On a recent brief trip to the beautiful little city of Victoria, on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, I spent some time in the well-stocked children’s book section of the local Chapters Bookstore, where a helpful clerk gave me a quick tour of local favorites, starting with a local resident David Bouchard. Saskatchewan-born, Bouchard has written a couple dozen-plus books for kids, including many award winners and many that reflect his own Metis (the Canadian term for mixed European and Native) origins.
Nokum Is My Teacher, available in English or French with Cree alongside, was the Ânskohk Aboriginal Children’s Book of the Year for 2007. Buddha in the Garden, with illustrations by painter Zhong-Yang Huang, recalled to mind Philip Gershator’s Skysweeper, a story with a similar theme. Click here for information on Bouchard’s upcoming books.
I also took time for a delightful few minutes with Vancouverite Nan Gregory’s Pink, unquestionably a book for the top of the list of every little pink-loving girl (and perhaps her parents as well, with their gender-associated color questions!)
On the shelf with other Canadian favorites was one I recalled from my pre-multicultural southern U.S. childhood, Robert Service’s wonderful poem The Cremation of Sam McGee, in a 2006 re-issue of the 1986 edition with illustrations by painter Ted Harrison. Back in the warm-drowsy long-ago afternoons of my musty Virginia schoolroom, it seemed cautionary tale on complaining about the heat; I wondered at how differently a 21st century Canadian child takes in the story today!
Dream Quest One invites poetry and short story entries for their writing contest. First prizes: $500 (fiction) and $250 (poetry). Fiction: 5 pages max. Poetry: 30 lines max. Theme: open. Entry fees: US$10 per story or US$5 per poem. Deadline: December 31, 2007. More details...
The Mom Egg (US) seeks work for a lively, eclectic collection by creative
artists who are also mothers. Publication date: May 2008. Submit up to 5 poems for fiction/creative prose up to 500 words. Any any topics welcome. Payment: One copy. Deadline: December 31, 2007. Submit pieces and 3-5 line bio to: [email protected].
York University publication Existere invites entries for their current writing contest. First prize: $150 each in the categories of Poetry, Fiction, and Non-Fiction. Entry fee: $10 or $25 (includes subscription). Any style is fine, but quality is key. Be sure to proofread your entry! Deadline: December 31, 2007. Regular, non-contest submissions also welcome. More details...
Re:verse (youngpoets.ca seeks poems written in an automatic style:
a random association of thoughts and a lack of rigid structural expectations. Open to writers 19 years old and younger. Deadline: December 30, 2007. More details...
Entries are invited for the 2008 Petra Kenney Poetry Competition. First prize: £1000 plus publication in Writers Magazine. Open to international entrants. Submit poems 80 lines max. Special Young Writers (14-18) category; first prize: £250. Entry fee: $7. Deadline: Deadline: December 31, 2007. More details...
The Writers' Union of Canada invites entries for the Danuta Gleed Literary Award 2007, awarded for the best first collection of published short fiction in the English language by a Canadian writer. First prize: $10,000. Deadline: January 31, 2008. More details...
Theatre in the Raw invites entries of original one-act plays (comedy, tragedy, drama or radio-play; unpublished and unproduced) for their 2007 contest. Length: 30 minutes. 6 characters max. First prize: $150 cash prize and at least one dramatic reading or staging of the play. Entry fee: $25; $40 fr two plays. Deadline: December 31, 2007. More details...
Cahoots Magazine (SK) invites entries for its new short fiction contest. Enter up to 2 stories, 3000 words max. each. Prize: 4 winners will receive a $100 plus publication in an upcoming issue. Entry fee: $26 (includes a subscription). Deadline: December 15, 2007. More details... (scroll down page)
Palabras Press invites entries for their 4th annual poetry contest. First prize: $100 plus 10 copies of anthology. Deadline: December 31, 2007. Entry fee: $10. More details...