WritersNL’s Annual Conference & AGM 2024

Thank you for coming to our 2024 AGM & Conference Weekend!

Thank you to Chris Deacon for these amazing pictures from Friday night’s
“New Voices” Readings and “Writing Complex Topics” panel discussion!

Pictured from left to right: Kerri Cull, Rhea Rollmann, Stephen Randell, Ashleigh Matthews and Tom Cho

Pictured from left to right: Yanitza Trosel, Sabina Akhter, Vanessa Cardoso – Whelan, Khadija Rhema and Inioluwa Akinleye

We had such encouraging feedback from WritersNL members on the New Voices readings! Three lucky members won the raffle draw and went home with a door prize of over 5 books each! All these books were donated by WritersNL members and we are so grateful to you all once again!

Thanks to our host, Khadija Rhema and the readers: Vanessa Cardoso – Whelan, Inioluwa Akinleye, Yanitza Trosel, and Sabina Akhter!

Our incredible panellists—Rhea Rollmann, Tom Cho, Ashleigh Matthews, and Stephen Randell—shared their insights on crafting works that address challenging themes. Moderated by Kerri Cull, the discussion delved into topics like addiction, identity, queer activism, and navigating breast cancer narratives.

Check out their books!

Pictured from left to right: Tom Cho’s Look Who’s Morphing, Rhea Rollmann’s A Queer History of Newfoundland, Stephen Randell’s My Child Is An Addict and Ashleigh Matthews’ otherwise grossly unremarkable 

The WriterNL team also had a wonderful time connecting with members at the mixer earlier. It’s always inspiring to hear directly from the writers and creators who bring our community to life.

 Congratulations to all of our 2024 Pitch Wars Pitchers! 👏

Pictured from left to right: Virtual Pitchers Ben Brake and Nina Rumbolt-Pye

Pictured from left to right: Gracie Reid and Jeanette Russell


Pictured from left to right: Willem Peters and Francois Van Zyl

Pictured from left to right: Michael Boyle and Emma Cole

Pictured from left to right: Lindsey Harrington and Cheney Emberg

Our 2024 Pitch Wars Award Winners are:
🏅 Most Memorable: Cheney Emberg
🏅 Most Prepared: Emma Cole
🏅 Most Marketable: Lindsey Harrington

From left to right: Lindsey Harrington, Cheney Emberg and Emma Cole

Thanks again to everyone who came out to support our 2024 Pitch Wars at the Rock House, on George Street in downtown St. John’s.
It was certainly a night to remember! 🏆✨

From left to right: Kelley Power of After Books, Kevin Woolridge of Heavy Sweater Comics, Brad Dunne of Engen Books and Gavin Will of Boulder Books

From left to right: Jerry Cranford of Flanker Press, Alison Carr of Memorial University Press, Jocelyne Thomas of Breakwater Books

Baraka

Tina Brake

From left to right: Incoming WritersNL President- Collin Glavac, WritersNL Secretary- Teresita Dziadura, WritersNL Executive Director- Jen Winsor, WritersNL Member Services and Communications Coordinator- Helena Elueme and Outgoing WritersNL President- Ainsley Hawthorn

Photos by Alick Tsui Photography.
Check out more pictures on our Facebook page!

All three workshops this past weekend had an incredible turnout!
So many WritersNL members are hungry for knowledge and we are so happy to be able to provide it to you.

60 participants 

 

 

 

50 participants

 

 

 

 

45 participants

Thanks for attending!

WritersNL Sends Congratulations to our 2024 Lifetime Member and our 2024 Volunteer of the Year!

A huge thanks to everyone who attended our Annual General Meeting this Sunday. With your vast outpouring of support, we achieved our large quorum requirement, and we greatly appreciate your attendance.

We would like to ask you to join us in congratulating our 2024 Lifetime Member Mary Dalton and our 2024 Volunteer of the Year Ray Critch.

2024 Lifetime Member: Mary Dalton

“I am grateful for this recognition from an organization that has accomplished so much for the community of writers since it was created, and which continues to broaden its scope each year, creating opportunities for the hearing of many voices and many genres of writing.
My thanks especially to the Board and to whoever chose to nominate me for Lifetime Membership —and to Jen Winsor who has gone out of her way to ensure that I could participate in the AGM today. To Molly Barraclough whose efforts were also involved.
I am honoured to be in the company of your roster of Lifetime Members, several of whom were friends as well as gifted writers and founders of WNL. I think particularly of Joan Clark, Anne Hart, and Patrick O’Flaherty in  this context. Thank you all for your role in keeping their names bright. May you enjoy their books and those of the other outstanding writers whom you have recognized over the years.”

