More places to send your poetry, short fiction or nonfiction, including memoir and essays, plus a contest for H.S. students and a networking opportunity for script-writers

Note: You can hang out and chat with quick brown foxes and vixens on my Facebook page (here). Just send a friend request to Brian Henry.

Also, if you’re not yet on my newsletter, send me an email, including your locale, to: brianhenry@sympatico.ca ~ Brian

 

Good day, Brian.

I hope all's well with you :) 

I'm hosting a conference that your script-writing students may be interested in. The Great Canadian Playwright Showcase (TGCPS.ca) takes place this year from May 9 to 12 in Grande Prairie, Alberta. 

This networking conference is a unique opportunity for Canadian playwrights to showcase their best 10-minute scene from their play to a room full of decision-makers. Kelly Robinson, creative director at Mirvish Productions and Stratford Festival's director of new play development, Keith Barker have already confirmed their attendance.

 Après show during TGCPS, playwrights have the unparalleled occasion to break bread with them and others from a wide range of popular and niche theatres, companies, agencies, and publishers.

This is a quick shortcut to important TGCPS links.

Please let your students know that they can sign up for a free Q&A webinar on February 23, 2023, at 2 pm Toronto time. The above link has a button to register for the webinar, and folks are welcome to send their questions in advance, as well.

Thank you and kindest regards,

Jen
Jen England
Beaverlodge, Alberta

 

2023 CBC Nonfiction Prize 

Submit a memoir, biography, humour writing, essay, personal essay, travel writing, or feature article up to 2,000 words, as long as it has not been previously published.

$6,000 in prizes, plus a two-week residency at Artscape Gibraltar Point, and publication on CBC Books.

$25 entry fee

Deadline February 28, 2023. Details here.

 

Franz of MAZA

MAZA South Asian Arts Collective is based in Surrey, B.C. They’re seeking poetry from South Asian people “currently living in so-called ‘Canada’” for a digital anthology. 

“This issue focuses on themes of identity within the South Asian diaspora (or even challenging the pitfalls and erasures of the so called ‘diaspora’). That interpretation is up to each writer, and we are looking for deep nuance in what it means to be on the inside, outside, adjacent, or in opposition to the idea of ‘South Asian.’” 

Pays $250 Canadian. Funding comes from the government of so-called "Canada."

Deadline: March 1, 2023. Guidelines here.

 

Iron Horse Literary Review publishes poems, stories, essays on any topic. Pays $50 per poem or flash piece and $100 per story or essay.  

Seeking flash fiction or short fiction up to 6,000 words. Deadline March 16, 2023. Charges $3 to submit.

Seeking nonfiction which analyzes literature or focuses solely upon scholarly interests. We're looking for memoir, personal essays, cultural criticism with a personal angle, or immersion nonfiction.  Up to 6,000 words. Charges $3 to submit.

Submit up to five poems. Charges $3 to submit.

Chapbook competition; 28–36 pages. First prize: $1,000 and 15 copies of their chapbook. Entry fee $18, but free on March 1 only.

Deadline for all the above March 16. Full guidelines and submit here. 

 

Carte Blanche provides a venue for narrative of all forms from fiction and nonfiction, to poetry, photo essays and comics. It’s published three times a year: in the winter, spring/summer, and fall.

Fiction up to 3,500 words, maximum of three poems, or creareative nonfiction submissions should be factual. Any changes to names to protect privacy should be indicated in an author’s note. Pays $75 Canadian. 

Deadline: March 10, 2023. Guidelines here.

  

Calling all high school students in Canada!

B’nai Brith Canada announces its 2022–23 Diverse Minds contest.

Write and illustrate a children’s book that tells the story of diversity and inclusion for elementary school kids.

The winning book will be published and will receive a prize of $5,000! 2nd prize: $2,500. 3rd prize: $1,000

Deadline for entries is April 16, 2023. See guidelines here. 

  

Quick Brown Fox welcomes your short stories, poems, and essays about reading, writing, favourite books, and libraries. Read a few essays on the blog to get a taste of what other writers have done (see here and scroll down).

