The Writers’ Union of Canada has just announced that Friend of CANSCAIP Victoria Jones has won the fourteenth annual Writing for Children Competition, for the best story under 1,500 words by an unpublished author, with her piece “Family.” She will receive a $1,500 cash prize. In addition, the story will be submitted to three Canadian publishers for their consideration. Victoria heard about the competition from an email from CANSCAIP! Other CANSCAIP Friends on the list of finalists are: Sandra Beswetherick and Harriet G. Mulder.

The talented and prolific Lizann Flatt is the featured author in the latest issue of CANSCAIP NEWS! If you are a CANSCAIP Member or Friend, you can read all about her at www.canscaip.org/membersfriendsonly/news/summer2010.pdf Contact the CANSCAIP office if you’ve forgotten your username or password.

CANSCAIPer Shane Peacock’s novel Vanishing Girl is the winner of The National Chapter of Canada IODE Violet Downey Book Award for Canadian children’s books published in 2009. The $3,000 prize was presented to Shane, also the 2008 winner of this award for Eye of the Crow, at the 110th National Annual Meeting of IODE Canada on 28 May 2010. This is the 26th year that the award has been made available to Canadian authors.

On Saturday, May 29th, 2010, Yes Oui CANSCAIP, the CANSCAIP Montreal chapter, will host “Imagine a Story,” a one-day conference for emerging and established creators of works for children. This is your chance to hear some of the best authors and editors in the business for a very reasonable price. The event will take place at Dawson College (3040 Sherbrooke Street West, Montreal), in Room 4C1 (Amphitheater) from 9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.

Check out the full list of speakers and further information on the Yes Oui CANSCAIP website: http://www.yesouicanscaip.ca/conference

The Forest of Reading Awards have been announced and two CANSCAIPers have won top honours! Jeremy Tankard has won The Blue Spruce Award for Boo Hoo Bird (Scholastic Canada) and Robert Paul Weston has won the Silver Birch Fiction Award for Zorgamazoo (Razorbill).

Write in the Shuswap!

Don’t let the date slip by! MAY 10 is the cut-off for early bird registration for the Shuswap Lake Writers’ Festival. Save $30 by registering early! Go to www.saow.ca to register.

The festival is May 28 – 30, 2010 in Salmon Arm and promises lots of treats for all tastes.

To read more about the festival, here are a couple of links:

http://www.bclocalnews.com/bc_thompson_nicola/salmonarmobserver/entertainment/89036232.html

http://www.bclocalnews.com/bc_thompson_nicola/salmonarmobserver/lifestyles/90049462.html

Sign up early if you wish a Blue Pencil session as there are only a limited number of sessions available.

Some great presenters are scheduled!

THURSDAY, April 29th @ 7 p.m.

Yes Oui CANSCAIP hosts its April meeting at POINTE CLAIRE LIBRARY, 100 Douglas Shand Avenue, Pointe Claire.

CUT THROUGH THE NOISE! Build your “online platform” without losing your mind.
Blogs, websites, Facebook, Twitter, forums, message boards, online tours, podcasts– authors, illustrators and performers are being urged more than ever to build online “platforms” and personal brands, not just for marketing, but as the base of our careers. But how much do we need and what can we realistically expect to achieve online? Jill Murray, a YA author with over 11 years experience building web sites and marketing plans for Canada’s biggest (and smallest!) media and cultural institutions shows you how to start building the “web presence” that works for you.

Attention Authors and Illustrators

1. If you joined Access Copyright before December 31, 2008, you should have received a claim form for the new “Payback” program. You have until May 31st to file a claim under the new “Payback” system. Under the new system, everyone will receive the same base payment. The amount that gets added to that base depends upon the amount of material you have published in the last twenty years, with more weight being given to things more recently published.

2. If you did not receive a package from Access Copyright, go to their web site, www.accesscopyright.ca , click the “click to submit payback claim” box. Scroll down to the bottom of the next page, and download the appropriate pdf.

