Nan Williamson‘s poem “Poet’s Practice ” was published in High Shelf Press, Issue XIII, and her poem “Georgian Bay Meditation” was one of the 15 poems chosen for the League of Canadian Poets’ “Poem in your Pocket” for Poetry Month. She will receive the booklet with the 15 poems, postcards of these poems for handout on National Poetry Day, April 30th and $150.
Spiritual writer Donald Lee (Alberta Branch) recently published his first book, The Band Director’s Lessons About Life (available at online & real stores). It’s a book of modern-day parables inspired by his career as a band director. In the style of Chicken Soup for the Soul, Donald draws spiritually inspirational lessons from everyday classroom foibles.
Author R.J.Hore (Winnipeg, MB member at large) with 13 novels and 9 novellas published, is trying out something new starting February 12. He will be posting a chapter of an unpublished novel each Wednesday on his Facebook author page https://www.facebook.com/RonaldJHore/ to provide a sample of one of his writing styles. This project will continue until all of the novel has been displayed, or demand for a free reading dies.
Ingrid Betz (London, ON member at large) will be reading from her latest prize-winning short story, Colours In the Rain, at the launch of this year’s CAA – Niagara Branch anthology, Fifteen Stories High. Date: March 28th. Time: 2 pm. Place: St. Catharines Public Library, 54 Church Street, St. Catharines, Ontario.
Nancy Taber (Niagara Branch) published her short story, “Secrets and Stockings,” in The Blake-Jones Review, available at https://www.blakejonesreview.com/short-stories/secrets-and-stockings/ The story is about a journalist who steals her grandmother’s journal from the code-breakers museum at Bletchley Park. It is part of an in-progress collection inspired by her research in war museums; the collection immerses the reader in diverse tales about strong and complicated women whose stories have been overlooked or forgotten.
Monique Layton (Metro Vancouver Branch) ended 2019 with two new books: Everyday Evil: Why Our World Is the Way It Is (Tidewater Press), launched at the Vancouver Book Warehouse in October, and Voices from the Lower Deck: Folklore and Folkways of the Sea (FriesenPress), published in December. Both are available from their respective publishers and on Amazon.
Romantic writer Robert Joseph Greene (Metro Vancouver Branch) believes there is a tangible format to understanding love and will be presenting his findings on the age-old question “What Is Love?” to an academic as well as public audience at UBC’s Green College. This free event takes place on Tuesday, February 11, 2020, at Coach House, Green College, UBC 6201 Cecil Green Park Rd, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z1 from 5:00 to 6:30 pm, with a reception to follow. Wikipedia lists Greene as Canada’s only male author dedicated solely to romantic fiction. This will be his second appearance at Green College. For more information, to go https://greencollege.ubc.ca/civicrm/event/info/.
Anita Kushwaha‘s (National Capital Region Branch) novel Secret Lives of Mothers & Daughters about the ties that bind mothers and daughters together and the secrets that tear them apart, will be released on January 28th by HarperCollins Canada.
Nan Williamson‘s (Peterborough Branch) poem “Kindled” was published in Issue 3 of Dreamers Creative Writing magazine.
Gill Foss (National Capital Region Branch) is announcing the publication of her new poetry book Personal Perspectives. It covers her journey from the north east coast of the UK, through a variety of travels to her life now as a Canadian citizen and CAA Member of many years standing. It concludes with her anxiety about climate change on our future. The book is currently available through Amazon.ca at a cost of approximately $10 CDN.
Bernice Lever’s (Metro Vancouver Branch) poem Taking Spiders Out received Honourable Mention in The World Around Us poetry anthology contest by The Ontario Poetry Society. In November, two of her poems were included in The Prairie Journal (editor: Anne Burke). In December, Bernice did a reading of her poems from Tenfold on World Poetry Café on Vancouver Co-op Radio. (World Poetry Café is a multilingual and multicultural radio show with listeners in 106 countries. They feature poetry both local and from around the world, including book launches with poets and writers and CD launches with a number of musicians, artists, and filmmakers. For more info, go to https://www.coopradio.org/content/world-poetry-cafe-2 and https://worldpoetry.ca/).
Hannah Long (Barrie, ON member at large) has sold her Viking-inspired adult fantasy Hall of Smoke to Titan Books in a 2-book deal, with audio rights sold at auction to Recorded Books. The book follows a disgraced warrior-priestess as she evades armies and meddling gods to regain her goddess’s favour. Publication is set for Spring 2021.
Elizabeth McLean‘s (Metro Vancouver Branch, formerly NCR) story “95%” was shortlisted for the Bridport 2019 Short Story Prize in the UK. The story is about the coming into adulthood of a young man who finally has to take responsibility for a child he had fathered in his younger years. See https://www.bridportprize.org.uk/results
Nancy Taber (Niagara Branch) published her short story, Climbing, on CommuterLit, available at http://commuterlit.com/2019/10/thursday-climbing/. The story explores the intersection of the female protagonist’s personal and professional lives. It combines the allegory of Greek Gods and Goddesses with an archeological bent using a Nike statuette. She is currently working on a collection of short stories, inspired by her research in war museums, which immerse the reader in diverse tales about strong and complicated women whose stories have been overlooked or forgotten.
