Friday, October 19th |
Public community activities
10:00 to 5:00 Location: Various Check out the schedule and list of activities here. Panel Discussion with Guest Authors 7:00 to 9:00 Location: Hotel 540 |
Saturday, October 20th |
8:00 to 9:00 - Registration
Hotel 540 9:00 to 10:30 - WORKSHOPS Room 1 - Dynamic Characters and Convincing Dialogue Room 2 - Narrative in Poetry - Narrative in Life 11:00 to 12:30 - WORKSHOPS Room 1 - Grammar for Clarity Room 2 - First Line to Last Cord 12:30 to 1:30 - LUNCH and NETWORKING 1:30 to 3:00 - WORKSHOPS Room 1 - Narrative Structure: The Bones of a Great Story Room 2 - Crowdfunding your Creative Work 3:30 to 4:30 - Participant Feedback Session Hotel 540 7:00 - Music and Readings - PUBLIC EVENT (FREE) The Smorgasbord 225 7th Avenue |
Sunday, October 21st |
8:00 to 9:00 Registration
Hotel 540 9:00 to 10:30 - WORKSHOPS Room 1 - Dynamic Characters and Convincing Dialogue Room 2 - Narrative in Poetry - Narrative in Life 11:00 to 12:30 - WORKSHOPS Room 1 - Grammar for Clarity Room 2 - First Line to Last Cord 12:30 to 1:30 - LUNCH and NETWORKING Hotel 540 1:30 to 3:00 - WORKSHOPS Room 1 - Narrative Structure: The Bones of a Great Story Room 2 - Stories from Self-Publishing (Panel discussion) |
Dennis Staginnus
Dennis is the author of Middle Grade and Young Adult fantasy and science fiction. He's written THE EYE OF ODIN and THE EMERALD DAGGER, the first two books in THE RAIDERS OF FOLKLORE series. He lives in British Columbia, Canada, with his wife and a clowder of cats. Dennis holds a B.A. (History), B. Ed, and M.A. in Leadership & Administration. Visit www.dennisstaginnus.com |
Corinna Chong
Corinna Chong received her MA in English and Creative Writing from the University of New Brunswick. Originally from Calgary, she currently teaches English and Fine Arts at Okanagan College in Kelowna, where she’s also the co-Editor of Ryga: A Journal of Provocations. Her writing has been published in magazines across Canada, and her first novel, Belinda’s Rings, was published by NeWest Press in 2013. Visit www.corinnachong.com |
Tariq Hussain
Tariq is a Juno nominated songwriter/recording artist based in Vancouver. Telegrams, to be released in 2018, is his fifth full-length album and his follow up to the 2013 Moonwalker EP. He is also a member of the critically acclaimed band, Brasstronaut who have toured extensively in both Canada and Europe. Tariq teaches songwriting in the creative writing program at UBC. Visit www.tariqmusiq.com |
Kerry Gilbert
Kerry grew up in the Okanagan and has lived on Vancouver Island, in South Korea, and in Australia. She now lives back in the valley, where she teaches Creative Writing at Okanagan College and raises her three children. Her first book of poetry, (kerplnk): a verse novel of development, was published in 2005 with Kalamalka Press. Her second book of poetry, Tight Wire, was published in 2016 with Mother Tongue Publishing. Tight Wire is on the ReLit Long Shortlist for 2017. Most recently Kerry won the Gwendolyn MacEwen Poetry Award for Best Suite by an Emerging Writer 2016/2017. The suite is the core of a new verse manuscript called Little Red, which will be published with Mother Tongue Publishing in Spring 2019. Also, three of her poems made the long list for the 2017-2018 Ralph Gustafson Prize for the Best Poem (The Fiddlehead’s 27th annual contest). Kerry is co-founder of Spoke Literary Festival (www.spokefestival.com), a celebration of writers in and around the Okanagan. She is also co-founder of Story Makers (www.ourstorymakers.com), on-line writing workshops for teens and twenty-somethings, that helps young women find their voice and confidence. Visit www.kerrygilbert.ca |
Sam Wiebe
Sam Wiebe is the author of the Vancouver crime novels Cut You Down, Invisible Dead, and Last of the Independents. Wiebe’s work has won an Arthur Ellis award and the Kobo Emerging Writers Prize, and been shortlisted for the Shamus Award and the City of Vancouver Book Award. His short stories have appeared in Thuglit, Spinetingler, and subTerrain, and he was the 2016 Vancouver Public Library Writer in Residence. Visit samwiebe.com or follow at @sam_wiebe. |
Grammar Workshop Facilitators
Matthew Stranach
Matthew Stranach is an educator and writer. Originally from Fredericton, New Brunswick, he has also worked in South Korea, Qatar, and Ontario. Having taught English, Communications and technical writing for 7 years, Matt is a tenure-track faculty member with Thompson Rivers University’s Open Learning division where his role is Educational Technologies Coordinator. He holds a doctorate in education from the University of Calgary specializing in online teaching and learning. Matt’s poetry, fiction, and nonfiction have appeared in a wide range of publications. He is also Ethan and Kai’s dad. JP Baker
JP Baker is writer, editor, facilitator and consultant in Kamloops. Grown on the prairies and schooled on the coast, JP spent 15 years as a language educator in South Korea and Canada. He currently assists groups with strategic planning and values-based organizational development. He also works as a writing coach and editor, writes creatively, and plays with local band Van Horne. |
