What: The Shebeen Club Presents: Screenwriter’s Alert!

When: 7:30pm-9:00pm, Tuesday, March 18th, 2008

Where: Upstairs at The Shebeen, behind The Irish Heather, 217 Carrall Street in Gastown

Why: Vancouver Film School will be making a very special announcement of keen interest to all aspiring screenwriters and anyone hoping to break into the business of movies, games, or animation.

Who: Contact lorraine.murphy AT gmail.com for more information. Note that, as this announcement is embargoed till delivery, we cannot give out many details.

How(much)? $15 includes presentation, dinner of bangers and mash or vegetarian pasta, one celebratory beverage, and mingling.

Our March meeting will be of intense interest to anyone with celluloid ambitions. Alice Zhou from our world-renowned Vancouver Film School will be making a very special announcement about a worldwide VFS event of major interest to those with a desire to become involved in the industry.

Bio: Alice Zhou Alice Zhou is a recent winner of Cultural DiverseCity Youth Enterpreneur Business Award, a graduate of Simon Fraser University with a degree in Communications. Her career has focused on Corporate Events Management and Seminars, and she is currently the Events Coordinator at Vancouver Film School. Her passion lies in building relationships and creating a massive network, to provide resources and information to help facilitate additional entrepreneurship. Alice is a board member of the International Special Events Society (ISES). She teaches several Events Management courses at Vancouver Community College, and is a regular columnist in the Vancouver View Magazine. She currently is the event coordinator, public relations and sponsorship coordinator for Vancouver Film School.

7-7:30: meet and mingle
7:30-8: listen and learn
8-whenever: David Mamet/Nora Ephron/Joe Eszterhas three-way cage match! Okay, not really, but you’d pay to see that, wouldn’t you?

Passed along from Seal Press, an Avalon imprint, via TheShadeWriter:

Here’s your chance. Seal Press is launching a new series and we’re looking for writers who are experts on the following topics:

• Car repair
• Camping
• Home repair
• BBQing

We’re looking for women writers who are passionate about these topics. Whether it be your passion, your hobby, or your profession, the main qualifier is that you really know your stuff. We want writers who can translate these subjects in an intelligent, fun, and accessible style. We’ll tell you the details of the series upon seeing your qualifications.

Requirements:

1. One-page cover letter detailing why you’re the person to write on this topic
2. Resume or CV
3. Previous publishing experience
4. Anything that you think sets you apart from other applicants (keep this within reason, please)

Send materials in a word document attachment, in the order listed above, to Brooke Warner at: brooke.warner at avalonpub dot com.

Please allow three weeks for a response.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
5/31/2007
CALL FOR SPOKEN WORD
POETRY SUBMISSIONS

The Word On the Street Festival invites poets to read their work at The
Poet’s Corner, Library Square, on Sunday, September 30, 2007. Poets will be
given a 7minute spot to perform in, between the hours of 12:00pm and
5:00pm. Submissions should include a SASE if you wish your material to be
returned and artists are also strongly encouraged to send an audio tape or CD of
their performance.
Sorry, no email submissions!

Please send submissions to

Poet’s Corner
c/o
442 Cardiff Way
Port Moody V3H 3T1

Deadline for entry is July 15, 2007*

* See us at the Wax Poetic/Coop Radio table at Summer Dreams (We’ll take submissions there too!)

Help us promote literacy and celebrate Canadian literary arts at Library
Square, downtown Vancouver.

The Word On The Street is an annual one-day festival celebrating literacy
and the written arts. Held in five cities across Canada simultaneously -
Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, Ottawa and Halifax - The Word On The Street
celebrates reading and writing with free exhibits, performances, readings
and hands-on activities every September.

Last year, Vancouver’s The Word On The Street attracted over 40,000
visitors, and hundreds of participating exhibitors, authors, and performers
to Library Square for literary readings, cookbook demonstrations, music,
contests, panel discussions and much more.

We invite you to join us and become part of Vancouver’s favorite annual
celebration of words and reading.
For more information, call us at (604) 788-8340 or email srduncan  at shaw dot ca
http://www.thewordonthestreet.ca/vancouver.php

Interested publishers can contact Colleen O’Connor by leaving a comment on this post, or by contacting the Shebeen Club directly at lorraine . murphy at gmail . com. 

Cry of the Phoenix is a story of devastating loss and unforeseen accomplishment. In this first-hand account, Colleen O’Connor tells her own story, of a life beset by almost insurmountable challenges and of the strength she found to overcome them.  

Born in Vancouver, British Columbia, to an embittered family, Colleen was married by the age of fifteen to a young Navy seaman. Within five years, despite her protests—and without just cause—Colleen’s three children had been apprehended by the court and taken from her. 

Cry of the Phoenix tells of Colleen’s self-doubts, her embattled marriage, and her attempt to reunite with her children. At the heart of this story lies an unsuspected secret; its discovery makes reconciliation between Colleen and her family an impossibility. 

