Executive Director: Sylvia Taylor 604-683-2057 fedbcwriters@gmail.com
Mailing address: PO Box 3887 Stn Terminal Vancouver, BC Canada V6B 3Z3
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Contests & Awards | FED MEMBERS NOMINATED FOR GG LITERARY AWARDS Fed member Robin Stevenson, Victoria, was nominated for the 2009 Governor General's Literary Award in Children's Text for her teen novel A Thousand Shades of Blue (Orca Book Publishers) and Fed member David Zieroth, North Vancouver, was nominated for the 2009 Governor General's Literary Award in Poetry for The Fly in Autumn (Harbour Publishing). Read the Coalition for Defence of Writing and Publishing press release about the GGs.
STOP LITERARY CLEARCUT: COALITION FOR THE DEFENCE OF WRITING & PUBLISHING IN BC NEWS RELEASE, OCTOBER 8, 2009: B.C.’s beleaguered literary organizations are forming the Coalition for the Defence of Writing and Publishing in British Columbia one day after the Arts & Culture branch of the Ministry of Tourism, Culture & the Arts (Hon. Kevin Krueger) simultaneously removed all funding from the Association of Book Publishers of British Columbia ($45,000), BC BookWorld newspaper ($31,000) and BC Association of Magazine Publishers ($20,000). MORE STOP LITERARY CLEARCUT: TAKE ACTION NOW Please help us to keep up the pressure on our government. Please write your concerns to (faxes are better for driving home our message): Premier Gordon Campbell gordon.campbell.mla@leg.bc.ca Fax: 250 387-0087 MLA: Hon. Kevin Krueger (Min. of Tourism, Arts, and Culture) kevin.krueger.mla@leg.bc.ca Fax: 250 953-4250 MLA: Hon. Rich Coleman (Gaming) rich.coleman.mla@leg.bc.ca Fax: 250 356-7292 MLA: Hon. Colin Hansen (Min. of Finance) colin.hansen.mla@leg.bc.ca
And don’t forget the MLA for your particular riding. Please email, mail or a copy of your letter so the Coalition can start a collection to:
Gerilee McBride Association of Book Publishers of BC 600-402 West Pender Street Vancouver, BC V6B 1T6 fax: 604-684-5788 email: admin@books.bc.ca Join the facebook group for the Coalition for the Defense of Writing & Publishing in BC. ______________________________________
2009 Literary Writes Winners Congratulations to the winners of the Federation of BC Writers 2009 Literary Writes Competition in Poetry: $500 First Prize: "What We Cannot See" by Cynthia Woodman Kerkham, Victoria; $300 Second Prize: "Mr. Bailey" by Ursula Vaira, Victoria; $150 Third Prize: "Checking Out Before Noon: Sunshine Plaza Suites, Beijing" by Shannon Woron, Vancouver. The winners, in addition to reading their work at Word on the Street, will have their prize-winning poems published in the fall issue of WordWorks. Fed member and award-winning poet Patrick Lane was the judge for this year's competition. Federation Vox If you did not receive the January 25, 2010 issue of Federation Vox, you can download the file here. Canadian Writers Launch Campaign Opposing Google On Friday, September 4th, Canadian writers and publishers get their last chance to opt out of the Google Book Settlement, condemned by dozens of international authors' associations worldwide. Federation members Mona Fertig, Katherine Gordon, and Kim Goldberg, with fellow authors Patricia Robertson and Sarah Sheard, have launched an internet blitz to raise awareness and ensure that this country's copyright owners have the chance to protect their legal rights. The Google Book Settlement between Google and the American Authors' Guild was announced to conclude a protracted lawsuit against Google, which had been scanning copyrighted works without permission for commercial purposes. The settlement automatically covers copyrighted works of authors in more than 200 countries worldwide, including Canada, unless their authors choose to opt out by September 4th. Visit http://www.blog.sarahsheard.com for a Canadian author's perspective. The Writers' Union of Canada has filed a formal statement of objections with the US Courts over the Google Settlement - for more information visit www.writersunion.ca/index.asp. Writers Decry Banning of Popular Book Due to a single parent complaint, St. Edmund Campion Secondary School has banned the classic American book on racism, To Kill A Mockingbird. The decision to ban the book was supported by a spokesperson for the Peel-Dufferin District Catholic School Board. Written by Pulitzer Prize winner Harper Lee, To Kill A Mockingbird deals with racism in the American south and contains language consistent with the times. The Writers’ Union of Canada is voicing its objection to this decision. Ema Paris, Chair of the Union, said: “to ban such an important book outright should not be tolerated. Hopefully, more education-minded decisions will prevail, and the book will be reinstated.” http://www.writersunion.ca/. 2009 Blogathon Donations Thanks to everyone who made a donation to the Federation of BC Writers for the 2009 Blogathon with Fed member Lorraine Murphy. The Blogathon raised $225.92 for the Federation. Cheques can be made out to the Federation of BC Writers with 2009 Blogathon in the memo line. Mailing address: Federation of BC Writers, PO Box 3887 Stn Terminal, Vancouver, BC V6B 3Z3. ________________________________________________
The Federation of British Columbia Writers operates with funds raised from membership dues, fundraising activities, corporate and private sponsorship, and with the support of the Province of British Columbia through the BC Arts Council and the Direct Access Program,which the Federation gratefully acknowledges.
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