The conference, which is a collaboration between NIC and the Comox Valley Writers Society, is usually held over a weekend in January at NIC’s Comox Valley campus. The 2021 conference will be held virtually via Zoom and will run through most of January.
“We’re very excited for this new format for our 2021 conference,” said Joline Martin, chair of the NIWC. “Going virtual has allowed for more flexibility in scheduling and allows us to increase access for writers in our region and beyond.”
The conference will kick off Friday, January 8 with guest speaker Jennifer Manuel, an award-winning author and teacher speaking on The Craft of Writing.
The first workshops run Saturday, January 9 and continue throughout the month until January 29. Topics of the workshops include how to inject life into fiction and non-fiction, how to transform your page with deep revisions and how to work through writer’s block.
The scheduling of the workshops has also been updated this year to ensure there is no overlap. Each workshop has been broken into manageable Zoom segments and assigned its own timeslot.
“We heard from previous attendees that having multiple workshops running at once was a challenge,” said Martin. “This new, extended format allowed us to give each workshop its own day and time so participants didn’t have to choose between workshops.”
Registration for the conference is open now.
Visit https://cvwriterssociety.ca/conference for full details of the workshops and presenters.
Conference Schedule
Opening Night - Friday, January 8, 7 – 8:30 pm
Welcome from CV Writers Society, NIC & Federation of BC Writers
Guest speaker: Jennifer Manuel, award-winning author and teacher
Open to public: Free but must register online
Weekend 3-hr Workshops
9 am – 12 pm | Cost: $30 / workshop
Jan 9 - 10
Scenes: Inject Life into Fiction & Nonfiction Jeanette Taylor
Jan 16 - 17
The Lyric Essay: Creative Nonfiction’s Outlier Judy LeBlanc
Jan 23 - 24
Finding the Write Word Rachel McMillen
Weekly 5-hr Workshops
11 am - 12 pm | Cost: $50 / workshop
Jan 11 - 15 (Monday – Friday)
Reimagine the Page: Transform Your Page with Deep Revisions Jennifer Manuel
Jan 18 - 22
Defying Writer’s Block for Poets Lynne Knight
Jan 25 - 29
Building the House of Fiction: Fundamentals of Craft Judy LeBlanc
