On the evening of the 13th May, eleven members accepted our invitation to attend our first virtual Book Chat. The session was hosted by Susan Rocan, Past President of the Guild.
After brief introductions, Margaret Sweatman, who kindly agreed to accept our invitation to be our Featured Author, read a section from her book “When Alice Lay Down with Peter”, a novel with very much a Manitoba connection. The reading was well received.
After an interesting question and answer session it was time to give the floor to a number of established and aspiring writers present who had indicated that they would be happy to read.
David Cramer, Andy Dutfield, Joyce Clouston, Marylou Drieger, Bev Greenberg, Gloria Moodrey
and John Hill all read something and in the case of David Cramer something that had inspired
him.
The general consensus was the Zoom platform worked well with good video and audio quality.
With the challenge of our busy lives and finding parking at the Guild’s normal venue at the
ArtSpace building it seems that this will be a more practical way of hosting these kind of events
even after the Covid-19 pandemic is behind us.
For those members who couldn’t make our first Book Chat the next one is coming up on the 10th of June.
Our featured writer will be Anita Daher.
* Alexander Kennedy Isbister Award for Non-Fiction / Prix Alexander-Kennedy-Isbister pour les études et essais Friends, Foes, and Furs: George Nelson’s Lake Winnipeg Journals, 1804–1822
edited by Harry W. Duckworth, published by McGill-Queen’s University Press
sponsor: Manitoba Arts Council
* Carol Shields Winnipeg Book Award / Prix littéraire Carol-Shields de la ville de Winnipeg
The North-West Is Our Mother: The Story of Louis Riel’s People, the Métis Nation
by Jean Teillet, published by HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.
sponsor: Winnipeg Arts Council
* Eileen McTavish Sykes Award for Best First Book
Older Sister. Not Necessarily Related.
by Jenny Heijun Wills, published by McClelland & Stewart
sponsor: Winnipeg Foundation
* John Hirsch Award for Most Promising Manitoba Writer / Prix John-Hirsch pour l’écrivain(e) manitobain(e) le plus prometteur
Lauren Carter
sponsor: Manitoba Foundation for the Arts & Manitoba Arts Council
* Lansdowne Prize for Poetry / Prix Lansdowne de poésie
St. Boniface Elegies
by Catherine Hunter, published by Signature Editions
sponsor: Winnipeg Foundation
* Manuela Dias Design and Illustration Awards / Prix Manuela-Dias de conception graphique et d’illustration en édition
i. Book Design / Conception de livre
ROMANS/SNOWMARE
by Cam Scott, cover and interior design by LOKI, published by ARP Books
ii. Children’s Illustration / Illustration de livres pour enfant
The Grizzly Mother (Book Two, Mothers of Xsan)
by Hetxw’ms Gyetxw (Brett D. Huson), illustrations and cover art by Natasha Donovan,
cover and interior design by Relish New Brand Experience,
published by HighWater Press, an imprint of Portage & Main Press
iii. General Illustration / Illustration et iconographie
Portraits of the Far North
by Gerald Kuehl, art by Gerald Kuehl, design by Dave Maddocks, published by Vidacom Publications
* Margaret Laurence Award for Fiction
This Has Nothing to Do with You
by Lauren Carter, published by Freehand Books
sponsor: Manitoba Arts Council
* Mary Scorer Award for Best Book by a Manitoba Publisher / Prix Mary-Scorer pour le meilleur livre par un éditeur du Manitoba
This Place: 150 Years Retold
edited and published by HighWater Press, an imprint of Portage & Main Press,
cover art by Natasha Donovan, cover and interior design by Relish New Brand Experience
sponsor: Friesens
* McNally Robinson Book of the Year
This Place: 150 Years Retold
edited and published by HighWater Press, an Imprint of Portage & Main Press,
cover art by Natasha Donovan, cover and interior design by Relish New Brand Experience
sponsor: McNally Robinson Booksellers
* McNally Robinson Book for Young People: Younger Category
The Promise Basket
by Bill Richardson, illustrated by Slavka Kolesar,
published by Groundwood Books
sponsor: McNally Robinson Booksellers
* Michael Van Rooy Award for Genre Fiction
Operation Stealth Seed
by George Amabile, published by Signature Editions
sponsors: Manitoba Writers’ Guild, Prairie Fire, Winnipeg International Writers Festival
Introducing our new MWG Book Chats – virtual events to access from the comfort of your own home!
They will occur on the second Wednesday of each month at 7:00 PM. Each evening starts with a Featured Published Author, followed by a brief Q&A. After the Q&A, we’ll have an Open Mic where members can share their writing, about 5 minutes per reading. We have quite a line-up of Manitoba Writers willing to participate, for which we are truly grateful.
All members can participate – and it’s free!
Sign-up in advance, via emails to the Guild (manitobawritersguild3@gmail.com), to receive the on-line invites to join the Zoom meetings. Please let us know if you would also like to read something during the Open Mic segment.
Our first chat occurred on May 13, 7:00 pm and featured Margaret Sweatman.
In case you have not met Margaret Sweatman, here are some things you should know:
Margaret Sweatman is a novelist, playwright, poet, and performer (vocalist and harmonica). Her plays have been produced by Prairie Theatre Exchange, Popular Theatre Alliance and the Guelph Spring Festival. She has performed with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony Orchestra and the National Academy Orchestra, as well as with her own Broken Songs Band and other new music ensembles. Her stories and poetry are published in Prairie Fire, The Fiddlehead, Contemporary Verse 2 and elsewhere. Margaret’s writing has won the Rogers Writers Trust Award for Fiction, the Carol Shields Award, the Margaret Laurence Award, the McNally Robinson Award, and the Sunburst Award.
NOVELS:
(To purchase any novel by Margaret go to your favourite bookstore or use the links below.)
Mr. Jones (Goose Lane 2014)
“Prose as lyrical and transparent as Ondaatje, as political astute and fiercely clear-eyed as Didion. “
— Lisa Moore, author of February and Caught
The Players (Goose Lane 2009)
“… magical … a wonderfully humourous tale ….”
— Andrew Armitage, The Sun Times
When Alice Lay Down with Peter (Knopf 2001)
“… hurtles forward with wit and vitality, deeply satisfying and inspiring.”
— Charlotte Gray, The National Post
Sam and Angie (Turnstone Press 1996)
… gripping … the elegance, precision, and beauty with which the story is told.”
— Letters in Canada, 1996
Fox (Turnstone Press 1992, reissued 2017)
“… an utterly brilliant novel … both intimate and epic.”
— The Globe and Mail
While a writer’s life is usually solitary, either sitting at a table with paper and pencil or tapping away at a typewriter or computer, this time of COVID-19 has us isolated from friends and family, too. So, it is with great pleasure that I share this news from the Manitoba Book Awards Committee: ENGLISH (Winnipeg, … Read more
In light of the COVID -19 situation, the ArtSpace building is closed to the public. As a result the Manitoba Writers’ Guild will be conducting our business virtually by monitoring and responding to emails only, manitobawritersguild3@gmail.com There will not be anybody in the office to answer phone inquiries. All scheduled events will be postponed until … Read more
We will begin accepting submissions to the Manitoba Book Awards in September with a deadline being in mid-November. For further information, go to https://manitobabookawards.com/index.php/en/ We will also be accepting applications for Mentors and Apprentices to the Sheldon Oberman Mentorship Program, beginning in September with the deadline for applications being November 30, 2020. For further information, … Read more
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 … Read more
Friends, Foes, and Furs: George Nelson’s Lake Winnipeg Journals, 1804–1822
