Colliding at When Words Collide

I just returned from Calgary’s premiere-quality writer’s festival: When Words Collide, this year in the Carriage House Inn August 9-11. It’s just the third year of the con and the first year I’ve participated. Organizers describe the conference as “a festival for readers, writers, artists and publishers of commercial and literary fiction, including genre, YA, children’s books, and poetry.”

I bumped into the Chairman, Randy McCharles, who shared with me that this literary

Randy McCharles, Chair of WWC

conference, originally modelled after science fiction conventions, was conceived as a festival that doesn’t take itself too seriously. Which is part of its unique charm and success. This unassuming convention provides a friendly and accessible platform for professional writers, editors, novice writers and readers wishing to engage, learn and share. The festival provided over 190 hours of programming for readers, writers and publishers of all genres including science fiction and fantasy, mystery, non-fiction, screenwriting and poetry.

I’m not surprised that When Words Collide is growing in leaps and bounds with each passing year. For two years in a row this festival was nominated for the Aurora Award, Canada’s premiere award for excellence in literature of the fantastic. 2013 special guests included Patricia Briggs, Michaal Cassutt, David B. Coe and D.B, Jackson, Barbara Fradkin, Shirlee Smith Matheson and Jamis Paulson, Penguin Canada Editor Adrienne Kerr, Robert J. Sawyer, & Publisher Brian Hades of Edge Books and so many more cool literary folk.

Programming scheduled me to participate in eight super cool panels, two workshops, a reading, autograph session, and Blue-Pencil Café. That didn’t stop me from bumping into old friends in the Peanuts Sports Pub or while loitering in the spacious lobby.

Panels that I participated in spanned a wide

and topical range of subjects and issues Germaine to writers: anything from the burgeoning field of auditory books (where I shared my experience with Iambik's audiobooks of my Splintered Universe Trilogy), to topics like “Transhumanism”, “The Alien as Metaphor”, “Making the Everyday Fantastic”, “What Women Write”, to racism, sexism and homophobia in genre fiction—expertly moderated by Peter Halasz. Being a writing coach, I also participated in an editing panel moderated by Brian Hades, publisher of Edge Books, who received a call from a mystery guest during panel deliberations. I read from my newly released Natural Selection, a collection of short stories themed on the co-evolution of humanity with Nature and technology.

My two workshops “The Hero’s Journey” and “Self Editing” were well-attended and caused a small flurry over my writing guidebook The FictionWriter, which sold out right after my first workshop at The Sentry Box and the IFWA table, who were also selling my books.

My last activity was the Blue-Pencil Café, a one-on-one feedback coaching session for writers with a WIP. I enjoyed working with new writers on their interesting and imaginative writing projects.

Nina clutching the last copy of The Fiction Writer

This writer’s festival is possibly the best writer's event I have had the pleasure to attend. It’s sophisticated but not pretentious; it’s diverse but not too chaotic (embracing the singularity of stable chaos and “strange attractors”); it’s edifying but not stuffy; it’s international but still down-home; and it’s loads of fun. If you are a serious writer wishing to hone your craft, find a great writing community, and share experiences and your passion for words, this is a very cool place to do it.

Mark your calendar for WWC 2014 and think of “colliding”.

Rick and Di and special guest

The Fourth Annual Edition of When Words Collide will be August 8-10, 2014 at The Carriage House Inn, Calgary, AB. Special guests already booked include: Brandon Sanderson, Jacqueline Guest, Diana Gabaldon, D.J. McIntosh, Mark Leslie (Kobo Canada) and others.

I’ll be there too!

www.WhenWordsCollide.org.

Nina Munteanu is an ecologist and internationally published author of novels, short stories and essays. She coaches writers and teaches writing at George Brown College and the University of Toronto. For more about Nina’s coaching & workshops visit www.ninamunteanu.me. Visit www.ninamunteanu.ca for more about her writing.

Nominate for Artistic Achievement in the Auroros

You have until March 31, 2012 to nominate eligible works by Canadian artists (writers, fine artists and creative fans) in the publishing of science fiction, fantasy and horror. If you are a Canadian, please consider nominating your fellow Canadian artists.

It might be a little late to nominate written works you haven't yet read. But the advantage of the ARTISTIC ACHIEVEMENT category is that you just have to look at the artwork to make your choice.

