Naturally we wish to give our members a bit advance notice on upcoming events, but maybe you’re free tomorrow afternoon to attend the FREE Jump Start Your Art/Grants & Loans workshop offered by Youth Employment Services (YES Montreal). It’s the last session of 2009. The workshop is open to everyone, not just the yout’s.
Here’s the description.
Are you an artist seeking to make a living from your creativity and talent? Regardless of your artistic discipline, YES has the services and resources to help you succeed. This session will outline the support services available to artists through YES, and will touch upon key topics to consider for those embarking on a career in the arts, including: company registration/incorporation, GST/ QST, income taxes, professional status & associations, networking, grant writing and funding options available to artists. Thursday December 3, 2009. 2:00 PM – 4:00 PM. Cost: FREE. For more information, or to register, please call 514-878-9788. **If it is your first time visiting YES, please arrive at least 15 minutes before the workshop.
As part of the Westmount Y Centre’s Free Public Lecture Series, the Centre is pleased to present an evening of humour with local author Mr. David Reich. For anyone curious about his talk, Alternative Strategies for Coping with the World: Crying or Laughing, Mr. Reich offers the following caveat:
“To those foolhardy enough to share an evening with me… I propose advanced humour in dealing with politics, economics, global warming, terrorism and parking tickets.”
Mr. Reich admits that his first 82 years have been the hardest, but now looks forward to happily sharing his secrets with anyone ready to waste an evening. You won’t have to turn off your cell phone and there will be no free will collection; bring your own wine. Anyone not enjoying the fun is free to leave at any time. Come early for the best seats or arrive late to be near the exits.
The Where & When
Wednesday, December 2nd, 2009, 7-9pm
Westmount Y Centre, 4585 Sherbrooke St. W., Westmount
Admission is free but donations are welcome
For more information, please contact Tracy Kamel (514 931-6770 X248)
That’s the idea put forth by journalism teacher, blogger, and author Jeff Jarvis. The old world order (that the news is controlled by media corporations) is crumbling away and a new one will grow in its place – a world in which every John or Jane Doe with a computer can churn out news.
Sounds like he’s got a point, considering the plight of newspapers (most recently La Presse), the pleas from television networks and the closures of local television stations. Then there’s the blogosphere, where the Jane and John Does of the world punch out their opinions via their keyboards. Jarvis believes that journalism students should write their own news, essentially creating their own media companies.
His point is that it’s time to re-think the journalist’s place in the news room. Instead of moaning and groaning about newspapers (corporations) losing money, journalists have an opportunity to create their own media empires.
There are a lot of ideas covered in Jarvis’s post on his own blog. Just read it.
PWAC member Marijke Vroomen-Durning and her business parter Gayla Baer have launched two new blogging networks, GadaboutMedia.com and GadaboutHealth.com. The networks aim to simplify blogging for both content creators (the bloggers) and the consumers (the readers). Readers have a wealth of topics to choose from on Gadabout Media: book reviews, entertainment news, parenting, pets, beauty, gardening, and much more, and all of it in a format for the everyday Internet user. GadaboutHealth.com similarly targets all aspects of health and wellness and offers jargon-free content written by real people with real experiences.
Bloggers in the network gain the advantage of strength in numbers. As Vroomen-Durning explains, “Calling the network a cooperative network is a way to draw attention to how each blogger contributes to its success. Writers want to feel that they have some control over their work and, in our mind, this is the best way to give them that control.”
Rumor has it that Vroomen-Durning and Baer are looking for more bloggers. You might want to contact them. Click here for the official press release.
The Quebec Writing Competition is well underway. Don’t panic, there’s lots of time to submit your stories and creative non-fiction; the deadline is May 1, 2010. The word limit is 1200.
The prizes are:
Three prizes of $1000
Radio broadcast on CBC Radio One’s Cinq à Six
Publication (of course) in Maisonneuve and an anthology by Véhicule Press
Check out the above link for full contest details! Get typing!
The PWAC Board of Directors have named Sandy Crawley as the new Executive Director! A former member of the PWAC Board of Directors, Mr. Crawley has worn a number of hats in various cultural organizations such as the Professional Association of Canadian Theatres, the Canadian Screen Training Centre, and the Documentary Organization of Canada.
Freelance journalist Nicolas Ritoux generously shares insights and tips on surviving life as a freelancer. He has compiled a 12-step program to help freelancers feel less insecure about themselves so they can push themselves to “published heaven” (my words, not his). His site, http://www.freelancersanonymous.com/ offers a free 16-page pdf for download, and is also available in French. He’d like to translate it into Italian as well, so if you can speak la lingua, let him know. Ciao, bella.
Book Drum is a UK-based online forum for bibliophiles who want to enrich the reading experience of their favourite books for readers of the world. Contributors create detailed profiles of their cherished volumes which include maps, images, music or video files that can bring the context of the book’s inner world to life. Watch archival footage of Pamplona’s festival bulls running through the streets while reading Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises. Map Holden Caufield’s walkabout through New York City. You get the idea.
Book Drum is holding a tournament to celebrate the site’s launch and find writers to contribute to the site. The contest is open to anyone in the English-speaking world, and the first prize is £1,000 and work contracts for the best entries. Sample profiles are available so contestants know what Book Drum is looking for. The deadline to enter is January 31, 2010.
For those of you who missed our web design workshop last night, presenter Ara Pehlivanian has graciously uploaded his Power Point slide show onto SlideShare.net
The winners of the 11th Annual QWF Awards will be announced TONIGHT: Tuesday, November 17.
English Montreal’s biggest literary party starts at 7:00, and announces the winners at 8 pm.
The venue is the Lion d’Or, 1676 Rue Ontario Est, Papineau metro.
Tickets are $15 ($10 for students) and can be purchased at Argo, Babar en ville, Bibliophile, Clio, Paragraphe, and The Word bookstores as well as the QWF office.
