BATTLE TALES VI...THE PROMPTS ARE HERE!
This is it! The moment you have been waiting for. The runners have taken
their marks…the starter’s pistol is raised high and straight…AND we are off!
Your THREE prompts for Battle Tales VI: Pandemonium ARE:
1. An internet rabbit hole*
2. The panic of a pandemic style toilet paper shortage
3. A connection lost then found *where you end up somewhere unexpected in the online space
It’s been a long year folks. We’ve all suffered from Zoom fatigue, bared the brunt of homeschooling toddlers, worked from home, sleepwalked, sleeptalked, and seriously worried for each other’s safety. But there have also been a few laughs along the way— missed connections, your eighty year old father trying to work his way into a family thanksgiving Facetime, and the odd howl at the comments in Dr. M’s weekly daily briefings. And the river still rushed free after the winter, we had the beaches to ourselves all summer, and in a way, we began to make our own fun. Admittedly, there were low points, but there were also unexpected things, beautiful things, delightful things.
Steep the glory of your best pandemic moments into a 2,500 short story for us! Shine the light into the cracks of the places you wished you could have gone this year! Or if you’ve just come off of a week of binge-watching The Crown, compose your best short fiction and tell me what your private secretary was doing with my private secretary with the candlestick in the library.
And now it’s up to you. Your story must incorporate all THREE prompts but after that, it’s all you. Use them as a jumping off point, use them as a conclusion, use them in passing or use them as your primary proposition. Use them creatively or use them passively, but be sure to use them in a way that blow our judge’s mind.
We exit the arena and leave it to you, THE WORTHY, to battle harder than ever. But it must be a fair fight, so the rules! Remember - no names on your entries (Judging is blind!) You MUST be a resident of Prince Edward Island to enter, and we’re looking for stories under 2,500 words. Anything received by 11:59 pm on Sunday, January 24th, 2021 will be accepted. GOOD LUCK, MIGHTY BATTLERS!!!
The PEI Writers' Guild is proud to present "Comedic Storytelling," a three part workshop on Tuesdays in February. Whether you're considering dipping your toe into stand up comedy, prepping for your next fringe show, or you just want to tell better stories at parties, Heather Jordan Ross (BBC Radio 4, OutTV) is here to help you talk funny.
Over the course of three online classes, you'll be introduced to joke structure, performance technique, and story-shaping. Along with field notes on best practise, you'll workshop your way from landing a joke to crafting a great story. Think you've got something funny to say? Ready to take your skills to the next level? Then what are you waiting for? Heather Jordan Ross is here to help.
To Register: https://peiwritersguild.wildapricot.org/event-4113101
The workshop will run on Tuesdays, Feb 2nd, 9th and 16th from 6:30-8:30pm. Cost is $40 for PEI Writers' Guild members and $50 for non-members. Once you are registered, you will receive an email link on how to join the workshop via Zoom.
About Heather Jordan Ross
Heather Jordan Ross is an Island writer and comedian whose personal, acerbic storytelling has been featured on OutTV, CBC's the Doc Project, and BBC Radio 4. Producing and performing comedy from coast to coast and throughout Scotland, the Stand has described her as “very refreshing” and “extremely relatable." Before COVID19 struck, she was meant to do her first Edinburgh Fringe run in 2020. She has a Bachelor of Journalism (Honours) from University of King's College and a Masters in Screenwriting (Distinction) from Screen Academy Scotland.
Submissions OPEN for the Island Literary Awards & Rotary Club of Charlottetown Royalty Creative Writing Awards for Young People 2021
CHARLOTTETOWN, PEI – January 5, 2021 –The PEI Writers’ Guild is pleased to announce that submissions are now OPEN for the Island Literary Awards. Adult writers will be recognized during the Island Literary Awards and youth writers will be recognized during the Rotary Club of Charlottetown Royalty Creative Writing Awards for Young People. Deadline for submissions is Friday, February 26 at 9 p.m. Both award galas will take place on May 29, 2021. Cash prizes are awarded to individuals who place first, second and third in both the adult and young people’s awards categories. To submit as well as review the submission guidelines, eligibility criteria and the different award categories for both the adult and youth awards, please visit - https://peiwritersguild.wildapricot.org. Individuals 18+ are able to submit works in the following categories for the Island Literary Awards:
Literature for Children
Poetry
Short Story
Creative Non-Fiction
Marie Coyoteblanc Award for Indigenous Writing
Prince Edward Island Association for Newcomers to Canada Award
The Scott Parsons Literary Award
NEW THIS YEAR Prince Edward Island Association for Newcomers to Canada Award
This award recognizes and acknowledged the contribution made to the PEI literary culture by a writer new to Canada. Newcomers help expand our culture awareness and share their unique experiences in a number of ways, including the written word.
