Event News

February 13, 2024 | 12:30PM via Zoom

Delve into the intricate process of crafting a compelling narrative with awarding winning author, Elizabeth Ruth. We will explore topics seasoned and new writers often struggle with such as structuring the novel, and honing your unique storytelling voice. Whether you’re a novice writer seeking inspiration or a seasoned wordsmith looking to refine your craft, join us for an enriching hour that will get you excited about your manuscript!

Register here.

Elizabeth Ruth is the author of the novels, Ten Good Seconds of Silence, Smoke, Matadora, and the newly published, Semi-Detached. Her work has been recognized by the Writers’ Trust of Canada Fiction Prize, the City of Toronto Book Award, the Amazon.ca First Novel Award, and One Book One Community. CBC named her “One of the Ten Canadian Women Writers You Must Read.” Elizabeth’s debut poetry collection, This Report Is Strictly Confidential is forthcoming in 2024. She is also the author of a plain language novella for adult literacy learners entitled, Love You to Death and the editor of the anthology Bent on Writing: Contemporary Queer Tales. Elizabeth Ruth teaches creative writing at the University of Toronto SCS, and lives in the city with her family. Please visit: elizabethruth.com

Attention writers! Have you finished a fantastic manuscript and are now looking to sell it? Join us for a workshop on the Art of the Pitch with Executive Editor at HarperCollins Canada, Janice Zawerbny. Come prepared to talk about your project, ask questions and have your pitch flash assessed!

Register here.

About the Presenter

Janice Zawerbny has worked in Canadian publishing as an editor for more than twenty-five years. She is currently an Executive Editor at HarperCollins Canada, where she acquires and edits both fiction and non-fiction. She has edited a number of critically acclaimed and award-winning books including, The Break by Katherena Vermette, Five Little Indians by Michelle Good, The Best Kind of People by Zoe Whittall, The Island of Forgetting by Jasmine Sealy, and The Berry Pickers by Amanda Peters. She is also the co-founder of the The Carol Shields Prize for Fiction, and previously taught substantive and stylistic editing at Metropolitan University.

Melanie Florence will lead this one hour workshop on the evolution of a picture book from an idea to a finished manuscript, speaking on: where to find an idea, how to figure out if the idea will work as a picture book and then how to write a good picture book.

Register here.

About the Presenter

Melanie Florence is an award-winning writer of Cree and Scottish heritage based in Toronto. She was close to her grandfather as a child, a relationship that sparked her interest in writing about Indigenous themes and characters. She is the author of Missing Nimama, which won the 2016 TD Canadian Children’s Literature Award and the 2017 Forest of Reading Golden Oak Award and was a finalist for the 2017 First Nation Communities READ award. Her picture book, Stolen Words, won the Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Children’s Book Award, is shortlisted for the Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award and was given a starred review by Kirkus, who listed it as one of the best picture books of 2017 to give readers strength. Her other books include Righting Canada’s Wrongs: Residential Schools, He Who Dreams, The Missing, One Night, Rez Runaway, and Just Lucky, published in September 2019.