Blog

by Steve Oetting Are you up on your Mushkegoinnimowin? The Annual General Meeting for this year was held at the Bill and Helen Norrie Library Oct. 19. This lovely new library is one large rectangular room with solid windows on each side, offering a bright and sunny welcome to all of the MWG members that attended. The boardroom, spacious and equally luminous, was humming with the conversations of three to four dozen members as I …

1st Place (Tie):Symphonie-de-survie – Nankafu Gisèle Écoute, ô cœur, l’histoire de celle née dans la tourmenteDurant la guerre où les cris et les larmes étaient notre chant.Je comprends la vie autrement, bien plus que ceuxQui se prélassent dans les châteaux, abrités par la paix. L’insécurité m’a poussée à fuir, à quitter mon paysAvec mes parents, mes sœurs et mes frères, main dans la main.De la patrie congolaise, je me suis retrouvéeAu Kenya, précisément à Nairobi, …

By Heather Emberley Begin with the end in mind. That’s what Jessica Smithies did in a masterful job of facilitating Shelly Dale’s book launch of Flourishing: A 5 Step Guide to Joy for the Post-Career Woman. That end being a career and all the possibilities awaiting women who retire or plan to retire. A packed house at 2 p.m. at Artspace on Oct. 6 was greeted by a colour co-ordinated author who complemented the décor …

By barb janes Japan, Japan / If I say it enough \ Will it come true? Only a secure writer opens her reading with words from another writer as Sally Ito did with the above poem by David Fujino. In 11 short words, Fujino’s poem evokes the deep longing for culture and identity that spurred Sally Ito to write The Emperor’s Orphans, a cultural memoir about her family. Facilitated by MWG’s Susan Rocan, this Zoom …

By Lynda Faye Schmidt In my role as reporter for The Guild, I had the privilege of attending Trevor Martens’ workshop, The Story Within: A Journey to Personal Storytelling. To prepare for the event, I’d checked out Trevor’s website, I help you write things. His slogan, “Transforming self-doubt into confidence through a supportive and transformative learning experience,” felt like an invitation. The vibe of his offering landed on my authenticity radar as the real deal. …

by Steve Oetting On Sept. 11, Katherine Bitney, one of the founders of the Manitoba Writers’ Guild and Prairie Fire Magazine, provided us with an engaging book chat. She noted that it was many years ago when they started the Guild and an extremely exciting time, a virtual “explosion of literature in our province.” She felt they had virtually no idea what they were doing and mostly “flew by the seat of their pants.” I …

By barb janes Some were already in the Sept. 18 Writers’ Critique Zoom room when I clicked in at 6:45, in time to hear one person excited with the way the Guild’s work is blossoming, particularly with new critique groups. Poetry and BIPOC, we’re lookin’ at you! Thanks to Keenon, this group’s facilitator, we began at 7 p.m. sharp, as Keenon earlier circulated a detailed schedule for this night. This move eliminated the time-consuming, awkward …

By Heather Emberley September is Literacy Month in Canada and what better time to explore self-publishing. If it was good enough for Margaret Atwood, Stephen King and Eckhart Tolle, it was good enough for me. As the proud owner of a short attention span, I couldn’t wait for a traditional publisher, so I opted to have my children’s book, Who Hid the Raisin Bread? printed by Friesen’s Press. Because the book is a fundraiser for …

By Lynda Faye Schmidt

Last Saturday I had the privilege of meeting MWG member Alison M. York at her book signing event hosted by Chapters Polo Festival. Alison was set up in a bright and welcoming space immediately to the left as I entered the store. She was engaged in conversation with a customer, so I browsed through the journal section. Sensory memories of my cross-Canada book tour in 2022 danced in my head—the hum of crowds, the thrum of nervous heart-palpitations, the scents of paper, ink, and perfume.

By Lynda Faye Schmidt I arrived at the Asper Theatre on the University of Winnipeg campus with time to spare and no expectations. The quaint venue was buzzing with anticipation for barb janes’ play, Agency, and I was full of curiosity. My colleagues and I were waiting for the theatre doors to open, engaged in conversation, when who should appear but barb janes herself! I was fortunate to be introduced to the burgeoning new playwright, …

By Sharon Hamilton One of the many privileges I have enjoyed in the Manitoba Writers’ Guild has been to co-moderate our “Final-Wednesday-in-the-Month Critique Circle.” Time, however, is the new gold, and my resources of time do not allow for the kind of preparation our critique circle participants warrant, such as carefully reading the pre-submitted manuscripts and planning a supportive, constructive critique of each one. Fortunately, the Guild is blessed with many leaders and volunteers, and …

By Stacey Lupky What struck me the most from this Poetry Critique Circle was the strong sense of support and community the group naturally shared with each other. Each of the participants sharing their poetry held space for each other to be vulnerable in their readings and concise in their feedback. Our host for the April 24 event was Jake Reichart, who facilitated the two-hour Zoom meeting with thoughtfulness and helpful advice. Poem themes ranged …