BU Lifelong Learning Academy

Calling all writers! Write for our flash anthology!

A Bishop’s University Lifelong Learning Academy and Write Here, Write Now! competition

Write Here Write Now! (WHWN), part of Bishop’s University Lifelong Learning Academy (BULLA), is thrilled to bring you a new project. We are compiling a collection of short works, including short stories, flash fiction, poetry, and memoir. It can be on any theme and in any genre, and will be published as both a paperback and an e-book in autumn, 2023.  

• Do you like to write? Do you have a story to tell? Are you a poet or a short story writer?
• All genres welcome: from fiction, humour, fantasy, memoir, non-fiction, to haiku and poetry.

WHWN invites writers and authors to submit written works to be included in the book.

You are welcome to submit up to three (3) items. Please see below for details on how to enter.

Any questions? Please contact Rebecca Welton: rebecca@weltonfamily.ca

The deadline for submission is April 11, 2023.

Guidelines

What kind of works can be submitted? 

• All genres and themes are welcome, though writers should bear in mind the book is aimed at all ages. Written work, in English, must be original, previously unpublished material, edited and polished to the best of your ability.

Specifications

• Poetry, max. 30 lines.
• Flash fiction or non-fiction, max. 300 words.
• Short fiction or non-fiction, max. 1,200 words.

How can I enter? 

• All works must be formatted in Word, double-spaced, Times New Roman, 12 point.
  
  
• Certain words will be accepted in italics or bold, but please do not use these for the entire text.
  
  
• Your name should appear on the first page and all pages should be numbered.

Work must be submitted digitally, by April 11, 2023, to: rebecca@weltonfamily.ca

Please put “Flash Anthology” in the subject line of your email. In the email, please include:

1. Your name, the city and country where you live, telephone number, and email address.   
2. Details of your submission(s), including the word count (or the line count if you are submitting poetry), the title of the work(s), and whether it is fiction or nonfiction.

What will happen to my submissions? 

Once received, identifying information will be removed and an editorial team will “blind judge” the submissions.

You will be notified in May 2023 if your submission is chosen for publication. If selected for publication, you will receive a free copy of the ebook. Paperback books may be available for sale.

Only those whose submissions are accepted for publication will be notified.

How many items may I submit? 

You are welcome to submit up to three (3) items as long as you follow all the rules and guidelines above. All submissions can be included in the same entry; however, each story must have its own details (word count, title, type etc.).

Questions? 

Please contact rebecca@weltonfamily.ca for further information.

This project is presented by WHWN with thanks to BULLA.

Write Here, Write Now Winter/Spring 2023 Schedule

A Quick Note on Zoom Registration

Some participants have written to express concerns about Zoom links taking them to a registration page. WHWN events are promoted to a variety of online platforms accessible worldwide. This means WHWN has been able to welcome participants from all over the world, but it also involves risks to our community that it behooves our facilitators to mitigate.

To avoid having our meetings disrupted by Zoom bombers, Zoom may prompt you to register. Fortunately, registration is not an onerous process: you need only enter your name, surname, and email address. Once you click “Register” at the bottom of the form, you will be taken to another page with a unique, single-use link to access the meeting. You will not receive this link in an email. You do not need to register for workshops ahead of time. You can register for the meeting even after it has started. Not sure about Zoom registration? Don’t hesitate to reply to this email with your questions.

Theme & Structure with Rebecca Welton

Although these workshops are part of a series, all workshops are stand-alone—please do come along even if you haven’t attended the other workshops.

Theme II

Wednesday, February 8th, 1:30-3:30 PM

Join us as we delve into common themes in literature and discuss how to harness them to make a great story.

Theme III

Wednesday, March 8th, 1:30-3:30 PM

For our final workshop on theme, we will look at different ways to weave your theme into your work.

Structure I

Wednesday, April 12th, 1:30-3:30 PM

This first workshop will look at what structure is, and isn’t, and why some writers think structure is a vital ingredient for any work.