In 2010 she founded the SPARKS Literary Festival, which she also directed until 2016.

A collection of Dalton’s prose writings, Edge: Essays, Reviews, Interviews, was released by Palimpsest Press in the fall of 2015. Running the Goat Press published a letterpress chapbook, Waste Ground, with illustrations by Massachusetts wood engraver Abigail Rorer, in 2017.

Dalton lives in St. John’s, where she is Emerita Professor of English at Memorial University of Newfoundland. She served as Poet Laureate of the City of St. John’s  2019-2022 . She is the creator and host of the poetry podcast Flahoolic, which is produced by CHMR Radio and is available online at iTunes, Soundcloud, and other podcast platforms.

She gave the 2020 Pratt Lecture at Memorial University “The Vernacular Strain in Newfoundland Poetry”  in March of that year.  Her latest book of poems Interrobang was released in September of 2024.

2024 Volunteer of the Year: Ray Critch

In what now feels like a past life but was actually 2010, he obtained a PhD in Philosophy from the University of Edinburgh. Before getting called to the bar in 2016 he taught at universities in Edinburgh, Vienna, and his hometown of St. John’s, Newfoundland.

He has been a past Director and Vice-Chair of WritersNL and continues to serve on the Governance Committee. He also does pro bono contract review for local emerging writers and other pro bono legal work for WritersNL. He has been on the Boards of Shakespeare by the Sea, the Confederation Building Daycare Co-op, among others, and is currently on leave from serving on the boards of Perchance Theatre and Home Again Furniture Bank due to the birth of his second child in April, 2024.

Here are the documents for our AGM on Sunday!

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Mark your calendars for WritersNL’s exciting Annual General Meeting Weekend, taking place from November 29 to December 1, 2024!

Join us for a weekend filled with workshops, discussions, and networking opportunities designed for writers at all stages. Keep scrolling for event details and registration links.  

Friday, November 29, 2024 

New Voices Readings 

Time: 6:00 PM – 6:45 PM
Location: Foran Greene Room, St. John’s City Hall
Open to: General public. No registration required. 

Join us for an inspiring evening showcasing talent as writers read their work in multiple languages.

• Vanessa Cardoso – Whelan reading “Saudade” in Brazilian Portuguese

• Inioluwa Akinleye reading “Àlímọ́tù òpin àríwá” in Yoruba 

• Yanitza Trosel reading “Extraño las cosas que nunca tuve” in Spanish 

• Sabina Akhter reading “Mukti” in Bangla 

ABOUT THE READERS: 

Yanitza Trosel is a Venezuelan-born physicist fascinated by the power of a book’s opening line. She earned her PhD degree in physics with specialty in biophysics from Memorial University of Newfoundland. Alongside her scientific career, she revels in imagining fictional worlds and has a knack for sparking conversations—like asking all her closest friends, “How would you survive a zombie apocalypse?” She has written essays, short stories, and poetry over the years and has recently set out to share her writing with the world. Yanitza loves spending time with Suki, her little cowardly dog.

Inioluwa Akinleye is a Nigerian-born writer and visual artist deeply inspired by cultural heritage and generational narratives. With a Master’s in Classics and a passion for Yoruba culture, her works often explore themes of family, memory, and the resilience of women across generations. 

Hailing from Brazil, Vanessa Cardoso Whelan (she/her) is a playwright, multidisciplinary artist, and clown with a passion for contemporary theatre and body movement. Graduating in Theatre Arts in 2004, she has performed with several artistic groups on stage, and in street productions as an actress, and dancer. Vanessa has been actively engaged in the local arts scene since moving to NL in 2014. She likes to give her art back to the community, doing volunteer workshops and performances for new Canadians/refugees and non-profit organizations, because of that and other achievements, Vanessa received the 2023 Inspiring Immigrant Woman Award from We Care Foundation. Inspired by Nature Vanessa loves the mountains on the west coast of Newfoundland, it reminds her of home. 

Sabina Akhter is a native Bangla language speaker born in Bangladesh and grew up in the middle eastern country of Qatar. She now calls St. John’s her home. Bengali literature has shaped her view of literary work since childhood, and she admires the essence of writing that binds readers across cultures.

