PRESENTATION DESCRIPTION

This presentation will cover what to consider when putting together a query or proposal for a memoir or creative nonfiction book project, and give insight into what publishers are looking for from potential authors. It will also highlight recent books published by University of Alberta Press as a way to talk about how a university press approaches trade publishing.

PRESENTER BIO

Michelle Lobkowicz is Acquisitions Editor for Humanities and Literature at University of Alberta Press where she acquires scholarly work and literary and trade titles. She has worked in publishing for twenty years, first at Broadview Press and then at University of Toronto Press. Michelle lives with her family in Edmonton, amiskwaciwâskahikan, Treaty 6 Territory.

EVENT DESCRIPTION

Join us while you are feeling inspired to write in the same digital space as other writers.  The room will be opened a 1PM and will stay open until 2.  This is a quiet event.

EVENT HOST BIO

Bryan Mortensen is a writer, traveller, and administrator who calls the Comox Valley home. He is has a degree in English from the University of Alberta with a minor in Philosophy. At his core, Bryan believes in advocating for and with people who have been traditionally marginalized. Nine out of ten of Bryan's friends describe him as fun and or exhausting

TUESDAY JULY 25 11AM: Truth and Creativity: A Framework for Creative Non-Fiction with Christina Myers

PRESENTATION DESCRIPTION

Truth and Creativity: A Framework for Creative Non-Fiction will provide an overview of creative non-fiction, including a look at the genre's roots and the many types of CNF that have evolved and exist today. The session will explore literary techniques in CNF and explore the ways that creativity and truth-telling come together.

PRESENTER BIO

Christina Myers is a writer, editor and former journalist. Her novel The List of Last Chances (2021) was longlisted for the Leacock Medal. Her next book, Halfway Home: Thoughts from Midlife, a collection of essays, is forthcoming from House of Anansi. Her writing has also appeared in magazines, online and in a dozen anthologies. She is a member of Da’naxda’xw First Nation and she lives in Surrey, BC.

TUESDAY JULY 25 1PM: From Pacific Coast to Publication: A Memoir Book Journey with Meaghan Hackinen

PRESENTATION DESCRIPTION

In this presentation, travel-memoirist Meaghan Hackinen will share the book journey of South Away: The Pacific Coast on Two Wheels (NeWest Press, 2019), and how she transformed a lived experience onto the printed page

PRESENTER BIO

Meaghan Hackinen is a Kelowna-based writer and ultra-endurance cyclist whose two-wheeled adventures have taken her from Haida Gwaii to Mexico’s high plateaus, across Canada and the United States, and from North Cape to Tarifa along some of Europe’s highest paved roads. Her debut travel memoir, South Away: The Pacific Coast on Two Wheels (NeWest Press, 2019) was shortlisted for the Kobo Emerging Writer Prize and an Alberta Book Publishing Award. Meaghan has an MFA in Writing from the University of Saskatchewan.

WEDNESDAY JULY 26 11AM: Hard Truths with Lesley Buxton

PRESENTATION DESCRIPTION

The overall aim of this workshop is to develop the skills necessary to tackle difficult subjects in our writing. Attendees can expect discussion on topics like: discovering what events/topics are essential to our narrative, discussing hard topics without emotionally exhausting the reader, and the conflict of the present and past self when writing nonfiction based on traumatic events. There will be some improvised writing exercises

PRESENTER BIO

S. Lesley Buxton is the author of One Strong Girl: Surviving the Unimaginable, A Mother’s Memoir. Her essays have appeared in Hazlitt, Reader’s Digest, Today’s Parent, Still Standing, and This Magazine as well as the anthologies, Love Me True and Good Mom on Paper. She is the coauthor of the “Time to Wonder” books with Sue Harper. A series for children about the museums of BC. She has an MFA in Creative Nonfiction from the University of King’s College in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

THURSDAY JULY 27 11AM: Finding your Voice with JJ Lee

PRESENTATION DESCRIPTION

Voice is the engine of memoir. Who is the narrator and where they are located in space and time are all important in driving a work of recollection. This is a chance to find the voice for your personal narrative.

PRESENTER BIO

JJ Lee is a mentor of nonfiction at The Writer's Studio at Simon Fraser University and teaches writing at The Shadbolt Centre for the Arts. He wrote The Measure of a Man: The Story of a Father, a Son, and a Suit. It was a finalist for the Governor General's, Hilary Weston Writers' Trust, Charles Taylor, and Hubert Evans BC Book Prizes awards for nonfiction. He is currently editing an anthology of nonfiction Christmas/Solstice stories titled Better Next Year and writing a horror novel. He lives in New Westminster.

THURSDAY JULY 28 1PM: WRITING SPRINT (BONUS EVENT)

EVENT DESCRIPTION

Join us for while you are feeling inspired to write in the same digital space as other writers.  The room will be opened a1pm and will stay open until 2.  This is a quiet event.

EVENT HOST BIO

Bryan Mortensen is a writer, traveller, and administrator who calls the Comox Valley home. He is has a degree in English from the University of Alberta with a minor in Philosophy. At his core, Bryan believes in advocating for and with people who have been traditionally marginalized. Nine out of ten of Bryan's friends describe him as fun and or exhausting

PRESENTATION DESCRIPTION

Interview-style Q & A with Don Gorman of Rocky Mountain Books focused on current trends in the memoir and creative non-fiction publishing industry

PRESENTOR BIO

Don Gorman lives in Victoria, BC, and is the publisher of Rocky Mountain Books. He has spent the past 25 years working within the book trade and has held positions as a bookseller, publisher’s sales representative, and acquisitions editor. Along with publishing 20 - 30 books a year, he spends much of his time working with other book publishers and sales representatives on issues relating to marketing, metadata, and project management within the book publishing industry. He has served on the boards of the Association of Canadian Publishers (ACP), the Book Publishers Association of Alberta (BPAA), Pubwest (USA), and is a member of the College of Fellows for the Royal Canadian Geographic Society. He is currently the President of the Association of Book Publishers of British Columbia (Books BC).

EVENT DESCRIPTION

Join your fellow writers for a social event to recap our journey.  Chat about favourite learnings, impacts, and what you are working on

EVENT HOST BIO

Bryan Mortensen is a writer, traveller, and administrator who calls the Comox Valley home. He is has a degree in English from the University of Alberta with a minor in Philosophy. At his core, Bryan believes in advocating for and with people who have been traditionally marginalized. Nine out of ten of Bryan's friends describe him as fun and or exhausting