Jerena Tobiasen (Metro Vancouver Branch) recently released The Destiny, the third volume of an intriguing historical saga called The Prophecy. As prophesied by Punita Kota, future generations of the Lange (“The Crest”) and Kota (“The Emerald”) families collide, resulting in manipulation, deception and false beliefs, resulting in an international kidnapping and vicious court battles.Jerena’s books are available on Amazon (print and e-book). Print copies can also be ordered through most bookstores.
Suparna Ghosh, (Toronto Branch) one of the founding members of the Art Bar, the longest-running, weekly poetry readings in Canada, was one of the poets at the Dead Poets Society Night on December 17, 2019, at the Supermarket on Augusta Avenue. She read Rabindranath Tagore’s poems, the first non-European to receive the Nobel Prize for literature in 1913. Tagore’s short story, Post Office, was staged at the Arts and Letters Club of Toronto in 1914. Please visit suparnaghosh.com.
Rosanna Micelotta Battigelli (Toronto Branch) read from her award-winning novel La Brigantessa at the Parry Sound Festival of Authors on October 29 and at Ronald McDonald House in Toronto on October 3. La Brigantessa (Inanna Publications, 2018) has received five honours and awards to date. https://www.inanna.ca/index.php/catalog/la-brigantessa/
Kathleen Jones (Toronto Branch) signed copies of her novel Love Is the Punch Line at IndigoSpirit, First Canadian Place, in Toronto, ON, on September 5. Get more information about the book and read reviews at https://kathleenjones.org/category/love-is-the-punch-line/.
Ed Burrows (Peterborough Branch) has published his book Putting Your Affairs in Order through Self-Counsel Press. His book allows the reader to enter into it all the information that will be needed on their death, saving substantial costs for the estate. It is available at Chapters and Staples stores across Canada.
Peter Freeman (Metro Vancouver Branch) has been selected by the editing team for The Fieldstone Review, the University of Saskatchewan’s literary magazine, as the winner of The Fieldstone Review‘s literary prize, for his short story Hidden Message. His story was published in their annual magazine in September 2019 and is available to read online.
Peter has also launched Growth, a collection of poetry using historical events to identify its impact on a young boy’s life as he matures from childhood to adulthood, at the Salt Spring Island Library in BC. Growth was published by Adelaide Books of New York and is available on Amazon and Adelaide Books in paperback and Kindle versions. http://petersfreeman.ca.
Joan Boxall (Metro Vancouver Branch) has authored DrawBridge: Drawing Alongside My Brother’s Schizophrenia (Caitlin Press), which includes a colour insert of her brother’s drawings. The book lends itself well to book clubs in its handling of the subject of mental health and the power of art to heal. For discussion questions and reviews, go to www.joanboxall.com and http://caitlin-press.com/our-books/drawbridge/
Tommy Schnurmacher‘s (Montreal Branch) memoir Makeup Tips from Auschwitz: How Vanity Saved My Mother’s Life is now available through Amazon, Indigo, and Barnes and Noble. It was recently listed in the bestseller rankings on Amazon.ca as #1 in both Hot New Releases/Judaism and Hot New Releases/Jewish Biography, #3 bestseller in Judaism, #5 in Hot New Releases in Humorous Essays and #6 bestseller in Jewish Biography. talkradiotommy.com and https://www.amazon.ca/Makeup-Tips-Auschwitz-Vanity-Mothers/dp/0228805155/
Edythe Anstey Hanen (Metro Vancouver Branch) is a finalist in the Whistler Independent Book Awards for her novel Nine Birds Singing. The winners will be announced at the Whistler Writers Festival on October 18, 2019.
Purabi Das (Toronto Branch) was invited once again by Poetry and Spoken Word Quarterly Readings and Performances (@PoetryandSpokenWordQuarterly) to share her art on September 17, 2019. The event took place at the Berry Hill Co. in Oshawa. Poetry and Spoken Word Quarterly Readings and Performances connects with a community of thinkers and lovers of language through verse and voice, examining the world and what it means to be human.
Patricia Sandberg‘s (Metro Vancouver Branch) short story The Colour of Us, first published in The Cabinet of Heed, is newly published in an anthology from the Lit Mag Love course community. The anthology features work from 25 writers with comments on their road to publication. Free copies available at litmaglove.com/anthology.