This is a Canadian story, ranging from the Pacific Coast to the Atlantic, and back again. It records Colleen’s struggle to raise a family, her meeting and friendship with the Premier of British Columbia, and her instatement as a criminal court Justice of the Peace. 

“Here I am a Justice,” she says. “I could be as easily standing on the other side of my bench, one of the people I see every weekend . . . I could have been a prostitute or a drug addict quite easily, but here I am sitting in a court room, trying to do my best to help people.” 

Colleen O’Connor has managed not only survive but to enrich her life and benefit the life of others. Along the way, it has been the song—the cry—of the phoenix which has given Colleen the will to rise from the ashes of defeat. When all else fails, it has been the phoenix she has counted on to give her strength and hope.   

On Sat. March 31, 2007, the Surrey Creative Writing Diploma Program will present Writers’ Express,  a one-day event of dynamic workshops and presentations for new and experienced writers working in all genres, writing for adults or children.

I’m currently seeking workshop proposals, and hope to have a draft schedule of the day’s activities pulled together in time to promote it at the International Surrey Writers’ Conference, Oct. 20-22.

While priority will be given to Surrey Creative Writing Diploma Program instructors, we’re also open to proposals from other experienced workshop presenters and writing teachers.

Please download a copy of the Writers’ Express Request for Proposals
handout here http://www3.telus.net/345/solutions.html
Deadline for submitting proposals to lpwordsolutionsathotmaildotcom is Thursday, October 7.

From Lois Peterson’s Surreywriters list. Note that this is not paid writing work, which is, of course, how I came to hear about it:

On Sunday the Province will lanch the Sunday Serial Thriller, a 12-part mini-novel set in Vancouver.

The first and last chapters will be written by Daniel Kalla, with the the other chapters contributed by Province readers.  Prizes to be won include a trip to Mexico.

Complete details, and the first instalment, appears in the Sunday Province.

Please forward to your networks.  At this point, the Editorial Team is particularly interested in articles that focus women’s policy and/or grassroots struggles with climate change.

* *Women and Climate Change * *  * *Spring 2007**

Women and Environments International Magazine is looking for submissions for its upcoming issue on climate change. This issue will contribute to meetings and

discussions of the UN Commission on Sustainable Development and UN Framework Convention on Climate Change in 2006 and 2007. We encourage submissions that

analyze climate change from diverse perspectives of gender, sexual identity, race, class, ability, age,

socio-cultural and regional differences among others.

 _Writer's Guidelines:_

Features should not exceed 2500 words. Shorter pieces, book and film reviews,

poetry and artistic expressions are welcome. If you would like to submit an

article written in a language other than English, let us know and we'll do our

best to facilitate translation. All written work must be original and not

previously published. Detailed editorial guidelines and information can be found

on our website   http://www.weimag.com

Suggested, but not exhaustive, areas of interest are listed below. Case

studies are particularly welcome.

* * *_Gender Perspective on Climate Change in relation to_*:

  -**  Science of global warming.

  -  Energy and transportation.

  -  Health and reproductive health.

  -  Water and biodiversity.

  -  Economic impacts and cost-benefit analysis.

  -  Human settlements and livelihoods.

  -  Agriculture, fisheries, and natural resources management.

  -  Disasters and Conflict.

  _Theoretical Perspectives_:

  -  Framing the problem of climate change; framing the solutions.

  -  Alternative theoretical approaches to climate change.

  -  Neoliberal vs. 'subsistence' constructions of the problem of climate

  change.

  -  Historicizing and engendering the discourse of climate change.

  _Instruments (Gender/Climate Change)_:

  -  Young women's leadership.

  -  Gender mainstreaming methods and tools.

  -  Women's participation, leadership, and empowerment.

  -  Flexible mechanisms (clean development, emissions trading, joint

  implementation

  * ***_Adaptation and Mitigation Strategies_:

  -  Natural disasters, emergency preparedness and reconstruction.

  -  Consumption and production.

  -  Energy efficiency and renewable energy

  -  Corporate and institutional accountability.

  _Gender Advocacy Opportunities such as_:

  -  UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and Kyoto Protocol.

  -  UN Commission on Sustainable Development.

  -  National governments and global institutions.

  -  Community-based and non-governmental initiatives.

  _Deadlines_:

Abstracts or indications of interest by June 15, 2006  Final Manuscripts by

Aug 30th, 2006.

_Women and Environments International Magazine_:

WEI Mag is a unique Canadian magazine that examines women's relations to their

natural, built, and social environments from feminist

perspectives. WEI Mag provides a forum for academic research and theory as

well as professional and community practices and experiences. Published by a

volunteer editorial board since 1976 WEI Mag aims to contribute to feminist

social change.

  * * *_For all enquiries contact:

  _Women & Environments International Magazine (WEI Mag)*, WGSI, U. of

  Toronto, 40 Willcocks St., Toronto, Ont. Canada M5S 1C6, ph: (416)

  978-5259; fax: (416) 946-5561; email: we.mag@utoronto.ca *   *