Quick Brown Fox also welcomes reviews of any kind and of anything, anywhere or anybody. If you want to review your favourite coffee shops or libraries, babysitters or lovers (no real names please), go for it. See examples of book reviews here (and scroll down); other reviews here (and scroll down).

Submit to: brianhenry@sympatico.ca

Include a short bio at the end of your piece and attach a photo of yourself.

 See Brian Henry’s upcoming weekly writing classes, one-day workshops, and weekend retreats here.

 

“So Much Snow”

Translated from the German, “Der Viele, Viele Schnee” by Wolfgang Borchert (1921-1947) by Dave Moores.

Snow hung in the branches. The machine-gunner stood in a Russian forest at a guard post near the frontline singing Christmas carols. It was actually February, but who cared; the snow lay meters deep. Snow between black trees. Snow on black-blue branches. Snow stuck to twigs, clinging to limbs, blown like cotton wool on bushes and frozen on black tree trunks. So much snow. And the machine-gunner sang Christmas carols although it was February.

Now and then you have to loose off a couple of shots or the gun freezes up. Just shoot straight ahead into the dark. That way it doesn’t freeze. Or shoot the bushes. Sure, go ahead, you can be pretty certain nobody’s hiding in there. It calms your nerves to loose off a volley every quarter hour. Otherwise, the gun freezes up. And it’s not so darn quiet when you take a shot once in a while.

That’s what they’d told him when he came on duty. “And something else, keep your earmuffs off your ears. Orders from the Regiment. On post you’ve got to keep your earmuffs off your ears. Otherwise, you’ll hear nothing. Orders are orders but you’ll hear nothing anyway, everything is still. No Ivans. For weeks now, no Ivans. So there you go, shoot now and then. Calm your nerves.” That’s what they told him.

Wolfgang Borchert 

Now he stood alone. He pulled the earmuffs off his ears and the cold pinched them with sharp fingers. Alone. And snow hung in the branches. Stuck to black-blue boughs. Heaped on bushes. Blown into hollows. So much snow. And the snow he stood in made the danger feel unreal. Made it seem so far off. Yet it could be right there behind you. Hidden. And the snow he stood in, alone in the night, alone for the first time, made the threat of the enemy seem remote. Made everything so quiet that the blood pumped loud in his ears, so loud he couldn’t ignore it. And the snow was silent.

From his left came a sound like a whisper. Now in front. Then to the right. Left again. And suddenly behind. The machine-gunner held his breath. There it was again, something whispering. The rush of blood in his ears got really loud. He tore open his coat collar, his fingers tugging, trembling. They tore open the collar so his ears weren’t covered.

There came the whispering again. Sweat ran cold from under his helmet and froze on his forehead. Froze there. It was minus forty-two degrees. Something whispered. Behind. And to the right. Straight ahead, now here. Now over there again. The machine-gunner stood in the Russian forest. Snow hung in the branches. And the blood pumped loud in his ears, sweat froze on his forehead and trickled from under his helmet.

Again, the whispering. Could be anything, anyone. The snow muffled it. Sweat froze on his forehead. Fear was loud in his ears. Because something whispered. So he sang. Sang loudly so that he wouldn’t hear the fear anymore and the whispering anymore, and so that the sweat wouldn’t freeze anymore. He sang, and felt the fear depart. He sang Christmas carols and heard no more whispers. He sang Christmas carols loud in the Russian forest. Because snow hung in the black-blue branches. So much snow.

Suddenly a twig cracked. Speechless, the machine-gunner spun around and pulled out his pistol. Here came the Sergeant, big strides pushing through the snow. Now I’m going to be shot, the machine-gunner thought. I sang on duty and now I’ll be shot. Here comes the Sergeant, and look at him run. I sang on duty and now he’s coming to shoot me. And he gripped his pistol tight in his hand.