Khadija Rehma (she/her) is a communications professional, fiction writer and mom of two teens and one guinea pig. With professional experience in non-profit communication for social impact, her aspirations are driven and informed by the human condition across cultures, countries, and social and economic power structures.
Born in Bangladesh, Khadija has had the opportunity to work with and learn from some of the most impactful and inspiring non-profits in the world. She currently works as a Media Relations Manager in the Department of Children, Seniors and Social Development, Government of Newfoundland and Labrador. Her literary endeavors include an unpublished novel Dishonourable Daughters, shortlisted in 2022 for the NLCU Fresh Fish Award. She is also working on a collection of short stories, one of which titled What Could Have Been was selected for the 2023 Arts and Letters Award.
Khadija has a BA in English from Coe College, Iowa, where she received the 2003 Paul Engle Award for Creative Writing; and an MPhil in the Humanities from the Memorial University of Newfoundland and Labrador.

Writing Complex Topics Panel 

Time: 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Location: Foran Greene Room, St. John’s City Hall
Open to: WritersNL members. No registration required. 

Writing works about complex topics is a difficult craft that requires special considerations. Join these five local authors as they discuss their approaches to engaging with complicated issues.

In their works, they explore subjects such as addiction, the history of queer community building and activism in Newfoundland, the nature of identity, and the diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer. Learn about the choices these writers made to communicate this content to their audiences.

Meet the panelists!

• Rhea Rollmann (A Queer History of Newfoundland – Engen Books) 

• Tom Cho (Look Who’s Morphing – Arsenal Pulp Press) 

• Ashleigh Matthews (otherwise grossly unremarkable – Breakwater Books) 

• Stephen Randell (My Child Is An Addict – Self-published)
  • Moderated by Kerri Cull (Rock Paper Sex – Breakwater Books)

ABOUT THE PANELISTS: 

Rhea Rollmann (she/her) is an award-winning journalist, writer and audio producer based in St. John’s, NL, and is the author of A Queer History of Newfoundland (Engen Books, 2023). She’s a founding editor of The Independent NL and her journalism has appeared in Briarpatch Magazine, CBC, Xtra Magazine, Chatelaine, PopMatters, Riddle Fence and more. Her work has garnered three Atlantic Journalism Awards, the Andrea Walker Memorial Prize for Feminist Health Journalism, and more. She also has an extensive background in labour organizing and queer/trans activism, and is Program Director at CHMR-FM, a community radio station in St. John’s, NL. 

Tom Cho’s collection of fictions Look Who’s Morphing was originally published in Australia before being published for North America by Arsenal Pulp Press. Look Who’s Morphing was shortlisted for multiple awards, including the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize for Best First Book. In his novel-in-progress, Tom is doing more morphing: morphing his fiction to philosophize about religion. Tom also has over 80 fiction pieces published in outlets such as The Best Australian Stories series, Electric Literature’s Recommended Reading, Asia Literary Review, The New Quarterly, and others. Tom is originally from Naarm (colonially known as “Melbourne, Australia”). His website is at tomcho.com 

Stephen L Randell is a business leader, speaker and author who has stamped the hearts of his audience through his book “My Child Is An Addict – Navigating Through Your Child’s Addiction,” his writings demonstrate how you can transform challenges into hope, and a life of survival mode into one of genuinely living. “My Child Is An Addict” touches on a topic profoundly personal to Stephen and exposes addiction’s stark reality through a parental view. He is respected for his human-centered engagements, empathetic and healthy perspectives when it comes to navigating youth with addiction and mental illness. He is also passionate about extending a compassionate arm to parents and loved one’s alike who are grappling with the challenges of having mental illness and addiction enter the family realm with the goal of affirming the family’s dedication is meaningful, their presence impactful, and their role irreplaceable. 

Ashleigh Matthews is a Memorial University of Newfoundland and Labrador graduate of the faculty of Cultural Anthropology, a small business owner, and a cancer survivor. When she isn’t swearing out loud about life after cancer treatment, she’s swearing about it online, and when she isn’t doing either of those two things she’s probably hiking in the forest with her family or sewing. 

Kerri Cull is the author of one book of poetry, Soak (2012), and two books of narrative journalism: Rock Paper Sex: The Oldest Profession in Canada’s Oldest City (2017) and Rock Paper Sex: Trigger Warning (2021). Her writing has been long-listed and short-listed for the Newfoundland and Labrador Book Awards and various Cuffer prizes. Her short fiction has appeared in various Cuffer Prize anthologies. Rock Paper Sex Volume I won the 2018 Independent Publisher Book Award. She has a M.A. in English Language and Literature as well as a B.Ed. in Post Secondary Education. She is currently working on a collection of short fiction. She lives in St. John’s with her husband, son, and two cats. 

