Pictou-Antigonish Regional Library

PARL logo

Sharing Stories ... a series of Writing Workshops @ Library

Join us for free writing workshops at the library to celebrate our stories, and to prepare for the adventure of National Novel Writing Month in November! *Class size is limited, please call the library to pre-register!

Story Boards, ...Researching, writing & presenting community history and stories (with John Ashton) Tuesday October 4, 6:30pm-8pm at Pictou Public Library 902-485-5021 pictou@parl.ns.ca.

Join author, columnist, historian and visual artist John Ashton, as he takes participants on a journey of discovering community history. Mr. Ashton has worked with many Pictou County communities to present their histories by means of graphics, text and photos on interpretive panels. Learn the different traditional and online methods and sources of historical research. All ages welcome. Class size is limited to 12 participants, please pre-register by contacting the Pictou Library.
About the Author/Instructor:
Author and columnist John Ashton will offer participants tips on selecting historical subject matter, developing and writing a story from beginning to end. He will also discuss utilizing factual historical research from libraries, archives, museums, universities, genealogists, manuscripts, research papers, personal interviews, books, microfilm and online.
John Ashton is a self employed graphic artist and historical author. He has operated Ashton Creative Design for over thirty years from his studio/office in Bridgeville, Pictou County. Mr. Ashton has won several national and provincial awards for his design work. Currently he is Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada -Nova Scotia Representative and Heritage Trust of Nova Scotia's Antigonish, Guysborough and Pictou's-Regional Representative. Mr. Ashton has authored two non-fiction books and has been a daily, weekly and monthly newspaper historical columnist.

Multimedia (with Chris Benjamin and Jon Tattrie) Saturday October 8, 1-3:30pm at New Glasgow Public Library 902-752-8233, newglasg@parl.ns.ca

"The medium is the message." The medium we use (video, internet, magazine/newspaper page, book etc.) is more than just a way to get our message out. It changes how we tell our story and even the story itself. This session will explore how each medium shapes story, and how as storytellers we can adapt our tales for maximum impact and reach. All ages welcome.
About the authors/instructors:
Chris Benjamin
Chris Benjamin is a freelance journalist and an author of fiction and non-fiction. His latest book is "Indian School Road: Legacies of the Shubenacadie Residential School". Released in August 2014, it won the Dave Greber Freelance Book Prize before being published.His previous book, "Eco-Innovators: Sustainability in Atlantic Canada", won the 2012 Best Atlantic-Published Book Award and was a finalist for the Richardson Non-Fiction Prize. A series of short video documentaries has been made based on the book. Chris' novel, "Drive-by Saviours", won the H.R. Percy Prize, was longlisted for a ReLit Prize and made the Canada Reads Top Essential Books List. In 2006/2007, he worked as a journalist in Ghana. He shared an honourable mention in the 2009 Canadian National Magazine Awards. Chris has written for a long list of magazines and newspapers in Canada and the United States. A few highlights include The Globe and Mail, Science Friday, Chronicle Herald, Z Magazine, Canadian Dimension, This Magazine, Briarpatch, Saltscapes, Halifax Magazine, The Halifax Examiner, Progress Magazine, and The Coast. Chris has also published more than a dozen short stories in literary journals, magazines, newspapers and anthologies. He is a former web news writer for CBC. Chris was the 2014-2016 PARL Writer-in-Residence, and he is now the Managing Editor for Atlantic Books Today, which includes www.atlanticbookstoday.ca. For more information, please visit Chris' profile at the Writers Federation of NS, //writers.ns.ca/members/profile/29.
Jon Tattrie
Jon Tattrie is an award-winning journalist and the author of two novels and four non-fiction books. His most recent title, "Redemption Songs: How Bob Marley's Nova Scotia Song Lights the Way Past Racism", builds on the work of his earlier book, "The Hermit of Africville". He works as a freelance journalist, including for CBC (TV, radio and web), Metro News, Business Voice, the Globe & Mail, and many others. He's Dynamic Learning's senior writing instructor. He's a board member of the Writers' Federation of Nova Scotia and regularly speaks at universities, colleges and schools on journalism and writing. For more information, please visit Jon's profile at the Writers Federation of NS, //writers.ns.ca/members/profile/194 .