Then the Sergeant was there. And hugged him. And looked around. And then gasped, “My God, hold me tight, Man. My God! My God!” Then he laughed and waved his hands, and laughed some more. “Christmas carols already! Aren’t we in February? We certainly are in February. Carols in this damned Russian forest? Carols? It’s this godawful silence. Christmas carols, my God again. Just hold me tight. Be quiet. There! That’s enough. Don’t laugh,” and still breathless, “Don’t laugh, you. It’s the silence, weeks long, this silence. No Ivans, nothing. And then you hear Christmas carols, yet here we are in February. But it’s the snow. There is so much of it. Don’t laugh, you. It makes us crazy, I tell you. You’ve only been here a few days but we’ve been stuck here for weeks and no Ivans, nothing. It makes you crazy, always everything still. No Ivans for weeks. Then you hear Christmas carols. Don’t laugh. But when I saw you, right then they stopped. My God, it makes you crazy, this never-ending silence.” 

The Sergeant was still breathing hard. Then he laughed and hugged him tight. And the machine gunner hugged him back. They both laughed. In the Russian forest, in February. Every so often a branch would bend under its burden of snow, and the snow slid to the ground between the blue-black boughs. And it made a sound like a whisper. Ahead at first, now on the left. Then here. So quiet. There too. Whispers everywhere. Because snow hung in the branches. So much snow.

***

Dave Moores is a retired IT exec living in Oakville. He’s been a regular at Brian’s writing classes for a while now, and during that time has two novels published by Middleroad Publishers of Toronto. The first, Windward Legs, is commercial fiction, set in the sailing milieu of Ontario’s Golden Horseshoe Region. The second, Attitude, a Young Adult story, unfolds in wintertime in small-town in Huron County. 

Dave wants everyone to know how much he owes Brian and his classmates for helping him write stories that actually meet the high bar of the publishing industry.

Wolfgang Borchert (1921-1947) was a soldier in the German Army during World War II and became a noted author and playwright before his early death due to war wounds and subsequent imprisonment for his opposition to the Nazi regime. His works are uncompromising on the issues of humanity and humanism and they continue to be studied in German Schools.

See Brian Henry’s upcoming weekly writing classes, one-day workshops, and weekend retreats here.

Three literary agents at Prospect Agency seek adult fiction and nonfiction and kid lit, board books through YA

Prospect Agency

551 Valley Road, PMB 377 
Upper Montclair, NJ 07043

https://www.prospectagency.com/

Note: You can hang out and chat with quick brown foxes and vixens on my Facebook page (here). Just send a friend request to Brian Henry. Also, if you're not yet on my newsletter list, send me an email, including your locale to: brianhenry@sympaticpo.ca ~Brian

Emily Sylvan Kim founded Prospect Agency in 2005. Currently, the agency has three agents, all looking for clients. The agency handles adult fiction and nonfiction, and all types of children’s books: board books through young adult, including rhyming books.

Rachel Orr specializes in children’s literature, where she represents a wide range of authors and illustrators including Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen, Cathy Carr, Mike Ciccotello, Samantha M. Clark, Cori Doerrfeld, Leeza Hernandez, Susie Lee Jin and Molly Ruttan. 

Before joining Prospect in 2007, she was an editor at HarperCollins Children's Books, where she had the pleasure of working with such successful authors as Dan Gutman and Suzanne Williams. Because of her editorial background, Rachel continues to do a lot of hands-on work with her clients before sending their projects out on submission. 

Rachel is looking for short, punchy picture books (either in prose or rhyme) that are humorous and have a strong marketing hook. She is also looking for illustrators – especially those who want to write. 

In middle grade and young adult, Rachel is interested in both literary and commercial fiction. She is mostly drawn to contemporary, realistic stories, but finds it hard to say no to a good time travel.

Query Rachel through the agency’s submission form here.

Note: Rachel will the be the special guest speaker for our online Writing for Children and for Young Adults workshop Sunday, March 5. Details here. To reserve your spot now, email: brianhenry@sympatico.ca  

Charlotte Wenger was born and raised in Pennsylvania and Virginia. She worked for a publishing services company in Philadelphia until shipping up to Boston to earn her MA in Children's Literature from Simmons College. After gaining editorial, sales, and agency experience, she became an associate editor for Page Street Kids, where she loved working with debut talent and building relationships with authors and illustrators. 

She brings the same mindset to agenting, valuing the developmental and relational work that goes into creating successful stories and fostering long-lasting collaborations.

Charlotte is also seeking adult nonfiction, particularly biographies and memoirs.

Query Charlotte through the agency’s submission form here.

