More photos from Stories Alive, this time thanks to David Swayze…
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More photos from Stories Alive
Monday, June 7th, 2010
Stories Alive Recap
Sunday, June 6th, 2010Despite some shuffling in and out of buildings to avoid the rain, the bulk of the Stories Alive evening was a success. By all accounts, people had a good time — enough of a good time for us to begin planning for another event next summer.
If you were unable to make it downtown, or if the weather kept you away, here are a few photos from this year’s Stories Alive, courtesy of Rob Lovatt.
If you have any photos you would like to share, please send them along for posting.
Thank you to all our volunteers, readers, musicians, donors and participants!
Stories Alive – Press Release
Wednesday, May 19th, 2010Brandon Book Festival Association launches second annual event
BRANDON, MB – The Brandon Book Festival Association, which has hosted three successful Words Alive book festivals focused on Canadian writers, presents Stories Alive. This free, family-friendly evening will feature storytelling, live music and contests.
Stories to be read from Aboriginal, Italian, French, Puerto Rican, Welsh, Brazilian, East Indian and other cultures will be interspersed with music. The stories will be read by various community members and the musical offering will performed by local musicians, ranging from children playing classical music to aspiring teen singer-songwriters to the folk-infused Trail Mix Band.
As well, everyone is invited to come dressed as their favourite literary character, be it the Cat in the Hat, Harry Potter, Othello, Maid Marion or whoever catches participants’ fancy. A contest will be held for those who arrive in costume, with a prize for best child costume and another for adults. There will also be a scavenger hunt and drawing contests.
To underline the theme of the evening, there will also be a short story writing and drawing contests for children and teens. There are three age categories – 6 to 9 year olds, 10 to 13 year olds and 14 to 17 year olds. Stories and drawings of any genre or theme must be submitted the evening of Stories Alive and will be judged by the members of Pens Alive, a Words Alive Book Festival offshoot writers’ group. Winners will be notified by e-mail or telephone.
For complete contest rules, visit wordsalivefestival.ca.
All inquiries can be directed to info@wordsalivefestival.ca.
Stories Alive – Short Story Contest Rules
Wednesday, May 19th, 2010As part of the Stories Alive celebrations, there will be a short story writing and drawing contests for children and teens. There are three age categories – 6 to 9 year olds, 10 to 13 year olds and 14 to 17 year olds. Stories and drawings must be submitted the evening of Stories Alive and will be judged by the members of Pens Alive, a Words Alive Book Festival offshoot writers’ group. Winners will be notified by e-mail or telephone.
All stories must include the entrants name, contact information and age.
Official Rules:
1) You may enter as often as you wish but:
a) Manuscripts must be submitted separately;
b) Manuscripts must be typed, at approximately 12-point font, double-spaced, singled-sided; and
c) Pages must be numbered.
2) Manuscripts must be accompanied by the following author information:
a) Name;
b) Address, including City/Town, and Postal Code;
c) Phone number;
d) Email address, if available; and
e) Age
3) Incomplete or pseudonymous entries are not be eligible to win. Stories Alive is not responsible for late, lost, destroyed or misplaced entries in connection with the contest. Do not include any other correspondence with entries.
4) Employees or associates of the Stories Alive organization and their immediate families are ineligible to enter.
5) Extremely long or extremely short entries may be disqualified.
6) Entrants warrant that:
a) short stories are original and unpublished works of fiction, and authored by a resident of the Westman;
b) short stories do not infringe upon any copyright, proprietary right or any other right of any kind; and
c) the author has the unimpaired right to convey publication rights to the Stories Alive festival.
7) All entries must be received by contest closing date, Saturday, June 5, at 9 p.m. Odds of winning depend upon the number of eligible entries received. Selected entrants will be notified by telephone and/or email.
8) Entrants, by entering this contest, consent to the use of their name and/or photograph, without compensation, for future publicity carried out by Stories Alive in connection with this contest.
9) Entrants retain copyright to their manuscripts. However, by entering this contest, all entrants grant to Stories Alive a worldwide, perpetual, paidup, non-exclusive licence to publish, republish or reproduce their manuscripts an unlimited number of times, in original or edited form, in all media and forms of reproduction and distribution now in existence or developed in the future.
