Thursday, November 23, 2006

The Writers' Show - Writers’ Show - 7 - Cynthia Flood

Cynthia Flood has published three books of fiction, My Father Took a Cake to France, Talonbooks -- the title story won The Journey Prize -- The Animals in Their Elements, Talonbooks and Making a Stone of the Heart, Key-Porter. She has won the National Magazine Award Gold Medal for Fiction, The Western Magazine Award and others. She reads from her work-in-progress, a novel. About writing fiction: "If you made a list of productive ways to spend your time, sitting in a room inventing people when there are already plenty of people in the world...I mean, what is this about?"

Topics: Editors. Agents. Titles, where they come from. Cover stories, where covers come from. Method of working. Also on the show: The Journey Prize; National Magazine Awards; Western Magazine Awards; Talon Books; Key Porter Books; Knopf Canada.

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Thursday, November 09, 2006

The Writers' Show - Writers’ Show - 6 - Rita Moir and Caroline Woodward

Rita Moir is a past winner of the BC Book Award non-fiction prize for Buffalo Jump: A Woman's Travels (Coteau) & was nominated in 2006 for The Windshift Line: A Father and Daughter's Story. In Moir's work, finding your past is finding your future. Her first book of creative non-fiction was Survival Gear, Polestar. Caroline Woodward is a writer & publishing representative for over 25 Canadian, American & British publishers.

Topics: Definition of creative non-fiction, similarities to fiction & differences; organization of materials; on winning prizes & the acceptance speech; working with editors. Overview of publishing, what happens after acceptance; role of the publishing rep. Also on this show: B.C. Book Prizes; Hubert Evans Non-Fiction Prize. Thanks, Wikipedia! Harbourfront Reading Series & Festival, Toronto; Vancouver International Writers Festival.