Saturday, November 30, 2024 

Putting Life to Story: The Heart of Memoir Writing with Ida Linehan Young 

Time: 10:00 AM – 11:30 AM
Open to: WritersNL Members only. Pre-registration required.
https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/putting-life-to-story-the-heart-of-memoir-writing-with-ida-lineham-young-tickets-1070375725609?aff=oddtdtcreator 

 Join us for an inspiring workshop with award-winning and bestselling memoirist and novelist, Ida Linehan Young! 

A memoir can be as soul-soothing as rebellious; it can be inspirational or instructional, or somewhere in between. While it can be fulfilling to write, it can also be overwhelming. The good news? Every memoir has commonalities. It has a heartbeat of sorts. Finding this heart will drive the life of the story and put writers, both new and seasoned, on the road to success in bringing the memoir from idea to completion. 

In this englightening and engaging discussion, Ida will share her insights on finding focus in memoir writing. Ida has had much success in memoir with her own story, No Turning Back, Surviving the Linehan Family Tragedy (2014), as well as in her mother’s internationally acclaimed If I Cry I’ll Fill the Ocean(2022). 

Explore the essence of memoir writing with award-winning author Ida Linehan Young. 

 ABOUT IDA LINEHAN YOUNG

First and foremost, Ida Linehan Young is a grandmother to the most precious little boys, Parker and Samuel, a mother to three adult children, Sharon, Stacey, and Shawna, and a wife to Thomas. In her busy daily life, Ida works in the information technology sector of the federal government of Canada, and she volunteers her time in the community of Conception Bay South with the Kiwanis Club of Kelligrews. 

Ida had a fascination with writing in her high school days, when she dabbled in poetry and essays. In 2012, she became serious about her writing with a story to tell, and that led to her memoir, No Turning Back: Surviving the Linehan Family Tragedy, in 2014. Having found a passion for writing, and with a love of local history and lore, she published four works of historical fiction: Being Mary Ro (2018), The Promise (2019), The Liars (2020), and The Stolen Ones (2021). In June 2021, the first three novels were issued the Silver Medal for Best Series—Fiction by the Independent Publisher Book Awards. 

The fourth novel in the series, The Stolen Ones, won the NL Reads 2022 competition and the Margaret Duley Award. The novel was also a 2022 Bronze Medal Winner (Historical Fiction) of the eLit Awards, presented by the Jenkins Group. In 2024, a new historical fiction, A Secret Close to Home, appeared on the Atlantic Books Today bestseller list for numerous months. 

Ida’s second work of non-fiction, If I Cry I’ll Fill the Ocean (2022), appeared on the Globe and Mail bestsellers list and won an International Impact Book Award in June 2024 in the Inspirational Category. 

In 2023, Ida published her first work of speculative fiction, The Room Upstairs, which appeared on the Atlantic Books Today bestsellers list. 

With strong influences from the familial art of storytelling passed down by her father, Ed Linehan, and her maternal grandfather, Frank Power, Ida writes stories about her beloved province, Newfoundland and Labrador. She enjoys researching events of the late nineteenth century and weaving fictional characters through historical tales that complement that cultural richness, renewing interest in the province’s storied past. Sometimes she writes across different genres just to tell a story. 

Follow Ida on Facebook, X, or Instagram: @idalinehanyoung 

Or on her website: www.idalinehanyoung.ca 

An Intro to the Basics of Playwriting with Robert Chafe 

Time: 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM
Open to: WritersNL Members only. Pre-registration required.
https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/an-intro-to-the-basics-of-playwriting-with-robert-chafe-tickets-1070390409529?aff=oddtdtcreator 

 Are you a prose writer or poet who has always wanted to give playwriting a try? 

This workshop chat and Q and A with playwright Robert Chafe is just the push you need!  

Robert will chart a discussion of the facets of playwriting that make it unique amongst other forms and give you practical models and activities to start your own projects. If you are not new to the playwriting game, this workshop will serve as an interesting way to re-engage with your practice. Fun, informative, casual, and rooted in practical principles, this is a great way to try out writing for the stage. 

Join Robert Chafe for a discussion on the unique aspects of playwriting and practical tips to help you get started. 