WORD Boot Camp (with Sheree Fitch) Saturday October 15, 1-2:30pm at River John Public Library 902-351-2599, riverjoh@parl.ns.ca

Whether poetry or prose, whether writing for family or business or publication, whether the audience is children or adults: every word matters. Participants write, discuss and try out surprising strategies that will sharpen their own word mastery. Focused guided exercises lead to effective writing and pages with energy, authenticity and sparkle. No experience necessary. Bring sense of humour. Wear comfortable clothes. (*This is a workshop for those 18 and over.)
About the author/instructor:
Sheree Fitch has been a groundbreaking force in the literary arts and literary community in the Maritimes and throughout Canada. Creating from "the land of the imagination in the country that is childhood," Sheree's singularity and unique voice, visions and award-winning books and storytelling have left their mark on two generations of children and families and influenced a whole generation of writers from Ecum Secum to the Himalayas in Bhutan and many places in between.
Highlights include performing and representing Canada at the Canada Day Celebrations at the Canadian Embassy; performing at the Washington National Cathedral; and performing at the Library of Congress. She was part of a Cultural Arts exchange in Mexico, as well as an invited author representing Nova Scotia in international schools in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, China, Belize, Thailand, and Vietnam. Sheree has brought this rich international experience back to the Canadian literary community.
As a Nova Scotia writer Sheree has twice been a writer-in-residence in the country of Bhutan, helping to foster an indigenous literature for Bhutanese children, and was four times writer in residence in a healing and writing camp in Nunavut. For the Vancouver International Writers Festival she was the first writer-in-residence in their school outreach program in Nelson B.C. Closer to home she was the 2013/2014 Pictou-Antigonish Writer-in-Residence program. In thanking her, the town of New Glasgow and the municipality of the County of Pictou officially recognized her for "inspiring contribution and leadership and for sharing her creativity, messages and talents" as they celebrated National Poetry Month.
Among other awards, she hold three honorary doctorates from Canadian universities for her contribution to Canadian literature, education and for her work as a literacy advocate and activist for social justice, especially issues affecting women and children.
In Spring 2015, Sheree was UPEI writer-in-residence and Summer 2015 Winterset Writer in Residence at Terra Nova Park in Newfoundland. In the fall 2015 appeared at the Telling Tales Festival in Rockton. Now at work in community and on a novel to be published by Doubleday Canada in 2017, Majorly Weird and Freakwently Wonderful, she is also co-editing an anthology of poetry for children by poets of Atlantic Canada.
She lives with her husband, Gilles Plante and some critters on Happy Doodle Do Hobby farm in River John.
For more information, please visit Sheree's website, www.shereefitch.com.

Creating characters in Fiction (with Linda Little) Saturday October 22, 10:30am - 12noon at Westville Public Library 902-396-5022, westvill@parl.ns.ca

Enliven your fiction by enlivening your characters. Pick up a few tricks of the trade that will help you develop your characters into people who will entice your readers. The characters make the story! This session includes tips and exercises. For novice or practiced writers.
About the author/instructor:
Linda Little's most recent novel is "Grist" (Roseway 2014). Her first children's picture book, "Work and More Work", was published by Groundwood in 2015. Her previous work includes two award-winning novels: "Scotch River" (Penguin 2006) and "Strong Hollow" (Goose Lane 2001). She has published short stories in many reviews and anthologies, including The Antigonish Review, Descant, Matrix, The Journey Prize Anthology, and The Penguin Book of Short Stories by Canadian Women. Linda Little lives and writes in the north shore village of River John.
In addition to writing, Linda teaches at the Dalhousie University Agricultural Campus and is also involved with River John's annual literary festival, Read by the Sea. Linda was also the PARL Writer-in-Residence from 2007-2008.
For more information, please visit Linda's profile on the Writers Federation of NS website, //writers.ns.ca/members/profile/128 .

Writing Non-Fiction? news releases, memoirs, opinion pieces, & autobiographies (with Monica Graham). Saturday October 29, 12-1:30pm at Antigonish Town & County Public Library 902-836-4276, antigoni@parl.ns.ca

Join us for a workshop on basic writing tips of non-fiction stories. Learn how to write a good lead/hook, the verb 'to be,' fact-checking, and research tips. The session will include a writing exercise, with a group critique. Participants could come prepared with some non-fiction piece they've been agonizing over, to use as an exercise object. All ages welcome.
About the author/instructor:
Monica Graham is the author of nine non-fiction books. The latest two were released in May and in July of 2015. "In the Spirit, Reflections on Everyday Grace", is a collection of some of the best columns she wrote over eight years for the Chronicle Herald religion page. "Cradle of Knowledge: Pictou Academy 1816-2016" tells the history of the 200-year-old school. A columnist as well as a freelance journalist and photographer, she has had her work published by the Halifax Chronicle Herald, Rural Delivery, Atlantic Business Magazine, The Pictou Advocate, Canadian Living, Trident, The Atlantic Fisherman, and other publications.
She is a member of the Writers in the Schools program, and also presents writing and storytelling workshops for adults and literacy groups. Monica served as writer-in-residence at Pictou-Antigonish Regional Library in 2011-12; and at Berton House in Dawson City, YT, in 2008. She lives in the woods in Pictou County, NS, with her husband, a dog, and visiting bears, deer and people.
For more information, please visit Monica's profile at the Writers Federation of NS, //writers.ns.ca/members/profile/88.