Category: News

Upcoming meetings

We are planning to have a town hall meeting with members and stakeholders to share the output from the strategic planning process we are in the process of completing. It is the intention to have a face to face meeting but this will obviously depend on the extent of the present health crisis. The venue and date will be announced later.

 

Our Annual General Meeting will be held mid-October. Voting privileges are allotted to those members who are in good standing, which means membership must be up-to-date 60 days in advance of the meeting. Refreshments will be served. Anyone interested in becoming a Board Member, please submit your resume to . For further information, please call the Guild office at 204-944-8013.

Strategic Planning

Following our member survey last year, it was decided by the Board of Directors to undertake a Strategic Planning exercise to provide a firm foundation for the future direction and activities of the Manitoba Writers’ Guild.

Thanks to the generous support of the Winnipeg Foundation we have secured the services of Blueprint Inc to help facilitate the process. We are currently formulating our plan from input from members and key stakeholders and a workshop that we held in February 2020.

Once a clear plan has been documented and ratified by the Board of Directors, we intend to host a town hall to share it with the membership.

 

 

 

2018 AGM minutes added. New Board members.

The last Annual General meeting was held October 19th, 2019, at the Henderson Library, the minutes from the previous AGM of  October 20th 2018 were approved and are posted here: AGM Minutes. Last year’s AGM minutes will be circulated ahead of our 2020 AGM, date to be advised. Also, the new list of Board members is here.

(CBC story) Well established but not well-off: Canada’s authors struggle to make ends meet, says study

Writers’ Union of Canada survey says its members’ incomes down by 27% from just 3 years ago

It’s a story as old as the craft itself: an impoverished author, serving coffee or scrubbing floors while writing what would become a seminal novel.

Except in Canada today, tales of financial hardship extend to writers who are established, have published several books and even those who have won major prizes.

Read the full story.

Website under way

We are completely rebuilding the MWG Website. Please forgive our plain appearance, and slimmed down capabilities. Starting from scratch leaves no in-between content. It’s either ready for the new site, or out. Much of the fun stuff is still out. You can buy or renew your membership as always. 

Announcing the winners of the 2018 Manitoba Book Awards! Nous sommes heureux de vous presenter les gagnants pour les Prix du livre du Manitoba 2018!

Lansdowne Prize for Poetry/Prix Lansdowne de poésie

Comma by Jennifer Still, published by Book*hug

 

The Manuela Dias Book Design and Illustration Awards/Prix Manuela-Dias de conception graphique et d’illustration en édition

 

Book Design

Children Shouldn’t Use Knives and Other Tales by Shirley Camia, cover and interior design by Matthew Stevens and Shirley Camia, illustrations by Cindy Mochizuki, published by At Bay Press

 

Children’s Illustration

Where Do Sticky Buns Come From? by Jon McPhail, design and illustration by Jonathan Dyck, published by Jonnies Sticky Buns Inc.

 

General Illustration

Portraits of the North by Gerald Kuehl, cover design by Dave Maddocks of Shine Branding, illustrations by Gerald Kuehl, published by Les Éditions des Plaines/Vidacom

 

Mary Scorer Award for Best Book by a Manitoba Publisher/Prix Mary-Scorer pour le meilleur livre par un éditeur du Manitoba

From the Tundra to the Trenches by Eddy Weetaltuk, interior design by Jess Koroscil, cover design by Mike Carroll, published by University of Manitoba Press

 

Alexander Kennedy Isbister Award for Non-Fiction/Prix Alexander-Kennedy-Isbister pour les études et essais

Runaway Wives and Rogue Feminists by Margo Goodhand, published by Fernwood Publishing

 

The Margaret Laurence Award for Fiction 

The Water Beetles by Michael Kaan, published by Goose Lane Editions

 

Carol Shields Winnipeg Book Award/Prix littéraire Carol-Shields de la ville de Winnipeg

Once More with Feeling by Méira Cook, published by House of Anansi Press

 

The Michael Van Rooy Award for Genre Fiction

Strangers – Book 1 of The Reckoner Series by David A. Robertson, published by
HighWater Press, an imprint of Portage & Main Press

 

John Hirsch Award for Most Promising Manitoba Writer/Prix John-Hirsch pour l’écrivain manitobain le plus prometteur

Karen Clavelle

 

Eileen McTavish Sykes Award for Best First Book

Runaway Wives and Rogue Feminists by Margo Goodhand, published by Fernwood Publishing

 

McNally Robinson Book for Young People Awards

Older Category

Blood Brothers by Colleen Nelson, published by Dundurn Press

Younger Category

 The Sockeye Mother by Hetxw’ms Gyetxw (Brett David Huson) and illustrated by Natasha Donovan, published by HighWater Press, an imprint of Portage & Main Press

 

McNally Robinson Book of the Year Award

The Water Beetles by Michael Kaan, published by Goose Lane Editions

Congratulations!

Toutes nos félicitations!




		

		

	








	

		

						
Manitoba Writer’s Guild Governance Manual
		

	


	

		
		

			
For all members: This link will open a copy of the 2017 Governance Manual. You will be able to print or save when it opens in your browser.


MWG Governance2017

		

		

	






	

		

						
Upcoming Workshops
		

	


	

		
		

			
The Art and Craft of Writing Family Stories with Lorri Neilsen Glenn. Family stories appear in a wealth of forms – as poems, essays, memoir, postcard stories, plays and more. (And we know short stories and novels often include family stories re-imagined). This workshop will explore the many ways we can craft our family and ancestral stories into compelling poetry and prose.  Wed, 15 November 2017, 6PM – 8 PM  Get tickets.


 


The Story Tellers Almanac, Fiction Writing Basics with Rick Donovan, Saturday November 25 from 10-4.


 


More on the horizon. Keep checking.

		

		

	






	

		

						
Upcoming Events
		

	


	

		
		

			
A Blue Pencil Session with Gretchen Derige has been arranged for Sunday, November 26 from 2-4 pm. We can take 6 participants so please contact the Guild office to reserve your spot (204-944-8013). Participants should email () up to 10 pages of fiction you would like critiqued at least a week before the session, so Gretchen can review your work and give advice on Nov. 26th. No poetry for this session, please. We will have a facilitator for a Poetry Blue Pencil Session in the new year.


 


Pajama Party! We’ve been throwing around the idea of a 24 hour writing marathon during NaNoWriMo. We’ve booked the classroom for November 18/19 from noon on Saturday until noon on Sunday. For a $5-$10 fee, we will provide beverages (non-alcoholic), chili (a pot with meat and one without) and buns, baking and munchies, as well as toast and muffins for breakfast. Please let the Guild office know if you are interested in participating in this fun writing event. We can probably accommodate 10 participants.


 


Holiday Get Together. We’re planning a seasonal get-together in early December where members can mingle with people from some of the other arts organizations in the building as well as members from the national organization, The Writers Union of Canada (TWUC). It will be a free event, but we are not adverse to party-goers bringing a plate of dainties or other snack-type donation! Beverages, hot and cold, will be provided. Look to our Facebook page for details a bit later in the months.


 


Public Reading Grants: The Manitoba Arts Council will be taking over the administration of the program. A link will be provided soon, or you can contact Martine Friesen ( ) or the MAC office at 204-945-8630)

		

		

	




	
		

	






	


	



	
	































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