ABOUT ROBERT CHAFE:

Robert Chafe is a writer, educator, actor and arts administrator based in St. John’s, Ktaqmkuk (Newfoundland). He has worked in theatre, dance, opera, radio, fiction and film. His stage plays have been seen in Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia and in the United States, and include Oil and Water, Tempting Providence, Afterimage, Under Wraps, Between Breaths, Everybody Just C@lm the F#ck Down, I Forgive You (with Scott Jones), and The Colony of Unrequited Dreams (adapted from the novel by Wayne Johnston.) He has been a finalist four times for the Governor General’s Literary Award for Drama and he won the award for Afterimage in 2010. In 2016 his opera Ours, with composer John Estacio, was premiered by Opera on the Avalon. He has been guest instructor at Memorial University, Sir Wilfred Grenfell College, and The National Theatre School of Canada. In 2018 he was awarded an honorary doctorate from Memorial University. He is the playwright and Artistic Director of Artistic Fraud.  

2024 Pitch Wars 

Time: 7:00 PM
Location: The Rock House on George Street
Open to: General public. No registration required. 

Present your project to a panel of local publishers in this highly anticipated event!  WritersNL Members have a chance to present a two-minute pitch of their project to a panel of local publishers, putting their work in front of influential eyes and ears in Newfoundland and Labrador’s publishing industry. A smashing success since its inception in 2019, this event has helped numerous WritersNL Members to secure book deals. 

This year’s Pitch Wars event welcomes local musician Baraka for a refreshing musical performance.

Doors open at 6 p.m., and the on-site bar will be available as soon as doors open, so please consider joining us early to hang out with and get to know members of your fellow writing community! (Unable to attend in person? Catch the excitement via livestream on WritersNL’s YouTube Channel.)

This year’s Pitch Wars will be hosted by CBC’s Krissy Holmes.  

Doors open at 6:00 PM—join us early for cocktails and conversation. 

ABOUT BARAKA:

Sunday, December 1, 2024 

Crafting Your Story and Sharing It: Writing with Purpose and Promoting with Passion with Stacy Gardner 

Time: 10:00 AM – 11:00 AM
Open to: WritersNL Members only. Pre-registration required.
https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/crafting-and-sharing-your-story-write-with-purpose-promote-with-passion-tickets-1070396006269?aff=oddtdtcreator 

 In this interactive workshop, refine your unique voice and learn effective marketing strategies. Writers will leave with actionable steps to share their stories confidently.

ABOUT STACY GARDNER:

Stacy Gardner is a writer. As a poet, she has been published in Room literary journal, Horseshoe literary magazine, City Voices Toronto, Black Moss Press, and her creative non-fiction in the anthology of Women Writing Letters. As an emerging filmmaker, Stacy’s two films, The Gaze (2023), and 73 Seconds (2024), both premiered at the Atlantic International Film Festival and St. John’s International Women’s Film Festival. The Gaze can be seen on CBC Gem’s Reel East Coast, and was commissioned by The Room’s as part of their exhibition of Ginok Song’s artwork from October 2024 to January 2025. As a playwright, Stacy adapted her CBC-commissioned radio-play, Worms for Sale, into a stage play for Alumnae Theatre in Toronto. Stacy’s play, After the Sirens, directed by Jenn Deon, was part of the St. John’s Short Play Festival, where Stacy returned to create and direct a TYP production titled, Tell, working with children and youth. Stacy has both an educational and professional background in social work and journalism, and has been creatively mentored by Robert Chafe, Stuart Ross, David Donnell, Sarah Selecky, Judith Thompson and others. Stacy facilitates creative writing workshops from her home in St. John’s.

2024 WritersNL Annual General Meeting 

Time: 2:00 PM
Location: Virtual
Open to: WritersNL Members only. Pre-registration required.
https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/2024-writersnl-annual-general-meeting-tickets-1070402475619?aff=oddtdtcreator 

Make Your Voice Heard at the 2024 WritersNL AGM! 

Join us for the grand finale of WritersNL’s AGM Conference Weekend! Our Annual General Meeting promises to be an exciting event you won’t want to miss! 🎉✨ 

We have some fantastic updates to share about our achievements over the past year, and we can’t wait to introduce you to our new Board of Directors. 

But wait, there’s more! If the prospect of celebrating our successes isn’t enough to draw you in, how about this: we’re giving away FOUR CASH PRIZES! 💰💰💰 

Every attendee will automatically be entered into a random draw for a chance to win one of four $50 prizes. 

Event Details: 

• 🗓 Date: Sunday, December 1st 

• ⏰ Time: 2 PM NST 

• 💻 Location: Online via Zoom 

• 👥 Eligibility: Open to WritersNL Members only 

• 🎟 Registration: Required in advance 

Don’t miss your chance to support WritersNL and possibly walk away with some extra cash! Your participation is vital to our community’s strength and connection. 

You will get the opportunity to connect with fellow writers, learn from experienced authors, and enhance your craft. We look forward to seeing you there!