Rick Prashaw (National Capital Region Branch), author of Soar, Adam, Soar, joins Amanda Jette Knox (Love Lives Here) and host Matthew Pearson for a Modern Family panel at the Ottawa Writers’ Festival on October 27, 2019, sharing stories on love’s power to overcome obstacles and the many ways families can support each other in a world that is too often cruel and unwelcoming. https://writersfestival.org/events/fall-2019/modern-family Rick was also invited to speak to the Canadian Human Rights Commission on October 2, 2019. Details at www.rickprashaw.com.
Rosanna Battigelli (Toronto Branch) launched her children’s book Pumpkin Orange, Pumpkin Round, (Pajama Press), illustrated by award-winning Tara Anderson, at Chapters in Sudbury, Ontario, on Saturday, September 28. https://pajamapress.ca/book/pumpkin_orange_pumpkin_round/
Karen Schauber‘s (Metro Vancouver Branch) upcoming book launch for The Group of Seven Reimagined: Contemporary Stories Inspired by Historic Canadian Paintings, will be held along with a celebration and author readings at 7:00 – 9:00 pm on November 20, 2019, at Aperture Coffee Bar, 4124 Main Street in Vancouver.
Gord Grisenthwaite (Kingsville, ON member at large) and the works of roughly 14 of Canada’s best Indigenous writers are collected in Bawaagigan: Stories of Power, available on November 1, 2019. Gord will give a reading at the Toronto book launch in early December.
In September, JF Garrard‘s (Toronto Branch) Dark Helix Press published their twelfth book, Immersion: An Asian Anthology of Love, Fantasy, and Speculative Fiction, which is Book 2 in the Ricepaper Magazine book series. Featuring 15 speculative fiction stories, characters include a lost samurai, shape shifters, hopping vampires to an unground society of janitors. http://www.darkhelixpress.com/acww/immersion/.
Ann Shortell (Toronto Branch) is a finalist in the Whistler Independent Book Awards for her novel Celtic Knot: A Clara Swift Tale. The winners will be announced at the Whistler Writers Festival on October 18, 2019.
Sharon Frayne (Niagara Branch) was the Young Adult Novel Winner with Chain of Broken Hearts at the 2019 Muskoka Novel Marathon. This 72-hour write-a-thon raised funds for the Muskoka/Simcoe YMCA Adult Literacy Program. Sharon was also the 2019 Winner of the South Simcoe Arts Festival Short Story Award and was shortlisted for the 2019 Eden Mills Writers Festival. www.fraynesharon.com.
Elaine Cougler (Woodstock, ON member at large) is launching The Man Behind the Marathons: How Ron Calhoun Helped Terry Fox and Other Heroes Make Millions for Charity on Sept. 8, 2019 at Quality Hotel in Woodstock ON from 2–4 pm. Area book club members are invited to a special session with the author and the subject, Ron Calhoun, at 1:30 pm. The first launch was very well attended in London ON in June and the third launch will be in the Beaty Room at the Thamesford, ON Library on October 10, 6:30–8:30 pm. www.elainecougler.com and www.themanbehindthemarathons.com
Jean Kay (Metro Vancouver Branch) has had her story (shared at CanWrite! in Vancouver) published in the Coffee News.The weekly newspaper is published in 10 countries around the world. The story tells how one of Jean’s poems, which she gave as a gift thirty years ago, is taped to the owner’s mirror and read every day. The recipient is now 96. One never knows how our words can touch lives. https://poetrytoinspire.com
Dean Eilertson (Metro Vancouver Branch) has been announced as the finalist in the Fiction category in the 2019 Book Excellence Awards for his now Gold Seal adorned book Dreammaker.
In May, Jerena Tobiasen (Metro Vancouver Branch) published her second book The Emerald, which is Book II in The Prophecy saga.This is a story about a Roma family forced to flee Germany to avoid Hitler’s round-up of undesirables. Jerena’s first novel The Crest and this recent publication are both available on Amazon. http://jerenatobiasen.ca/
Carol L. MacKay (Metro Vancouver Branch) received word that her debut picture book, Lily in the Loft (YNWP, Regina), illustrated by Val Moker, was a finalist in the 2019 Next Generation Indie Book Awards in the Regional Fiction category. These awards honour small press and independently published books. Carol’s poems for children were published in the following magazines: “Ocean Surprises” in Pockets, June 2019; “In the Tulip Field” in Highlights, June 2019 and “Moving Day Villanelle” in Caterpillar (Ireland), Summer 2019. Her story, “Knock-Knock!” was published in Chicken Soup for the Soul: Life Lessons from the Cat, May 2019. Carol lives in Qualicum Beach, BC. www.facebook.com/CarolMacKayAuthor
Dick Bourgeois-Doyle‘s (National Capital Region Branch) What’s So Funny? Lessons from Canada’s Leacock Medal for Humour Writing is being reprinted by Burnstown Publishing House. It is also available in digital format. Find out more at https://burnstownpublishing.com/product/whats-so-funny-lessons-from-canadas-leacock-medal-for-humour-writing/.