This prize is open to anyone who has immigrated to Canada and made PEI their new home within the past five (5) years.
Submissions can be in any category (fiction, non-fiction, poetry, writing for children and young adults, plays and scriptwriting).
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The Scott Parsons Literary Award is presented in recognition and celebration of the outstanding literary merit of a Black, Island writer.
Scott Parsons, co-founder and first President of the Black Cultural Society of PEI, is a multi-disciplined Island singer/songwriter who has consistently used his voice, through a variety of mediums including music, theatre, film, radio, and television, to deepen and enrich our understanding of our Island's history, sparking a new generation of artistic creativity.
This prize is designed to recognize literary merit and promote works in all categories including fiction, non-fiction, poetry, writing for children and young adults, plays and scriptwriting.
This prize is open to PEI residents who identify as Black or of African descent.
Rotary Club of Charlottetown Royalty Creative Writing Awards for Young People
Students (1-12) are invited to write on the topic of their choice and can submit writing in one of four sub-categories in the Rotary Club of Charlottetown Royalty Creative Writing Awards for Young People:
Early Elementary (Grades 1-3)
Late Elementary (Grades 4-6)
Junior High (Grades 7-9)
Senior High (Grades 10-12)
School Participation Award The school with the highest number of student submissions will be recognized with a certificate at the awards ceremony and will receive a special gift.
The Prince Edward Island Writers’ Guild (PEIWG) is a dynamic organization dedicated to promoting the growth and quality of literary arts on PEI.
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For more information:
Christian Gallant
peiliteraryawards@gmail.com
Cell: (902) 439-0126
Your favourite writing competition - BATTLE TALES - is back in 2021!
While we we are happy to bring this contest back, we haven't nailed down all the details yet, like themes, judges, prompts, & what have you. But have no fear, we'll be showing back up for you on Sunday, January 17th (12:01 pm)! You'll have a week to write us your best short story or essay, and submit it back to us.
To read more about Battle Tales, please check out the Battle Tales page! See you in January,
the PEIWG
Nurture a Storyteller...
As all our members know, the PEI Writers' Guild is a registered charity that exists through member dues & government partners. This year, we are participating in Giving Tuesday this year, to help make our programs and services available to all. Our work is three fold: barrier-free workshops, and barrier-free membership, and new categories of awards. Read more about our Vision, Mission, and Mandate
For our first Giving Tuesday campaign, we are building a bursary fund for our organization so that we may offer more spots barrier free—not just for some of our workshops, but for ALL of our workshops! Our mission is to offer a wide array of professional workshops that support the craft of writing and include the business or writing and promotion of Island writers. Click here to help a storyteller! Donate today!
Your Community. Your Voice.
The PEI Writers' Guild is an arts organization founded on creating a thriving literary landscape, a community that is vital to writers who live here on Prince Edward Island. It is important for our writing community to be barrier-free for all members who need it, especially and including BIPOC creators. We are therefore offering a one-year free PEIWG membership to poets and prose writers from marginalized communities. Your voices, perspectives and stories are vitally important to the writing community, now more than ever.
Nurture a Storyteller. Donate Today.
The annual Island Literary Awards (ILAs) recognize the best in Island writing with cash awards from community sponsors in the categories of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and children’s literature, as well as unique prizes for certain distinguished awards. The PEI Writers' Guild is seeking new support for new categories of Island Literary Awards in 2021, including an award for BIPOC writers and an award for a Newcomer to Canada. Help us create these awards by DONATING TODAY. You can donate via our Website HERE, or by cheque to the PEIWG, 81 PRINCE STREET, CHARLOTTETOWN, PE C1A- 3R4, or by sending us an e-transfer to peiwritersguild@gmail.com.
*Donors receive our gratitude and a charitable tax receipt for the value of any gift over ten dollars.*
Thank you for helping us nurture the storytellers of tomorrow, today.
The PEIWG Giving Tuesday team.
WE ARE SO DISAPPOINTED TO HAVE TO CANCEL THIS EVENT DUE TO THE RECENT COVID OUTBREAK, WE HOPE TO BRING OUR PERFORMANCE POETS AND PROSE READERS BETTER LUCK IN 2021. Please join host Keith Burgoyne for an evening of Open Mic and bookish chatter at UPEI's finest,The Fox & Crow.
Usually we have a featured reader at our Open Mics, but since we haven't been together for a long while, we thought we might mix it up a bit. We'd like to take the chance to get the crowd warmed up, hear some new poets, novelists or memoirists and give away a few Christmas treasures, of course!
This event is free! The first ten writers to sign up may read from their work— poetry or prose—for up to 5 minutes. If you would like to read, please show up early, we will take signs up between 6-7 pm.
