Self-Directed Residencies for individual artists in the Leighton Studios
Application DeadlineOctober 29, 2025
Program Dates Apr 06, 2026 - Mar 26, 2027
Arrive Apr 05, 2026
Depart Mar 27, 2027
Program Duration: Minimum 2 weeks, maximum 6 weeks.
Proposed dates must start on a Monday and end on a Friday, with arrival on the Sunday before and departure on the Saturday after.
"What if you spend the rest of your life
chasing love, only find her cowering
in the pit of your stomach?
What then?"
Almost Loved, a poetry collection written by emerging poet, Alberta-based author Rena Joy, will be connecting with readers this October and November.
Almost Loved follows an adoptee from foster care as she searches for love and healing while pushing back on the labels assigned to her. Grappling with subjects of abuse, mental health, and deeply held grief, this collection aims to answer: what does it truly mean to be loved in a world where you're seen as second best?
This debut collection has been described as “real, vulnerable, evocative,” offering a rare glimpse into the adoptee experience and a safe space for readers who may struggle with their mental health.
Almost Loved is available for purchase wherever books are sold. Rena will be connecting with readers in October during Foster Care Awareness Month in Alberta and in November for National Adoption Awareness Month.
Book Signing Dates, 12-4 pm.
October 4, Chapters St. Albert.
October 11, Indigo Sherwood Park.
November 1, Indigo South Edmonton Common.
Poetry Reading - November 27 - Stony Plain Library, 7 pm.
Rena Joy is a 2023 Canada Council for the Arts grant recipient for her poetry work and 2021 Alberta Foundation for the Arts grant recipient for her work for children. She was also the 2024 featured writer with the Edmonton Public Library. She lives in rural Alberta, on the outskirts of Edmonton. For more information about Almost Loved and Rena Joy, visit renajoypoetry.com.
Almost Loved, a poetry collection written by emerging poet, Alberta-based author Rena Joy, will be connecting with readers this October and November.
Almost Loved, a poetry collection written by emerging poet, Alberta-based author Rena Joy, will be connecting with readers this October and November.
Almost Loved, a poetry collection written by emerging poet, Alberta-based author Rena Joy, will be connecting with readers this October and November.
MacEwan University's Monica Miller Memorial Lecture is an annual event celebrating women's voices in literature and creative writing. CKUA listeners around the world know Monica Miller was passionate about music. However, she was just as passionate about literature, particularly works by female authors. The annual Monica Miller Memorial Lecture features a prominent female writer, with the aim of amplifying women's voices in literature.
You’re officially invited to the event your soul didn’t know it needed.
Join us for an inspiring evening of poetry, paint, and powerful stories at RETRO in downtown Camrose as we celebrate local creativity in full bloom.
🖋️ Carmen Lea — launching her raw and radiant poetry memoir
Unshattered: A Journey in Poems from Wreckage to Radiance
💜 Come get your copy signed and meet the author!
Date and Time:
Sunday, June 15, 2025, 10:00 AM-12:00 PM
Venue Name and Address:
9351 118 Ave NW, Edmonton, AB T5G 0N3
Link to Event:
https://www.thecarrot.ca/events-at-the-carrot/2025/06/father's day event-kamishibai-storytelling
Event Cost:
Free event, all ages welcome.
Event Image:
Calling all youth who like to write... just about anything! Registration is open for YouthWrite® Summer Camps in Calgary. YouthWrite is a unique opportunity for kids expand to their writing horizons. Campers will receive instruction from published authors and learn techniques in many forms of communication and storytelling. Instructors will be announced soon.
The Next Generation Indie Book Awards, currently in its nineteenth year, is the largest international awards program for indie authors and independent publishers. The Indie Book Awards is now accepting entries from independent publishers and authors worldwide who have a book written in English and released in 2024, 2025, 2026 or with 2024, 2025, or 2026 copyright date. For the 2026 awards program, the Indie Book Awards offers 80+ categories.
The Next Generation Short Story Awards is a not-for-profit awards program open to authors writing original unpublished short stories (5,000 words or less per story) in English. Brought to you by the Next Generation Indie Book Awards (NGIBA) and Independent Book Publishing Professionals Group (IBPPG), the 2026 Next Generation Short Story Awards offers 30+ categories, and is open to all authors, even first-time authors, in the U.S., Canada or internationally.
Announcing the third year of The Prairie Grindstone Prize — a $50,000 literary award that acknowledges a hardworking, engaged prairie writer.
Nominations for The Prairie Grindstone Prize open on April 1 and will close on May 15 at midnight.
This annual prize, funded by an anonymous donor committee, alternates between the provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan. This year, the prize will be awarded to an Alberta writer. The Prairie Grindstone Prize recognizes prairie writers of fiction, poetry, or creative nonfiction with a cash prize of $50,000 that will enable the writer to focus on their work for a year or more.
This is not a book prize. It is awarded in acknowledgement of an author’s body of work and their contribution to the public’s appreciation for and understanding of Western Canada’s landscape, people, history, and culture.
The writer must have been a resident of the province of Alberta for the past five years, have a minimum of four professionally published books, and be an active member of the local writing community.
Authors may not self nominate and recipients will be selected by a jury of peers.
Full nomination guidelines can be found here: www.prairiegrindstoneprize.ca/nominate Letters of nomination and inquiries can be sent to grindstoneprize@gmail.com
For more information, please contact
Lisa Murphy Lamb, Jury Chair
Jun Lee, Marketing
e: grindstoneprize@gmail.com
www.prairiegrindstoneprize.ca
IG: @prairiegrindstoneprize
FB: Prairie Grindstone Prize
Nominations for The Prairie Grindstone Prize open on April 1 and will close on May 15 at midnight.
Nominations for The Prairie Grindstone Prize open on April 1 and will close on May 15 at midnight.
Nominations for The Prairie Grindstone Prize open on April 1 and will close on May 15 at midnight.
Announcing the third year of The Prairie Grindstone Prize — a $50,000 literary award that acknowledges a hardworking, engaged prairie writer. This annual prize, funded by an anonymous donor committee, alternates between the provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan. This year, the prize will be awarded to an Alberta writer. The Prairie Grindstone Prize recognizes prairie writers of fiction, poetry, or creative nonfiction with a cash prize of $50,000 that will enable the writer to focus on their work for a year or more.
