Programs & Services: Edmonton WGA Events 2011/2012

EXCHANGING IDEAS AND EDITS:

WHAT IT TAKES TO SUCCESSFULLY START A WRITING GROUP AND KEEP IT GOING

Presented by the WGA

Saturday, January 14, 2012

1:00 - 3:00 pm

3rd Floor, Room #8,

Percy Page Building,

11759 Groat Road (please enter through the back entrance of the building).

http://writinggroups2011.eventbrite.com/

Cost: Members: Free, Non-Members: $5 in advance or at the door   

Edmonton author, Natasha Deen, is a founding member of the Edmonton Writers’ Group. Since its inception, the Edmonton Writers’ Group has become a safe place for writers of all genres and experience levels to meet, discuss, and share each other’s work. Natasha will discuss how a community of writers, who meet regularly to workshop and discuss the craft of writing, can be detrimental to your own work. She will provide tips on how to create a group, provide workshop structure and keep the group running for the long-term.

Natasha’s Bio

Natasha Deen graduated from the University of Alberta with a B.A. in psychology. An advocate for vulnerable groups, she's worked with the Alberta provincial government as well as with non-profit agencies. Realizing the power of allegory and myths to affect change in the lives of those around her, she turned to full time writing in 2005. She is a multi-published author with The Wild Rose Press. Her novel, Ethan's Chase, was nominated for a 2008 CAPA Award for excellence in romance. When not working on her manuscripts, she is a writing instructor and editor to teens, adults and children, and uses the template of the story to teach conflict resolution, empowerment and the "why" behind human behavior. Natasha is a member of the Writers' Guild of Alberta, the Canadian Authors' Association, the Young Alberta Book Society, and sits on the board of YouthWrite. She is also a co-founder of the Edmonton Writing Group.

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WGA FEBRUARY SOCIAL AND BOOK EXCHANGE

Presented by the WGA

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

7:30 – 10:00 pm

Location: Jekyll & Hyde Pub

10209 – 100 Ave  

RSVP:  No RSVP, just show (Nichole will be hosting—look for the table with books)

Looking for an opportunity to get out of the house? Tired of being tethered to the computer, having endless wrestling matches with the oxford comma or facilitating conversations with imaginary people? Join other WGA members for a night on the town with rich conversation, a book exchange, and a drink or two!  Please bring one or two books for potential discussion and to exchange with other writers. Given the success of such an evening, we could do this again next month!

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CELEBRATE FREEDOM TO READ WEEK WITH EDMONTON JOURNAL COLUMNIST, PAULA SIMONS AND NOVELIST GREG HOLLINGSHEAD

Presented by the Canadian Literature Centre & the WGA

Thursday, March 1, 2012

7:00 – 9:00 pm

Location: Law Centre (231/237)

111 Street & 89 Ave, University of Alberta

Please RSVP to: http://www.eventbrite.com/myevent?eid=2769681191

Celebrate Freedom to Read Week with renowned Edmonton author, Greg Hollingshead, as he joins one of his former first-year English students and Edmonton Journal columnist, Paula Simons, for a conversation on her experiences as a local journalist who has received both acclaim and criticism for her columns. The two literary personalities will also discuss how Freedom to Read Week is connected with freedom of expression, as well as challenges both novelists and journalists face once their work is published. There will be time reserved for questions and socializing at the end of the discussion.

Greg Hollingshead (bio taken from the Banff Centre website)

Greg Hollingshead has published three novels and three story collections. In 1995 his third story collection, The Roaring Girl, won the Governor General’s Award for Fiction. In 1998 his novel The Healer won the Rogers Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize and was shortlisted for the Giller Prize. His latest novel, Bedlam (2004), was longlisted for the IMPAC Dublin Literary Award and was a Globe and Mail 100 Best Books of the Year and a New York Times Book Review Editor’s Choice for 2006. Greg’s work has been published in the U.S., U.K., Germany, and China. He is a professor emeritus at the University of Alberta and director of the Writing Studio program at The Banff Centre. In 2007 he received the Lieutenant Governor of Alberta Gold Medal for Excellence in the Arts. He is currently at work on his seventh book, a novel. He lives with his wife Rosa Spricer in Edmonton. For 2011-12 he is serving as Chair of the Writers’ Union of Canada.

Paula Simons (bio taken from the Edmonton Journal website)

Paula Simons is the Edmonton Journal's award-winning City columnist. A born-and-bred Edmontonian, Simons is a graduate of the University of Alberta (BA Hon.) and Stanford University (MA), as well as a former fellow at the Poynter Institute for Media Studies. Over her years with the Journal, she has served as provincial affairs columnist, culture columnist and as a member of paper's editorial board. Simons has earned five prestigious National Newspaper Award citations of merit for her editorials, columns and investigative political reporting.

About Freedom to Read Week (taken from http://freedomtoread.ca/):

Freedom to read can never be taken for granted. Even in Canada, a free country by world standards, books and magazines are banned at the border. Books are removed from the shelves in Canadian libraries, schools and bookstores every day. Free speech on the Internet is under attack. Few of these stories make headlines, but they affect the right of Canadians to decide for themselves what they choose to read. This is why we celebrate FTRW. http://freedomtoread.ca