Don't forget to register (it's free!) on Eventbrite for this event, and follow our Facebook event page for recent updates: PEIWG on Facebook See you there!
EVENTBRITE LINK TO REGISTER
Not only is October filled with apple picking, scarecrows, and cranberry sauce, but this month of the harvest also sees an abundance of family literacy events take place throughout the province. The Reading Street initiative involved a series of ten events, funded by TD Bank Group and facilitated through the Prince Edward Island Writers’ Guild (PEIWG), that celebrated family literacy. To cap off this busy month of literacy and reading focused events, the Guild is hosting an Island-wide Read-a-thon on November 1st.
“Read-a-thons are quite popular in the online space,” explains PEIWG president Christine Gordon Manley. “Basically, you commit to setting aside a certain timeframe on a given day to read. Some read-a-thons can last for up to 24 hours, with participants planning their reads and snacks weeks ahead of time, but we’re making ours a family friendly event and going with two hours.”
On Sunday, November 1, from 1:30pm–3:30pm, Islanders participating in the Read-a-thon will simply be asked to dive into a book. During the event, readers can send photos of themselves and their family reading, their reading nooks, any furry reading buddies, and their reading snacks of choice to the Guild for a chance to win prizes.
“We’re asking participants to engage with us online using the hashtag #PEIReadAthon. Tag us on Twitter and Instagram, and use this hashtag for a chance to win some pretty fabulous prizes from our event sponsors: Seaside Books (Summerside), the Comic Hunter (Charlottetown), the Bookman (Charlottetown), and Buttercup Café & Books (Beach Point),” says Gordon Manley.
Since this is an online event, there is no requirement to register ahead of time.
“All you have to do is grab a book and read…and possibly win a prize,” states PEIWG Executive Director Mo Duffy Cobb. “During a time that sees so much change and uncertainty, we wanted to do something that can still go ahead during the pandemic and that encourages families to set time aside to read.”
For more information, please see the Event Page off of the PEI Writers’ Guild Facebook Page.
Reading Street: A Storybook Adventure Across PEI
Overview
Reading Street (The-Artist-Formerly-Known-as-Reading-Town) is a community event focused on promoting literacy in Charlottetown and across PEI. In 2018 and 2019, vendors, exhibitors, games, activities, cultural programming and workshops came together to make reading and learning fun for the whole family. It was an inclusive, bilingual event with more than a dozen partners from various facets of the community and business sector.
This year, COVID-19 has influenced us to change our tune. While Reading Street still wants to develop stronger community partnerships and create our carnival style event, this year, we have the opportunity to share our love of reading with pockets of happy readers. With micro-grants of funding up to $500, TD and the PEI Writers’ Guild will help market your event and together we can continue creating successful family reading experiences, across Prince Edward Island’s centres!
For the Love of Reading
Reading Street: A Storybook Adventure Across PEI experiences will be unique and innovative. Your programming can be any reading-themed activity, a games corner for the kids, a reading nook for families, an author reading, a participative craft, or a cultural stage featuring literacy or a storytelling related performance, such as programming from the Acadian or First Nations communities.
Project Goals
The overarching goals of Reading Street are to promote reading and literacy as a fun, accessible priority for the whole family. Partner organizations / businesses should be venues that are easily accessible to families, and located in the Charlottetown or Summerside areas. The event should be free, and we encourage events in English, French, or even events that celebrate other cultures or languages— any event that targets family literacy.
How to Apply
The PEI Writers’ Guild will be accepting applications for their events until September 21st, and all events must take place in the month of October. Visit us at www.peiwritersguild.com or email peiwritersguild@gmail.com for more information, or head straight to our application Google Form: Reading Street Application The PEI Writers’ Guild can only accept projects that are based in Charlottetown or Summerside, which covers the branch footprint of the TD Bank Group.
Keep Gatherings Safe
With all applications, an operational plan must be submitted. Physical distancing, hand sanitizers and guidelines from the province of P.E.I. must be adhered to, in accordance with the Chief Health Public Officer. For an operational plan template, please visit: https://www.princeedwardisland.ca/en/publication/covid-19-operational-plan-template
APPLY HERE: https://forms.gle/wLPJ69m42pKtuvgh8
The PEI Writers' Guild is thrilled to announce that the Awards Gala for the Island Literary Awards, PEI Book Awards, and the Rotary Club of Charlottetown Royalty Creative Writing Awards for Young People will be available for viewing on the Island Literary Awards (www.facebook.com/IslandLiteraryAwards), the PEI Public Library Service (www.facebook.com/PEILibrary) and the PEI Writers' Guild (www.facebook.com/peiwritersguild) Facebook pages on Saturday, June 6th!
Given the COVID-19 crisis, the Island Literary Awards committee decided not to host in-person awards ceremonies this year in order to ensure everyone’s health and safety.
