Blog

By Andrew Dutfield Award nominees, family, friends and Guild members gathered at the ArtSpace Building in Winnipeg and online June 6 to celebrate the inaugural award night of the Manitoba Writers’ Guild Rabindranath Tagore Poetry Competition. The competition has a special emphasis on the intersections of multiple cultural heritages in verse. After a short address, emcee and Guild President Sharon Hamilton handed the podium over to Kamal Malaker, the competition’s sponsor for the first five …

Our treasurer for the past six years, Clarice Sinohan, is enjoying significant changes in her professional and personal life. One consequence is the Guild will soon be bereft of our much relied upon treasurer. We are seeking indications of interest in this volunteer position.

By Stacey Lupky Warm, inviting energy greeted the standing-room-only crowd gathered for the book launch of Alison York’s novel, Tartan Threads: Serendipity In Scotland. Throughout the event, hosted by the Manitoba Writer’s Guild, of which Alison is a member, Scotland played a welcoming role in bringing the crowd together. Scottish-themed dainties such as shortbread, scones and jam were on offer, while Scottish music gently lilted in the background. At the front of the room at …

By barb janes This is the last time, I promise. Maybe you’ve heard those words, heard them with hope, heard them with cynicism. Maybe you’ve spoken those words aloud, or in your head full of self-recrimination, meaning it, knowing you are lying. These prose words spoken and heard by many, were turned into poetry by Spenser Smith. A glorious spring afternoon found twenty-some folks gathered in Art Space in Winnipeg’s Exchange to listen to well-chosen …

Book Chat Review by Amanda Le Rougetel

On Valentine’s Day, a small group enjoyed an intimate online reading of love poems by MWG member Carmelo Militano. He chose selections from his book Archeologia Eros, work inspired by others’ erotic poems.

By Steve Oetting The annual Dave Williamson National Short Story Competition reception, fondly known as “The Dave,” was held on May 9 at ArtSpace. This reception is hosted by the Guild as a way to honour the short story contributors who were creative and intrepid enough to provide submissions, the judges who spent weeks carefully assessing those stories and enduring the delicate task of selecting the winners, and of course Dave Williamson, the honorary patron …

The Manitoba Writers’ Guild is thrilled to announce our prize winners for the 2nd annual Dave Williamson National Short Story Competition.

By Steve Oetting

The energy in the room was palpable. In spite of the bitter March wind that whistled through the streets of the Exchange District, the room reserved at ArtSpace on March 17 was well-populated by members of the Manitoba Writers’ Guild with a shared fondness for the book’s author. It was the book launch of Andy Dutfield’s Death at the Point.

By Amanda Le Rougetel

It was three o’clock in the morning about seven years ago when Gimli-based author Raye Anderson’s main character came to her out of the blue. She woke up suddenly with the name Roxanne Calloway in her mind: a tall skinny red-headed police officer from Saskatchewan. And that was that. Her main character was named. Today, Raye has written four books featuring Roxanne, and a fifth is in the early stages. 

By Steve Oetting

Content Warning: Group discussion about memoir writing that includes childhood sexual abuse. This is a difficult topic of discussion, but one that some affected individuals choose to write about as a way to heal and move forward. MWG volunteers guided the conversation and made efforts to ensure everyone was both heard and comfortable.

Each Rants and Ramblings session is unique, with participants offering topics of interest for discussion. With a full slate of participants at the March 7 R&R, moderated by Susan Rocan, with Lori Gaudet and Katherine Westwood assisting, a serious topic dominated the steady flow of comments and perspectives.

Choosing the best among many good stories is not so straightforward a task as one might imagine. Our five lead judges, Raye Anderson, Lauren Carter, Trevor Greyeyes, Zilla Jones, and Lee Kvern engaged in energetic discussions focusing on the craft of writing and the elements of fiction, ultimately deciding on the following seven stories for our shortlist. The finalists for “The Dave” 2024 are: (in random order) Homeward Bound by Rowan McCandless, Winnipeg, MBCanadian Cougars by …

We are thrilled to announce the longlist for this year’s Dave Williamson National Short Story Competition (aka ‘The Dave”). We received 105 entries, an increase of 10% over last year, once again ranging from British Columbia to Nova Scotia. The judges have been busy reading this diverse range of stories and have made their selection.