Event A – Blue Pencil Sessions with Janine Young
Register for a one-on-one meeting with Janine Young, a literary writer and the managing editor of Nightwood Editions. This 20-minute session provides the opportunity to get feedback from a publishing professional and learn about the editing process.
Janine Alyson Young is a literary writer from the West Coast of BC. Her short story collection Hideout Hotel was shortlisted for the Danuta Gleed Award, and she has been toiling over her first novel ever since. She is also the managing editor at Nightwood Editions, an indie publisher which proudly works with emerging and award-winning authors. She lives on the unceded traditional land of the Skwxwú7mesh People in Gibsons, BC.
https://www.janinealysonyoung.com
Hideout Hotel: https://caitlinpress.com/Books/H/Hideout-Hotel
Please note that the selected registrants will have to submit a writing sample by July 30th. More information will be provided.
Festival and day passes do not include admission to Special Event A. To reserve a ticket for the Blue Pencil Sessions, fill out this order form and the Festival Office will contact you while supplies last.
Location: Rockwood Lodge Art Space
Date: Sessions on Friday, August 14, Saturday, August 15 and Sunday, August 16
Cost: $40.00
Event B – Dialogue Workshop with Sam Wiebe
Join crime writer Sam Wiebe for a workshop on dialogue. He’ll discuss the difference between dialogue and real-life speech; how dialogue relates to character, pacing, voice, and plot; and why characters say one thing and mean another (even if they don’t know it).
Sam Wiebe is the author of the bestselling Ocean Drive as well as the Wakeland novels, one of the most authentic and acclaimed detective series in Canada, including Sunset and Jericho and The Last Exile. Guns Across the River is the latest in the series. His work has won the Crime Writers of Canada award, the Kobo Emerging Writers prize, and a silver medal from the Independent Publisher Book Awards, and been shortlisted for the Edgar, Hammett, Shamus and City of Vancouver book prizes. The Last Exile is a finalist for the 2026 BC and Yukon Book Prizes’ Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize. Wiebe lives in New Westminster, BC.
Festival and day passes do not include admission to Special Event B. To reserve a ticket for the dialogue workshop, order at www.writersfestival.ca, visit the festival office in person or call 604-885-9631 (while supplies last).
Location: Rockwood Lodge Art Space
Date: Friday, August 14, 12:30 – 2:00 pm
Cost: $25.00
Event C – Writing Memoir with Donna Morrissey
Just what the heck qualifies as memoir and how do you tell your story truthfully when everyone in it is still alive? In this workshop you’ll learn to distinguish between three types of memoir (book length, personal essay and narrative essay), decide which one works best for your story, and identify the main themes or ‘heart’ of your work.
Donna Morrissey is the author of the nationally bestselling memoir Pluck, which was a finalist for the Atlantic Book Awards’ Non-Fiction Award, and of seven acclaimed and bestselling novels, including the national bestseller Rage the Night. She won the Thomas Raddall Atlantic Fiction Award and the Arthur Ellis Award for Best Crime Fiction for The Fortunate Brother; Sylvanus Now was shortlisted for the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize; and The Deception of Livvy Higgs was a One Read pick for Nova Scotia in 2017. Her fiction has also won awards in the US and the UK, and has been translated into several languages. Born and raised in Newfoundland, she lives in Halifax.
Festival and day passes do not include admission to Special Event C. To reserve a ticket for the memoir workshop, order at www.writersfestival.ca, visit the festival office in person or call 604-885-9631 (while supplies last).
Location: Rockwood Lodge Art Space
Date: Saturday, August 15, 12:30 – 2:00 pm
Cost: $25.00