The Writers' Community of Durham Region

Archive for the ‘Paeans Kudos!’ Category

Mary McIntyre’s story “Love Letters” has been selected for October publication of Dream of Things anthology, Saying Goodbye. To learn about writing opportunities, go to http://dreamofthings.com

To view Mary’s blog about Washburn Island: Memoir of a Childhood, go to http://maryemcintyre.wordpress.ca

WCDR member Roger Morrison auditioned for the SUMMER SLAM with a very funny piece called “Parents!”

The piece has now been produced and is available at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LkYziWy_L9Q

Kevin Craig’s poem WHEN VENUS TAKES A RIDE is the featured Poem of the Month on the Parliamentary Poet Laureate of Canada’s website. His poem, written after his first day on Lamu Island after taking a walking tour of Lamu Town with the Summer Literary Seminars group he was traveling with, will be the featured poem for the month of September…and will remain archived on the site for two years. Kevin is extremely proud to have had his work chosen by the current Poet Laureate, Pierre DesRuisseaux.

Graham Ducker‘s poem Pondering The Frog has been chosen by Chris Banks as a Judges Selection in The Saving Bannister Poetry Contest of the Canadian Authors Association, Niagara Branch.

WCDR member Allyson Latta is the nonfiction judge for the 2010 OASIS Journal writing competition. The finalists (blind judged) in all three categories – fiction, nonfiction and poetry – have been selected and notified by publisher and anthology editor Leila Joiner of Imago Press, and Allyson will choose a winner and two runners-up in her category. Most of the nonfiction submissions are memoir or personal essay. Imago will announce winners in the early fall, and the ninth edition of OASIS will be available in November. OASIS Journal, published in Tucson, Arizona, is an annual collection of prose and poetry by writers over age 50.

Visit Allyson’s website at www.allysonlatta.ca for interviews – including one with Imago Press’s Leila Joiner – essays, and resources for emerging life writers.

Barbara Ponomareff’s poem “Evening Light” has been chosen for publication in OASIS Journal 2010.

Suzanne Schmidt’s short story “Age Aint Nuthin But a Number” will be published in “Oasis Journal 2010.”

ALSO tune into www.thatchannel.com on the “Liquid Lunch” show with host Hugh Reilly tomorrow Friday August 27th at 1:00p.m. where Suzanne Schmidt will be interviewed about her short story published in “Canadian Voices Volume II.”

Ottawa High School Student to Rewrite Paul Martin’s Early Life

Fifteen-year-old Girl Wins Book Publishing Contract with Whitby’s Fireside Publishing House

WCDR member Roderick Benns is pleased to announce that a grade 10 Ottawa student will soon rewrite the early life of former Prime Minister Paul Martin.

That’s because she just won the Early Adventure of Paul Martin contest, a national writing competition which offered the grand prize of a book publishing contract with Whitby’s Fireside Publishing House. To win the competition, students drawn from secondary or post-secondary schools had to submit a proposed first chapter of the book, as well as a book outline.

Now, Caroline Woodward, 15, and a Canterbury High School student, has won the right to pen the historical fiction adventure of the former prime minister. The book will be set in Colchester, near Windsor, Ontario, and focus on Martin at age 12. Despite moving to Ottawa by this time, the former prime minister usually returned to the Windsor area to live during the summer months.

The book will eventually become part of the publisher’s Leaders & Legacies series on Canada’s leaders as mystery-solving, adventure-loving youth.

The award-winning Book One in the series, The Mystery of the Moonlight Murder: An Early Adventure of John Diefenbaker, was released last September and set in Borden, Saskatchewan. Book Two, on a young John A. Macdonald, will be released this fall.

Fireside Publishing House owner, Roderick Benns, said the high school student’s entry stood out for its clarity, historical research and for conveying a sense that she knew where she wanted to take the book.

“We created this contest because we wanted to support a young person’s dream of becoming a writer. At the same time, we continue with our dream of hooking kids early on Canadian history by providing fun, action-packed, accessible stories.”

As for the former prime minister, he couldn’t be happier to be a pseudo action figure from his own youth.

“I want to congratulate Caroline on winning the competition. To think that she is just 15 and yet demonstrated the skill and the will to win says a lot about her. I just can’t wait to find out what happened to me,” joked Martin. “Guess I had better buy the book.”

Caroline will also win a professional author membership in the Crime Writers of Canada, a national non-profit group dedicated to promoting Canadian crime writing.

Editors: For high res images of Caroline Woodward, student winner, or other images related to the Leaders & Legacies series, visit http://www.roderickbenns.com/media.htm#author

Contacts:

Roderick Benns
Owner
Fireside Publishing House
(905) 666-1249

Caroline Woodward
Student winner
(613) 260-0654

Graham Ducker was a runner up with the poem STITCHES in the Arborealis Prize for Poetry awarded by the Ontario Poetry Society.

Barbara Ponomareff is pleased that her poem “A Murder of Crows” is going to be included in the Canadian Authors Association (Niagara Branch) 25th Annual Poetry Anthology.