So, here are the eligible artworks of five Canadian artists and cover designers who are currently eligible for an Aurora Award for ARTISTIC ACHIEVEMENT. Pick and NOMINATE!

Blaine, Janice. Cover of Neo-opsis Science Fiction Magazine, Issue 20

Bridgman, Rae. Interior illustrations for Kingdom of Trolls. (Sybertooth) February 2011.

Choi, Connie. Cover art for The Black Box. (Sybertooth) February 2011.

Dales, Evan. The cover art for Shadow of Death: Book Two of The Chosen Chronicles and the covers for the reissues of Changeling: Prelude to the Chosen Chronicles (May 2011) and Angel of Death: Book One of the Chosen Chronicles (May 2011) published by Dark Dragon Publishing

Laframboise, Michèle, Otaku Ladies, a cyberpunk Webcomic, since January 2011




 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Gurgu, Costi. Cover art for Outer Diverse (Starfire World Syndicate) October 2011. You can read a revealing interview of Costi and the process of creating cover design right here on The Alien Next Door.
 
Now, go nominate!

Nina Munteanu is an ecologist and internationally published author of novels, short stories and essays. She coaches writers and teaches writing at George Brown College and the University of Toronto. For more about Nina’s coaching & workshops visit www.ninamunteanu.me. Visit www.ninamunteanu.ca for more about her writing.

Darwin's Paradox Nominated for Aurora

Guess what? My book, Darwin’s Paradox, has been nominated for the Canadian Science Fiction & Fantasy Aurora Award for 2008! I am so jazzed! I should be…This is a prestigious award, basically Canada’s top prize for science fiction writing. And I’m honored to be among some of the giants of the SF & F craft in Canada. People like Robert J. Sawyer (Rollback), Guy Gavriel Kay (Isabel), Robert Charles Wilson (Axis), Dave Duncan (The Alchemist's Apprentice), Tanya Huff (The Heart of Valor), and others in a sea of powerful literature. Here’s some information on the Aurora:

Of course, it’s named after the Aurora Borealis, which has become a glowing symbol of Canada’s beauty and magnificence. Aurora Borealis (Northern Lights) are latin for 'the dawn of the north', and were first used by Galileo in circa 1620 to describe the red northern lights phenomenon. Aurora is, in fact, the Roman goddess of the dawn—again, an apt icon for an award that could very well launch some new careers.

This will be the 28th year that the Canadian SF and Fantasy Association awards will be presented. Each year a different convention or group has hosted the awards. The Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Awards ("the Auroras") have been presented annually since 1980 with the exception of 1984. In 2008 they will be presented in May at a ceremony hosted by Keycon 25 held in Winnipeg, May 16-19.

On a per-capita basis, the Aurora Awards have the largest voter turnout of any national SF award in the world, exceeding that of the American-dominated Hugos, the Japanese Seiuns, the British Arthur C. Clarke Awards, and the Australian Ditmars.

This year, for the first time, Canadian fans will be able to nominate and to vote on-line at the Prix Aurora website. In addition, over two thousand nominating and voting ballots will be distributed through Canadian SF specialty bookstores (such as Vancouver's White Dwarf, Calgary's Sentry Box. and Toronto's Bakka-Phoenix); with subscription copies of Canadian SF magazines (including the English-language On Spec, Neo-opsis Science Fiction Magazine and the French-language Solaris...); to all members of various associations for SF writers and many flavours of SC & F Clubs and groups; and at over a dozen science-fiction conventions coast-to-coast. Any Canadian resident may nominate and vote for the best Canadian-authored works of Science Fiction and Fantasy published the preceding year in either of the official languages.
Science-fiction conventions and occasionally other groups bid to be designated the year's "Canadian National Science Fiction Convention," or "CanVention," where the Aurora Awards are presented.

So, if you’re a Canadian (or even if you aren't) and you like science fiction, take a look at the list then read and then vote. This is a good opportunity for readers anywhere to see what’s out there in Canadian science fiction and fantasy.

Nina Munteanu is an ecologist and internationally published author of novels, short stories and essays. She coaches writers and teaches writing at George Brown College and the University of Toronto. For more about Nina’s coaching & workshops visit www.ninamunteanu.me. Visit www.ninamunteanu.ca for more about her writing.