Structure II

Wednesday, May 10th, 1:30-3:30 PM

Our second workshop on structure will discuss how structure can lift your work from good to amazing. We will explore some of the different options for structure that a writer can choose from.

Structure III

Wednesday, June 7th, 1:30-3:30

For the final workshop on structure, we will explore more structures that writers can use in their work, in order to simplify the writing process and create a piece of work that is tightly written and focused.

About the facilitator

Rebecca Welton is a writer and editor. She was shortlisted for the Fresher Prize in short stories, and currently runs creative writing workshops for WHWN and BULLA. She is the editor of Hope and Resilience in the Time of Covid, an anthology of community writing and artistry. Rebecca is both a developmental editor and a qualified copyeditor and works with writers to craft their work into the best version possible.

Flash: Writing Short Prose with Jan Draper

An ideal topic for workshops, writing the short piece will be the focus of this series. We will discuss how to adapt techniques to various forms of flash fiction and memoir.

In June we will hold a reading to showcase participants’ work.

The Flash Memoir

Thursday, February 16th, 1:30-3:30 PM

Choosing an event from life to turn into a memoir that captures and holds the readers’ attention.

Imaginative Fiction

Thursday, March 16th, 1:30-3:30

Fantasy, sci-fi, or your own brand of fiction: giving readers a glimpse into another reality.

The Mystery

Thursday, April 20th, 1:30-3:30

Creating for readers a suspenseful moment, a satisfying denouement, or an annoying cliffhanger.

Humour

Thursday, May 18th, 1:30-3:30

Making the reader laugh in 25 lines or less.

About the facilitator

Jan Draper has spent much of her life encouraging people of all ages to write. For the last few years, she has been part of Our Stories sponsored by the Townshippers’ Association which has morphed into Write Here, Write Now at BULLA.

Nonfiction Writing for Magazines with Rachel Garber

This series will explore various approaches to journalistic and creative nonfiction writing of short or medium length, aiming for publication in a magazine. The approaches: historical, memoir, travel writing, essays, and reviews. Participants will receive coaching and feedback on their writing projects.

Personal Essay: Three Approaches

Friday, February 24th, 10 AM to noon

• A path between memoir and essay: personal reportage; braided essay; fragmented essay
• Coaching: first steps to developing your project

Personal Essay: Three More Approaches

Friday, March 24th, 10 AM to noon

• More essays: lyric; hermit crab essay; graphic essay
• Coaching: querying the editor

Traditional Forms of Nonfiction for Magazines

Friday, April 28th, 10 AM to noon

• Historical stories; travel writing; commentary; reviews
• Coaching: researching and interviewing

Creative Nonfiction Today

Friday, May 26th, 10 AM to noon

• Some great reads
• Overview: steps to publication
• Putting it all together: the writing process; editing and fact-checking
• Coaching: writing and rewriting

Zeroing In on Your Target

Friday, June 16th, 10 AM to noon

• More great reads
• Submission: baby in a basket of bulrushes
• Life after rejection: keep on!
• Life after acceptance: contract, payment, copyright, working with the editor
• The last word

About the facilitator

Rachel Garber (rawrites@gmail.com) is the editor of The Townships Sun, a non-profit community/creative magazine for the Eastern Townships of Quebec, Canada (townshipssun.ca). Writing non-fiction―memoir, travel, reviews, essays, interviews, research―has taught her the art of wrestling with porcupines. She has a B.Sc. in Communications, a B.F.A. in Studio Art, and an M.A. in Art Therapy.

Fugue Forum with Etienne Domingue

The fugue is a kind of composition in which a theme is unravelled over the course of several variations.

Our community meets every month for ninety thrilling minutes of prompted writing and storytelling around a shared theme.

The Forum convenes on Discord (a free, safe video chat and content-sharing platform). For the coordinates to our Discord server—or more information on how to proceed—please write to bulla@ubishops.ca.

The facilitator recommends media and suggests homework ahead of each meeting. This assignment is intended to enhance the participant’s experience, but it is not compulsory.