3. IF YOU ARE BOTH AUTHOR AND ILLUSTRATOR, you must submit TWO claim forms: one for writers, and one for visual artists.

4. If you are any sort of visual artist (clothing designer, sculptor, illustrator, portrait painter, cartoonist, … ) and you have not yet joined Access Copyright, you have until May 31 to join in order to receive a payment this coming autumn. (It normally takes a full year for payments to start.) If you are a visual artist, and you have not yet joined, do not leave this to the last minute. You will likely have to send Access Copyright samples of your work before being accepted into the program. (If you joined as an author / illustrator, this will probably not be necessary. When you actually make your claims, both forms will be available for you.

The clocks are back, and it seems to be a warm early spring. Why not sit in the back garden and enjoy the CANSCAIP News, featuring author Hugh Brewster! (Suggestion void where weather is currently frigid or actively blizzarding.)

You’ll find the Spring issue in the Member/Friends section, in PDF format.

Saturday, April 24th @ 4 p.m.
Breaking into the Red-Hot Kidlit Market
(with authors Jill Murray, Joyce Scharf, and Alan Silberberg; moderated by Raquel Rivera)
Kidlit is booming! The children’s publishing sector is withstanding the economic challenges better than other markets. Get the skinny on preparing a manuscript, the pros and cons of working with an agent, researching publishers and dealing with the dreaded rejection letter.
Cost: $10

Sunday, April 25th @ 2:30 p.m.
Percer le marché très recherché de la littérature jeunesse
(with authors Anne Renaud and Carole Jean Tremblay and illustrator Suana Verelst; moderated by Louise Tondreau-Levert)
Le secteur de la littérature jeunesse est en plein essor ! Familiarisez-vous avec la préparation d’un manuscrit, les avantages et les inconvénients du travail avec un agent, la recherche d’éditeurs et la manière d’aborder la lettre de refus tant redoutée.
Cost: $5

For information on how to purchase tickets, visit www.metropolisbleu.org.

The Quebec chapter will host the inaugural edition of its “Imagine a Story” conference on Saturday, May 29, 2010 from 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. at Dawson College [3040 Sherbrooke St. W., Room 4C1 (Amphitheater), Montreal]. Full conference details and registration information are available online at www.yesouicanscaip.ca.

NEW! Special Discounted Rate of $100 — Save $10 off the $110 registration fee when you register during the month of April. Registrations submitted by snail mail must be postmarked by or on April 30th.

Yes Oui CANSCAIP hosts…

W.I.S.E. Words Writing Workshop with Sheree Fitch
Breathe, Stretch, Write! Author-poet Sheree Fitch offers a four hour w.i.s.e. words writing workshop for writers at any stage of the writing journey. Through a series of guided exercises guaranteed to spark the creative juices, participants will write, share, explore and discover authentic voices and visions.

DATE: Saturday, April 17th 2010

TIME: 10:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m.

(We will break for lunch from 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. Note participants are required to provide their own lunch. There are cafés and other eateries near to the location where you can purchase lunch.)

LOCATION: Montreal West Town Hall, 50 Westminster South, Montreal West

COST: $75

Please contact Carol-Ann Hoyte, Yes Oui CANSCAIP co-representative, at kidlitfan1972@yahoo.ca for instructions on how to register.

Payment must be received by Friday, April 16th. You will only be considered officially registered for the workshop once payment has been received.

This workshop is limited to 30 participants. We will require a minimum of 20 participants in order to hold the workshop.

Wednesday, March 24th at 7 p.m.
John A. Simms Community Centre (8 Westminster South, Montreal West)

WHY POETRY? WITH NANCY GOW AND CAROL-ANN HOYTE
Two children’s poets will discuss how children’s poetry differs from adult poetry, reveal poetry’s relationship to picture books, novels, and nonfiction, introduce you to some of their favourite poets and poetry books, and much more. They will involve the audience in demonstrations which illustrate how to make sharing poetry with youngsters more interactive. Come fall in love with poetry all over again or discover a newfound interest in this literary genre which can say so much with so few words.

The Quebec chapter will host the inaugural edition of its “Imagine a Story” conference on Saturday, May 29, 2010 from 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. at Dawson College [3040 Sherbrooke St. W., Room 4C1 (Amphitheater), Montreal]. Full conference details and registration information are available online at www.yesouicanscaip.ca.

Longtime member of CANSCAIP, Kati Rekai, died in her home on Monday February 1st. She was eighty-eight years old.