10) Except for the winners, Stories Alive will not barter or share any entrant’s personal and/or private information with any other organization.
11) Winners may be selected on entertainment value as well as literary merit or any other quality or combination of qualities. Contest judges, as appointed by Stories Alive, will be the sole appraisers and will have the sole power to determine winning entries.
12) Winners may be published in the program for the 2010 Words Alive book festival. Prior to publication, entries may be edited for taste, length, spelling and/or grammar.
13) Contest judges will make the final decision on any interpretation of these rules.
Stories Alive – June 5, 2010
Tuesday, May 18th, 2010Beginning at 6 PM on June 5, the 1000 block of Rosser Avenue will be blocked to traffic to make room for “Stories Alive.”
This free, family-oriented event, hosted by the Brandon Book Festival Association, organizers of Words Alive, will focus on stories and events for children. In addition to games, live music and storytelling, there will be tons of activities for people of all ages.
More details to come soon! Mark your calendars for June 5 and watch this website for more details as they become available…
See you there!
Brandon Book Festival Association AGM
Wednesday, November 25th, 2009The Brandon Book Festival Association, the organizing body for Words Alive and Fast Fiction, invites all interested parties to attend it Annual General Meeting.
The AGM will take place on November 27 at 5:45 PM at Pennywise Books (1031 Rosser Ave).
Fast Fiction Winner
Thursday, October 29th, 2009The following article appeared in the Brandon Sun on October 24:
BY JOANNE F. VILLENEUVE
The story of a 12-year-old gang initiate took first place in the 2009 edition of Fast Fiction, the short story contest sponsored by the Brandon Book Festival Association.
The author, Aneta Kenny of Brandon, was one of 30 or so who submitted an entry for the annual 24-hour writing contest.
“I’ve been writing for years. I’ve had poetry published, but never a short story,” she said. “It was a challenge, but I like a challenge once in a while.”
The inspiration for her work entitled “Mikey Makes Blood” was news stories about gangs that she often sees on television.
“Night after night, some kids have gotten into trouble,” Kenny said. “My message is for the young people who are in gangs or contemplating joining gangs and how wrong things can go in just a few seconds, and then their lives are ruined.”
Despite the short turn-around — literally 24 hours from the moment she and the other competitors heard the details of the imposed element to the deadline — this contest was one that she enjoyed.
“I think it’s pretty good. It pushes a person to accomplish something in a specific amount of time and I found it concentrated my thinking,” she said.
For her efforts, Kenny will receive the four latest novels by the guest authors — Des Kennedy, Christine Penner, Margaret Sweatman and Joel Thomas Hynes — this evening during Words Alive, downtown Brandon’s book festival, to which Fast Fiction is associated.
Nine-year-old Justin Heaman’s illustrated story entitled “The Amazing Captain Clog” also garnered the attention of the judges, who felt that it deserved an honorable mention.
Words Alive line-up announced
Friday, October 2nd, 2009For the third year, Words Alive – Downtown Brandon’s Premiere Book Festival – will present two evenings of readings as well as two daytime workshops.
The evening of October 23, beginning at 7 p.m., will feature West Coast author Des Kennedy as well as Christina Penner.
The following day, at 10 a.m., freelance writer and editor Jim Chliboyko will give a workshop, guiding participants in the ins and outs of making a living as a writer. In the afternoon, novelist Michael Van Rooy will teach some of the finer points of the craft of writing.
Saturday evening, again beginning at 7 p.m., two more authors will be on hand to read and discuss their work. Margaret Sweatman will kick off things off, followed by East Coaster Joel Thomas Hynes.
- Award-winning journalist, broadcaster, author and environmental activist, Des Kennedy has written two novels and four books of essays about gardening, one of which was nominated for a Stephen Leacock Memorial Medal for Humour, as was one of his novels. An authority on gardening, he has hosted garden tours in Ireland, New Zealand, China and England. He will be reading and discussing his most recent novel, entitled “Climbing Patrick’s Mountain”.
