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WHAT'S HAPPENING AT WANL

Spring Tides Reading Series: Call for Expressions of Interest

Spring Tides is an annual reading series held between March and June (inclusively), that showcases new and established writers. The series presents four to five readings - two in St. John's and two to three readings elsewhere in the province - featuring two writers each. Each featured writer reads for approximately 20 minutes and participates in a brief Q & A following the reading. WANL provides an honorarium of $125 to each reader.

WANL seeks expressions of interest (EOIs) from writers who would like to read in this series during 2012.The WANL Readings Committee is also interested in hearing from WANL members who would like to act as local organizers for a Spring Tides Reading in their community.

For detailed information on how to submit an EOI, please see our current Call for Expressions of Interest for readers and local volunteer organizers.

Deadline for submission of EOIs is Friday, January 27, 2012.

Tom Dawe wins 2011 Heritage and History Book Award

(January 4, 2012 - St. John's, NL) - Tom Dawe took home a $250 cash prize last night for winning the 2011 Heritage and History Book Award for Where Genesis Begins (Breakwater Books, 2009). Sponsored by the Historic Sites Association of Newfoundland and Labrador, the award alternates between works of fiction and children's/young adult books in one year, and poetry and non-fiction in the following year, and is granted to a work of literature that exemplifies excellence in the interpretation of the history and heritage of Newfoundland and Labrador. Gemma Hickey, President of the Writers' Alliance of Newfoundland and Labrador (WANL), presented Dawe with the 2011 Heritage and History Book Award at the WANL Annual Holiday Party at The Ship Pub in St. John's.

A description of the winning book from the publisher's website: "Where Genesis Begins is a collaboration of two of Newfoundland's foremost artists: Tom Dawe, a profoundly visual poet, and Gerald Squires, a profoundly poetic painter. The book contains thirty-seven poems by Dawe, twenty-nine of which have not been published before, and seventy-one artworks by Squires."

"For those of us born and raised on this island, in this Province of Newfoundland and Labrador,"reads a quote from artist Christopher Pratt, "hard-wired into its weathers, tides and history, the combination of Tom Dawe and Gerry Squires resonates like fish and brewis - not necessarily in that order."

Dawe, who has just been named a member of the order of Canada, is also St. John's Poet Laureate. He is a lifetime member of the Writers' Alliance of Newfoundland and Labrador and has been elected to the Newfoundland and Labrador Arts Council Hall of Honour. He gave a lovely acceptance speech, after which Gerry Squires charmed the audience with a reading of his favourite poem from Where Genesis Begins.

"The Writers' Alliance is delighted to work with the Historic Sites Association to present the Heritage and History Book Award," said Théa Morash, WANL's executive director. "This award recognizes the important role of the literary arts in celebrating the heritage and history of Newfoundland and Labrador. The entire shortlist was worthy of attention."

The other three shortlisted works were: Never More There, by Stephen Rowe, Shouting, Embracing and Dancing with Ecstasy: The Growth of Methodism in Newfoundland, 1774 - 1874, by Calvin Hollett, and Battlefront Newfoundland: Britain's Oldest Colony at War, 1939 - 1945, by Jack Fitzgerald. It was a delight to hear readings from all four shortlisted authors before the presentation of the award.

The shortlist for the Heritage and History Book Award is chosen from those books submitted to the Newfoundland and Labrador Book Awards. The jury for the 2011 Heritage and History Book Award was composed of members and emeritus members of the Historic Sites Association Board of Directors.

Media contact: Théa Morash, wanl@nf.aibn.com, 709-739-5215, toll-free in NL at 1-866-739-5215.

Announcing the winner of the 2011 Newfoundland and Labrador Credit Union Fresh Fish Award for Emerging Writers!

The Newfoundland and Labrador Credit Union Fresh Fish Award for Emerging Writers was reeled in this year by Lesleyanne Ryan for her novel Braco.

The award, one of the most lucrative in Canada for fledgling authors, is co-presented by the Literary Arts Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador and the Writers' Alliance of Newfoundland and Labrador. The award was established by Brian O'Dea and funded this year for the first time by the Newfoundland and Labrador Credit Union. It is awarded to a resident of Newfoundland and Labrador who has yet to be published in book form. The 2011 winner was announced Friday, October 21 at Bianca Restaurant at the kick-off event of the Writers' Alliance of Newfoundland and Labrador's Annual General Meeting and Professional Development weekend.

Ryan was presented with an engraved plaque, a cheque for $5,000 and a credit for $1,000 in professional editing services for her winning manuscript. Here's a taste of what the judges had to say about her winning entry: "Braco is a compelling, captivating, and fast-paced novel, from its vivid and intriguing prologue set in Srebrenica to an ending that fits, if not satisfies. From the moment the reader meets Atif, a teenaged Bosnian civilian, s/he never stops caring about the fate of this boy and his family. The author handles extremely well the horrific subject matter of Bosnian refugees fleeing the fall of Srebrenica in 1995, the massacre of Bosnian men, and the frustrating inability of the Dutch peacekeepers to protect them. These events could easily be confusing to the uninitiated, but the author writes so clearly that the reader is never lost in history, space, or time. The novel is beautifully executed with regard to plot, pacing, point of view, and setting, with a cast of characters who are complex and well-developed."

Lesleyanne Ryan was born in St. John's and now lives in Paradise. A retired veteran and former Bosnian Peacekeeper, she graduated from Memorial University with a Bachelor of Arts in English. She has published three short stories and has received Newfoundland and Labrador Arts & Letters Competition awards in four of the last five years. She is currently working on her second novel.

Runners-up Patrick Carroll and Scott Cowan each took home $1,000 cash prizes.

For more information on the history of the award and for a list of previous winners please see the Fresh Fish Award page.



 23 January 2012

Writers' Alliance of Newfoundland and Labrador

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Send submissions and inquiries concerning the WANL e-bulletin and newsletter to wanlassist@nf.aibn.com by Tuesday for inclusion in that Wednesday's bulletin.
The Writers' Alliance of Newfoundland and Labrador gratefully acknowledges the financial support of
the Canada Council for the Arts, the Department of Tourism, Culture and Recreation, Government of Newfoundland and Labrador, and the City of St. John's.
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