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| New Brunswick Writers' Federation | |
|---|---|
| Name | New Brunswick Writers' Federation |
| Formation | 1981 |
| Type | Literary organization |
| Headquarters | Fredericton, New Brunswick |
| Region served | New Brunswick |
| Language | English, French |
New Brunswick Writers' Federation is a provincial literary organization based in Fredericton, New Brunswick, that supports writers and promotes literature across the province. It connects practitioners from Saint John to Moncton and rural communities, liaising with cultural agencies and arts councils to foster publishing, mentorship, and public programs. The federation operates within a network that includes national bodies and regional festivals to amplify New Brunswick voices.
The federation was founded in 1981 amid a growing Atlantic Canadian literary renaissance linked to figures and institutions such as Alistair MacLeod, Wayne Johnston, Antonine Maillet, Will R. Bird, and organizations like the Canadian Authors Association, Writers' Union of Canada, and the Canada Council for the Arts. Early collaborations drew on the infrastructures of the University of New Brunswick, St. Thomas University, Mount Allison University, and the New Brunswick College of Craft and Design while engaging communities in Fredericton, Saint John, and Moncton. Across the 1980s and 1990s the federation partnered with festivals including the Wordplay (Fredericton) and the River of Words, aligning with publishers such as Goose Lane Editions, Nimbus Publishing, and Gaspereau Press to support emerging writers. The organization’s development paralleled provincial cultural policy conversations involving the New Brunswick Arts Board and provincial ministries.
The federation’s stated mission emphasizes advocacy for writers, professional development, and public literary engagement, working alongside entities like the Canada Council for the Arts, Canada Book Fund, Association of Canadian Publishers, Atlantic Publishers Marketing Association, and local arts councils in Charlotte County, Northumberland County, and York County. Activities include mentorship programs modeled after initiatives seen in organizations such as the League of Canadian Poets, Playwrights Guild of Canada, and Canadian Music Centre, and partnerships with educational institutions including Université de Moncton and Collège communautaire du Nouveau-Brunswick. The federation also liaises with national prizes and juries connected to the Scotiabank Giller Prize, Governor General's Literary Awards, and regional awards like the Atlantic Book Awards.
Programs include mentorships, manuscript consultations, and youth outreach comparable to projects by the Writers' Trust of Canada and the Young Canada Works program; the federation administers provincial prizes and bursaries akin to the Steele Prize and collaborates with sponsors such as NB Power and local foundations. Awards and grants are presented in categories reflecting poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and francophone literature, intersecting with honours like the Ethel Wilson Prize, Thomas Head Raddall Atlantic Fiction Prize, and regional recognitions linked to the Archibald Lampman Award tradition. Residency opportunities are run in partnership with libraries like the Fredericton Public Library and institutions such as the Charlotte Street Arts Centre.
Membership is open to francophone and anglophone writers, echoing bilingual governance models found at PEN Canada and the Writers' Union of Canada, with categories for emerging, professional, and institutional members. The federation is governed by an elected board drawn from communities including Fredericton, Edmundston, Bathurst, Miramichi, and Sackville, following nonprofit frameworks similar to those of the Canadian Federation of Library Associations and regional arts boards. Funding and accountability intersect with programs administered by the Canada Summer Jobs initiative and provincial cultural funding bodies.
The federation publishes newsletters, chapbook series, and promotional materials that parallel efforts by Event Magazine, Brick Books, and Riddle Fence; it distributes information through partnerships with public libraries in Saint John Public Library and academic presses at Dalhousie University Press. Outreach includes school visits, readings, and online resources that align with national literacy campaigns and partnerships with media outlets like CBC Radio One, the Telegraph-Journal, and community radio stations such as CHSR-FM and CICI-FM. Collaborative projects have involved archives and special collections at the Provincial Archives of New Brunswick.
Among writers associated through membership, mentorship, or programming are authors, poets, and playwrights linked to New Brunswick’s literary scene and beyond: David Adams Richards, Antonine Maillet, Wayne Johnston, Michael Crummey, Alistair MacLeod, Don McKay, Elizabeth Hay, Derek Sanford, Peter Gzowski, Susanne de Lotbinière-Harwood, Rita Joe, Emma Donoghue, Siobhan Campbell, Wayne Johnston (novelist), Shelley Posen, Gordon Pinsent, Katherine Govier, Lisa Moore, Cathy Leach, Bernice Morgan, Herbie Brennan, Pamela Mordecai, Shani Mootoo, Clark Blaise, Mavis Gallant, Georgette LeBlanc, Alison Acheson, Wayne Johnston.
The federation coordinates readings, launches, and workshops at literary events and festivals across New Brunswick and Atlantic Canada, appearing at venues and occasions associated with Harbourfront Centre, the Moncton High School, the Saint John Arts Centre, the Tidewater Festival, and regional book fairs similar to the Halifax International Writers' Festival and the Kitchener-Waterloo Writers' Festival. It partners with community festivals and university series to present panels with translators, editors, and publishers from organizations like Les Éditions Perce-Neige, House of Anansi Press, and McClelland & Stewart.
Category:Canadian writers' organizations