The committee has been actively busy revamping the awards, and these will be broken out into three different segments:
The online awards ceremonies will include many of the same elements as our in-person events. During the online ceremonies, Islanders will still be honoured for their work. First-place winners will have an excerpt of their work read, and all award recipients will still have the chance to hear what the jurors had to say about their submission. A digital copy of the program will be made available online and a hard copy will be mailed to all award recipients after the ceremony as a souvenir.
We invite you to share this information wide and far with family members, friends, and co-workers everywhere. By making these available online, our events will now be available worldwide! Our Island writers, as well as our sponsors and supporters, will not only get recognized here on our gentle isle, but also all over the world as anyone will be able to tune in and help us celebrate PEI literary achievement.
Your support towards the arts has never been more important as it is during these trying times. As the world turned dark, we turned to the arts, and we’re seeing this more and more with artists coming together to provide light to many in a time of uncertainty. Musicians are providing free online concerts. Artists are offering free virtual art classes. Dancers are encouraging people to express themselves through movement with free online classes. Authors are reading to people online. The arts community is known for rallying together, and it is so important to recognize them and offer them support now more than ever!
Stay safe—together we will get through this! And with the help of our artistic community, we can bring some light into the dark. We look forward to celebrating our Island writers on Saturday, June 6th!
Charlottetown, PE – May 6, 2020 - The PEI Writers’ Guild is pleased to announce the shortlist for both the Island Literary Awards, as well as the Rotary Club of Charlottetown Royalty Creative Writing Awards for Young People. Island writers will be recognized during award galas, which will take place online in the weeks to come.
During the Island Literary Awards, adults will be recognized for excellence in Poetry, Creative Non-Fiction, Literature for Children, Short Story, and Indigenous Writing.
Short-listed writers for adult categories are as follows:
The Heirs of L.M. Montgomery Literature for Children Award: Eric Leamont, Gretha Rose, Hannah Stiff, Ian Stretch, Jessica Mutch Confederation Court Mall Merchants Association Poetry Award: Emily Browning, Emily Cann, Kelly Kieran Sampson, Megan Gallant, Nick vanOuwerkerk Maritime Electric Short Story Award: Chris Wilson, Jennifer Platts-Fanning, Katie Mac Creative Non-Fiction Award: Ivy Wigmore, Kelly Kieran Sampson, Mark Enman, Matthew Sherman, Samantha Desjardins Joyce Acorn Press Marie Coyoteblanc Indigenous Writing Award: Michael Sima, Richard Pellissier-Lush Réshard Gool Award for Creative Writing: Monika Stewart Joseph Sherman Award: Dan & Marlene MacDonald Distinguished Contribution to the Literary Arts of PEI: Rob MacLean & Melissa Mullen Youth in Early Elementary, Late Elementary, Junior High, and Senior High will be honoured for their excellence in literary arts during the Rotary Club of Charlottetown Royalty Creative Writing Awards for Young People.
Short-listed writers for the youth categories are as follows:
Early Elementary: Ben Bowman Late Elementary: Alyson Scott, Elle Flick, Juliette Martinez-Kydd, Lauren Elizabeth Graham, Sam Bowman Junior High: Eleena Lunn, Jordan Dingwell, Khai Phan, Sheamus Herlihy, Vy Nguyen Tran Senior High: Arielle Dunn, Marley Lucas, Megan Gallant Champion of Reading AwardThis year, the PEI Writers’ Guild is accepting nominations for the Champion of Reading Award. This award recognizes an individual in the community who champions reading as being essential to the quality of our lives and to our ability to take our place on the world stage. Nominations are being accepted until May 21st and the winner will be revealed during the Island Literary Awards taking place in the upcoming weeks. Previous winners of the Champion of Reading Award include Deirdre Kessler (2019), Barb Kissick (2018), Roseanne Gauthier (2017) and Jinny Greaves (2016). For more information and to submit your potential candidate, visit - https://tinyurl.com/yaa2b24p PEI Book AwardsSince 2006, the Prince Edward Island Book Awards have celebrated the best in books by Prince Edward Islanders. These awards are given in out every two years and, this year, they will hand out awards in four categories: Fiction, Non-Fiction, Poetry, and Children's Literature. The PEI Book Awards will be handed out during the Island Literary Awards. For over 30 years, the Island Literary Awards have recognized the best in Island writing by writers of all ages. Cash prizes are awarded to individuals who place first, second, and third in both the adult and young people’s awards categories. Many past award winners are now published authors. Please follow the Island Literary Awards on Facebook (@IslandLiteraryAwards), on Twitter (@IslandLiterary) or visit peiwritersguild.com for more information.
81 Prince St.| Charlottetown, PE| C1A-4R3 www.peiwritersguild.com