Kati was appointed to the Order of Canada in 1993 with the following citation: “Has written travel books for children that introduce and promote Canadian cities and European countries through the eyes of four animals, Mickey, Taggy, Puppo and Cica, each of which represents a part of the Canadian mosaic; the books educate children and adults about music, literature, pioneering and native peoples.”

The Canadian National Section of the International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY Canada) is now accepting submissions to the 2010 Frances E. Russell Grant.

The deadline for proposals, which may be submitted in English or in French,
is May 1, 2010. Eligible works include:

1. Studies of individual authors and their work, especially if they are
considered in their socio-historical context.
2. Comparative studies of two or more authors, which illuminate their
stylistic differences, or consider their social and historical approaches.
3. Subject/Genre overviews, for example, Canadian fantasy or historical
fiction.
4. Biographical studies of Canadian children’s authors or illustrators.
5. Studies of Canadian illustrators and their work.
6. Related subjects including contemporary theoretical approaches to
the study of Canadian children’s literature.
7. Research for children’s fiction or non-fiction based on Canadian
topics or subjects.

The winner of this $1000 grant will be announced in April 2010.
For more information about IBBY and the Frances E. Russell Grant, please
visit the IBBY Canada web site at www.ibby-canada.org

If you’re at Ontario Library Super Conference February 26, 2010 come see our book launch.

CANSCAIP and the Ontario Library Association join together to present their sixth annual mass book launch Friday February 26, 2010 at Expo Stage in hall C in the Toronto Convention Centre during the OLA Super Conference from noon to 2:15. Twenty authors and illustrators will introduce their 2009 titles in entertaining five minute infomercials. Sylvia McNicoll, Book Launch Coordinator of CANSCAIP will act as emcee and official timer. Enjoy the personalities behind the creations as well as their behind-the-creation stories. Buy a raffle ticket to win some of these stories. Picture books, middle reader age as well as young adult novels will all be available on site for purchase and the authors and artists will happy to autograph them for your collection.

THE ENVIRONMENTAL IMAGINATION AND CHILDREN’S LITERATURE will feature renowned children’s authors from Canada, the U.K. and the U.S.: David Almond, M.T. Anderson, Susan Cooper, Sarah Ellis and Tim Wynne-Jones. They will be joined by Professor Lawrence Buell, Powell M. Cabot Professor of American Literature at Harvard University and Professor Marguerite Holloway, professor of environmental issues and science journalism at the Journalism School, Columbia University.

The audience will have the opportunity to hear all participants speak, and a panel of all participants at the close of the symposium will be open to questions from the audience.

Friday, March 5 8.00 p.m.
Saturday, March 6 9:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.
2010

Presented by the University of Trinity College, Toronto. Full-conference registration: $125 (student rate: $75) Includes: all of the Friday and Saturday sessions, lunch, coffee break and wine and cheese reception.

www.trinity.utoronto.ca/News_Events/Events/clc.htm

Writing With Style (Spring)

Program dates: April 19, 2010 – April 24, 2010
Application deadline: February 05, 2010

Writing With Style is a unique opportunity for writers to participate in a week-long workshop at The Banff Centre, a setting for artists that is both inspiring and productive. Whether you have attended many writing workshops or this is your first, Writing With Style will be an intense and transformative experience. Amidst a diverse community of writers, you will encounter new ideas and gain confidence in your own style and voice, while shaping and editing your work-in-progress under the guidance of an experienced writer and editor.

More information: http://www.banffcentre.ca/programs/program.aspx?id=945

Self-directed Writing Residencies

Set amid the beauty of Canada’s oldest and most renowned national park, The Banff Centre offers an exceptional environment for creativity. Self-directed writing residencies provide time, space, and facilities for individual research, editing, and manuscript development. Writers structure their own time, and are free to maintain privacy or to engage with other artists and activities at The Banff Centre.

More information: http://www.banffcentre.ca/writing/programs/

For more Information please contact:
1-403-762-6100
arts_info@banffcentre.ca
www.banffcentre.ca

Winter kinda dropped in all the sudden this year, and everyone in the country got a dose of chill air whether or not they got the snow to go with it. To warm us all, the Winter CANSCAIP News is here, featuring author Kathy Kacer!

You’ll find the Winter issue in the Member/Friends section, in PDF format.