- Based in Winnipeg, Christina Penner is a computer science professor by day and a novelist by night. Her first published work, “The Widows of Hamilton House” was nominated this spring for the Eileen McTavish Sykes Award for Best First Book by a Manitoba Writer. She is currently working on her second novel.
- Also from Winnipeg, Margaret Sweatman is a playwright, poet, singer and novelist. Her plays have been produced on several stages and she has performed with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony Orchestra and the National Academy Orchestra. In 2006, she won a Genie Award with her husband Glenn Buhr for Best Song in Canadian Film. She will be reading from her fourth novel, “The Players”.
- Representing the East Coast will be Joel Thomas Hynes, who hails from Calvert, Newfoundland. His first book, “Down to the Dirt” won the Percy Janes First Novel Award, was short-listed for the Atlantic Book Awards and the Winterset Award, and was nominated for the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award. In addition to being an author of short stories, novels and plays, Hynes is also a professional actor.
Following the readings, live jazz as well as a wine and cheese reception will close both evenings.
All Words Alive activities are free and open to the public, thanks to a generous grant from the Brandon Neighbourhood Renewal Corporation.
Fast Fiction – closed for entries
Sunday, September 27th, 2009
The moment of revelation: the story element for Fast Fiction 2009 is revealed.
Over thirty entries for this year’s Fast Fiction contest have been received. The judges have begun their deliberations and the winner will be contacted once he or she has been selected. At that time, the winner’s name and story will be posted here to the website.
Check back often. Not only will you find out who won Fast Fiction, but you will learn all about the fabulous authors we have lined up for Words Alive…
Fast Fiction – ON NOW!
Saturday, September 26th, 2009Beginning now (5 PM, September 26, 2009), you have 24 hours to write a work of short fiction — story, poetry, screenplay, etc. Print and deliver your completed work:
- before 5 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 27, 2009
- in person to Pennywise Books on Rosser Ave.
or
- • via email to info@wordsalivefestival.ca
Your work must include the following element:
• one of your characters is forced to commit a crime.
Use creativity — the winner will be chosen partly by how well he or she
includes that element in the tale.
Official Rules:
1) You may enter as often as you wish but:
a) Manuscripts must be submitted separately;
b) Manuscripts must be typed, at approximately 12-point font, double-spaced, singled-sided; and
c) Pages must be numbered.
2) Manuscripts must be accompanied by the following author information:
a) Name;
b) Address, including City/Town, and Postal Code;
c) Phone number; and
d) Email address, if available.
3) Incomplete or pseudonymous entries are not be eligible to win. Words Alive is not responsible for late, lost, destroyed or wrongly addressed mail in connection with the contest. Do not include any other correspondence in envelopes with entries.
4) Employees or associates of the Words Alive organization and their
immediate families are ineligible to enter.
5) Extremely long or extremely short entries may be disqualified.
6) Entrants warrant that:
a) short stories are original and unpublished works of fiction, and authored by a resident of the Westman during the official 24-hour period;
b) short stories do not infringe upon any copyright, proprietary right or any other right of any kind; and
c) the author has the unimpaired right to convey publication rights to the Words Alive book festival.
7) All entries must be received by contest closing date, Sunday, September 27, at 5 p.m. Odds of winning depend upon the number of eligible entries received. Selected entrants will be notified by telephone and/or email.
8) Entrants, by entering this contest, consent to the use of their name and/or photograph, without compensation, for future publicity carried out by Words Alive in connection with this contest.
9) Entrants retain copyright to their manuscripts. However, by entering this contest, all entrants grant to Words Alive a worldwide, perpetual, paidup, non-exclusive licence to publish, republish or reproduce their manuscripts an unlimited number of times, in original or edited form, in all media and forms of reproduction and distribution now in existence
or developed in the future.
10) Except for the winners, Words Alive will not barter or share any entrant’s personal and/or private information with any other organization.
11) Winners may be selected on entertainment value as well as literary merit or any other quality or combination of qualities. Contest judges, as appointed by Words Alive, will be the sole appraisers and will have the sole power to determine winning entries.
12) Winners will be published in the program for the 2009 Words Alive book festival. Prior to publication, entries may be edited for taste, length, spelling and/or grammar.
13) Contest judges will make the final decision on any interpretation of
these rules.