WINNIPEG, MB - August 20, 2012 - Joan Thomas has been selected as the Winnipeg Public Library’s Writer-in-Residence for 2012 - 2013. Starting on Monday, October 1, 2012 and ending in April 2013, Joan will work with the public through individual consultations and workshops, in addition to allocating time to her own writing.
“A writer’s apprenticeship is long and solitary. I see my role as accompanying writers for a stretch, asking the questions that will help them find direction for the next stage of the journey.” Thomas said.
Joan Thomas studied at the University of Winnipeg and taught high school English. She has worked as a freelance writer, reviewer, and editor, and as a literary mentor at the Banff Centre for the Arts. Her first novel, Reading by Lightning, won the Commonwealth Writers Prize for Best First Book and was selected as the featured title for the Manitoba-wide reading initiative “On The Same Page” in 2009. Her second novel, Curiosity, was named a Quill & Quire Book of the Year. She lives in Winnipeg.
Established in 1985, the Library’s Writer-in-Residence program is designed to give new, emerging, and established writers a chance to have their manuscripts read and critiqued.
Copies of manuscripts may be dropped off at any Winnipeg Public Library branch or emailed to wpl.writerinres@gmail.com. Manuscripts may also be mailed to:
Millennium Library
Attention: Writer-in-Residence - Reader Services
251 Donald Street
Winnipeg, Manitoba
R3C 3P5
Writers should include a cover letter containing a brief description of their writing background and the specific feedback they would like, as well as all contact information including an email address. Manuscripts will be accepted beginning Monday, October 1, 2012. The Writer-in-Residence service is free.
Manuscripts must follow strict submission guidelines:
- Typed in 12-point font (prose: double-spaced, poetry: single-spaced) on one side of the page only. Prose submissions should not exceed 15 pages and poetry submissions should not exceed six poems.
The Writer-in-Residence program is co-sponsored by the Winnipeg Public Library Board, the Government of Manitoba, Friends of the Winnipeg Public Library, and the Manitoba Writers’ Guild.