Emily Sylvan Kim is the president of Prospect Agency. As an agent, she aims to excel at identifying and nurturing each author's unique strengths and helping to grow long, sustainable publishing careers. Emily is a member in good standing at the AAR. She is also a founding member of the breakout literary production company, et al Creative.

In adult fiction, Emily is looking for commercial and upmarket women's fiction, self-published authors looking to explore a hybrid career, established romance authors and strong debut authors writing mainstream romance.

Emily is also seeking memoir and high interest nonfiction.

In the children’s market, she wants literary and commercial YA fiction and select middle grade and early reader fiction with strong commercial appeal.

Query Emily through the agency’s submission form here.

Read more about the agents at Prospect and their interests here. See their submissions guidelines here.

Author Laurie Elizabeth Flynn
guest speaker for
"Finding Your Voice" workshop

If you’re interested in meeting an agent and publishing your book, join us for an upcoming How to Get Published workshop. See here.

And if you’re particularly interested in writing for children or for young adults, join us at an upcoming one-day Kid Lit workshop or weekly course. See here {and scroll down).

See details of all upcoming writing retreats, one-day workshops, and weekly classes here. 

Beyond that, Brian’s schedule continues to take shape.

Spring courses:

Online: Intensive Creative Writing, Tuesday evenings, 6:30 – 9:00 p.m., April 18 – June 20, first readings sent April 11. Details here.

Online: Writing Personal Stories, Tuesday afternoons, April 11 –  May 30, 2023. Details here.

Online: Welcome to Creative Writing, Wednesday evenings, April 12 – June 7. Details here.

In-person: Welcome to Creative Writing, Thursday evenings, April 20 – June 15, 2023, in Burlington. Details here.

A one-day workshop:

Online: Finding Your Voice, Saturday, April 15, with author Laurie Elizabeth Flynn. Details here.

Writing Retreats:

New: Late summer Writing Retreat in Algonquin Park at Arowhon Pines Resort. Tuesday, Sept 4 – Friday, Sept 8. Details here. We still have lots of room in this retreat.

See details of all upcoming writing retreats, one-day workshops, and weekly classes here. 

To reserve a spot or for more details about any course, workshop or retreat, email brianhenry@sympatico.ca

Navigation tips: Always check out the Labels underneath a post; they’ll lead you to various distinct collections of postings. If you're searching for a literary agent who represents a particular type of book, check out this post.  

New book: She’s Gone, a photo-poetry collection by Lisa C Reynolds and Barbara Wackerle Baker

Hi, Brian.

Hope all is well with you and your family. 

Wanted to share some exciting news. 

Since attending your Algonquin retreat together, Barbara Wackerle Baker and I have published a photo-poetry collection titled: She’s Gone. 

It is a poetic narrative about loss portrayed by Barb’s stunning photographs of Alberta’s landscape and my poetry. 

Released just before Valentine’s Day, She’s Gone is now available on Amazon.

Thanks for sharing this special moment with us.

Lisa and Barb

Lisa

She’s Gone

She’s Gone is a collaborative photo-poetry collection by two Canadian artists, Photographer Barbara Wackerle Baker (Alberta) and Poet Lisa C Reynolds (Ontario).

Moved by Wackerle Baker’s family story and inspired by her stunning photographs of Alberta’s landscape, Reynolds uses contemporary free verse English language haiku to create a poetic narrative about loss. Conveyed with compassion and emotional depth, this unique collection portrays grief through intimate moments of love, sorrow, and memory.

“In She's Gone, Barbara Wackerle Baker and Lisa C Reynolds give us a tender keepsake that begins and ends with the heart stopping words: She's gone. Photographer Barbara Wackerle Baker shares with us her beautiful photographs.

“Poet Lisa C Reynolds understands loss and the silence that follows. Her carefully chosen words, written with love for her dear friend Barbara and her parents, trace grief's trajectory down through darkness up into the light of hope.

“This book is a gift for us all.”

 ~ Bruce Hunter, Poet and Novelist

She’s Gone is available here.

See Brian Henry’s upcoming weekly writing classes, one-day workshops, and weekend retreats in Algonquin Park and other beautiful locales here.