourism; and The Manitoba Arts Council.

Update: Read Gerald’s thoughts on the 2012 non-fiction contest and find links to some of the winning stories.