Fernie Writers Conference 2009
July 12 – 26, 2009

Once again, the Fernie Writers Conference is ramping up for two weeks of workshops, discussions and literary readings this coming July. This summer will see both deeper and more diverse offerings than in the past two Conferences.

Governor General Award nominated author Sid Marty will be leading a week long workshop on Creative Non-Fiction.  His work detailing life in the mountains around Banff and now with the Black Grizzly of Whisky Creek puts him in a unique position to guide this session.

Ron Smith, poet and founder of Oolichan Books will lead a weeklong poetry workshop with a dual purpose—refining individual poetic works and shaping a collection into a book.  Ollican Books is a leading Canadian literary publisher. Oolichan titles have been nominated for the Governor General’s Award four out to the last five years, John Pass’ Stumbling in the Bloom won the poetry award in 2006.

Of course the leaders from last year—John Keeble, Peter Oliva, Raul Inglis, Angie Abdou, Luanne Armstrong, and Jon Turk will be returning.  Kuya Minogue will again lead a Zen Writing Workshop on the middle Sunday of the two week Conference.

With the acceptance of the Conference as a western Canadian literary event, editors, publishers, publisher’s agents and literary agents expressed an interest in attending to meet with the gathering of writers.  This year, participants will be able to make one-on-one appointments with representatives from a variety of publishing houses and several literary agents. This unusual opportunity to directly present their pitch will offer a chance not often found in the world of “over the transom” works.

And again, with the generous support of local businesses, each section will have slots for local residents to attend on scholarships.  In 2008, close to $20,000 in Conference scholarships were awarded primarily to Elk Valley residents and 2009 will see a similar amount granted.

For more details registering in one of the many workshop offerings—from screenplay writing to fiction to poetry–and the procedure for applying for scholarships, please visit the Conference web site at www.ferniewriters.org
The Fernie Writers conference is supported by Fernie Getaways, Tech Coal, the Columbia Basin Trust, the City of Fernie, the Arts Station, Fernie Alpine Resort, the Emily Brydon Youth Foundation, The Fernie Fix, the Fernie Free Press and numerous other local businesses.