January 24, 2009

good news things

There's been a bit of good news coming my way lately, which is always nice, but particularly nice in the deep dark of winter cold.

I've been invited to two upcoming writers festivals, both of which I'm thrilled about, and at one of them I've been asked to take on the additional role of leading a creative writing workshop for 15- to 17-year-olds. Very exciting and potentially nerve-wracking! I went to the site and noticed the participants signing up can rate their choice of workshop leaders in order, so if I happen to be last on everyone's list, at least maybe I'll have the slightly-less-intimidating advantage of a smaller group. Or maybe not...I'm not sure how many teens the festival attracts to the workshops in general.

Two of the three stories I had published in journals last year are being put forward to various award competitions that I don't have any expectation of winning --- but it's a very nice vote of confidence from the journals to nominate them and it makes me feel warm and fuzzy and like a maybe-okay writer, which is the best one can hope for most days.

The current issue of the McGill Reporter has a profile on me here.

4 comments:

Jonathan Ball said...

dandelion has nominated you for the Journey Prize.... I forgot to tell them not to, since I presume you can't win it again. So I don't know if that's something you've heard, but that's happened also.

saleema said...

I had heard! I assumed they knew I won and that it isn't a problem for them. It's true that I can't see it being awarded twice to the same person, but since the prize is judged blind, it's (theoretically, anyway) still a possibility.

Jonathan Ball said...

the rules regarding eligibility are very vague and don't make any clear statements who is actually an "writer at the beginning of her/his career" and therefore eligible, but what is likely is that the administrative staff at the prize will pull your story and not send it out to the judges. although people have been nominated in the past in successive years, no one who has won the prize has ever been nominated again... doing so would denigrate the supposed impact of the prize, which is intended as a way to launch a writer from the "beginning" of a career into the "midst" of one.

saleema said...

Well, I really hope they didn't have to spend very much money on putting it forward then...