U is for Unreal

Monday, February 27^th, 7-8:30 PM

For February’s meeting, we will focus on the method and madness of magical realism.

Recommended media:

• Gabriel Garcia Màrquez’s “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” (June 1968);
• Regina Spektor’s “Ghost of Corporate Future,” from her album Soviet Kitsch (2004).

Homework: Dispense invaluable advice to an ordinary person, perhaps your younger self, using a fantastic or mythological figure as your mouthpiece.

V is for Vengeance

Monday, March 27^th, 7-8:30 PM

For March’s meeting, we will explore the theme of vengeance—its allure and its aftermath.

Recommended media:

• Shirley Jackson’s “The Possibility of Evil” (1965) collected in Just an Ordinary Day and Dark Tales;
• Ben Cooper’s “Black Eyes,” from his album The Family Tree: the Roots (2011; content warning: the fictional situation recounted in this song features threats of domestic abuse).

Homework: Think back to a time when you were treated unjustly. Visit poetic vengeance upon the perpetrator in a fictional scenario.

W is for Wonders

Monday, April 24^th, 7-8:30 PM

For April’s meeting, we will work on the theme of wonders: structures whose outsized impression upon the landscape or the imagination leave us in awe.

Recommended media:

• “Ozymandias” by Percy Bysshe Shelley;
• “It stills the ocean with its might,” the poetic description of Mt. Huaguo towards the end of the first chapter of Journey to the West.

Homework: Imagine a structure of quintessential historical or cultural significance—like Mecca or the Great Wall of China. Pretend it disappears or transports to a new location overnight. Describe the reaction of the people whose lives are transformed by this mysterious event.

X is for Xenia

Monday, May 29^th, 7-8:30 PM

For May’s meeting, we will consider the ramifications of xenia, the ancient world’s ethic of hospitality.

Recommended media:

• Genesis 19: 1-29 (content warning: this passage mentions sexual exploitation);
• Ovid’s Metamorphoses VIII: 616-724 (Baucis and Philemon).

Homework: Recall a time when you were made to feel at home away from home. Imagine a fitting reward is given to a fictionalized version of your host by an obscure deity come in the guise of a stranger.

About the facilitator

Etienne Domingue’s Religion and Psychology degrees sleep at the bottom of a cluttered drawer in his small Gatineau office. In the last few years, he has shamelessly loaned his brain to universities, non-profits, and the pharmaceutical industry. Though he cannot divulge much of his work with the federal public service, he regrets that it does not involve more trade negotiations with the empire of one-eyed, purpled-skinned giants whose embassy is hidden behind the Rideau Street A&W.

Special Workshops

On Structure: A Special Workshop with Rebecca Welton

Saturday, March 11th, 1:30-3:30 PM

Join us for a look at why structure can be so important, and explore some of the different options that are available for writers these days

For more information on WHWN workshops, visit our Facebook page.

DONATIONS

Can we boldly point out that BULLA accepts donations through Bishop’s Advancement Office?

The easiest way to donate to BULLA is through our Advancement Office’s online form.

For the “designation” you can simply choose “Other” and type in: BULLA.

If you prefer cheques, they can be mailed to the Advancement Office and made it out to “Bishop’s University Foundation” and note that it’s for BULLA.

Here is the address:
University Advancement Office
2600 College St.
Sherbrooke, QC J1M 1Z7

BISHOP’S UNIVERSITY LIFELONG LEARNING ACADEMY’S MISSION STATEMENT

To foster a lifelong learning community by offering organized, stimulating discussion groups on a range of topics that matter to adults, including: history, politics, literature, philosophy, fine arts, theatre, and information technology.

To promote lifelong learning and thoughtful exchange among English-speaking adults in the Eastern Townships/Estrie region and beyond.

To provide instruction and resources for daily fulfillment, focusing on mental, social, and physical health and wellness.

To encourage and support francophone adults participating in these activities.