Write! Canada 2009 reflects on the past, looks to the future of writing and publishing by Canadian writers who are Christian.
TORONTO—It’s a great time to be a writer; even in the midst of on-going turmoil and dramatic change in the multi-faceted publishing industry. That was the message delivered to 224 writers, editors and publishing industry insiders from across Canada and the United States who gathered in Guelph, Ontario, last week for Write! Canada 2009.
The three-day conference, designed to train and equip Canadian writers and editors who are Christian, was held June 18 to 20 at the Guelph Bible Conference Centre. Organized by The Word Guild, an association of Canadian writers and editors who are Christian, the annual event is the largest of its kind in Canada, and features plenary sessions, workshops and continuing classes that cover virtually every aspect of the writing, marketing and publishing process. This year’s conference included special celebrations with cake, ice cream and a festive atmosphere to mark the 25th anniversary of the event. Seven current and previous conference directors attended, along with six winners of the Leslie K. Tarr award, which honours lifetime career achievement in writing.
Twenty-five years ago, the Christian publishing industry in Canada was far different from what it is today, according to Brian Stiller, chancellor of Tyndale University College and Seminary, and the man who first envisioned the conference. “Everything came from the States,” he remembers. “I didn’t have enough writers to fill the pages of Faith Today magazine. And so I thought, ‘let’s do [a conference] to see whether we can interest people in writing.’”
Three generations of writers have now benefited from the teaching and networking opportunities the conference offers. This year, 158 women and 66 men, ranging in age from teens into the 80s, attended. They came from eight Canadian provinces and five American states. The plenary speakers were Stiller, former conference director Audrey Dorsch and author and columnist Ray Wiseman. Each encouraged listeners to write with excellence to the glory of God.
“The nice thing about this conference is it nurtures writers who are in a unique niche— Christians,” says Toronto Sun columnist Marianne Meed Ward, a faculty member at the event. “There’s a lot of interest in the mainstream community for spiritual, religious writing and this conference helps give people the tools to jump from a church paper, for example, to a mainstream audience and thus to broaden their reach.”
“I was here at the writers’ conference about 20 years ago,” says Sandra Smith, a writer from Laval, Quebec. “At that time, people came because they wanted to improve their church newsletters. Now the emphasis is really on book publishing, marketing, Canadian writing. So it’s wonderful to see the progress we have made as a Canadian group.”
A special Thursday evening symposium included a 12-member panel representing various aspects of the industry. Each panelist addressed—in only four minutes—the future of publishing. Among their predictions: as readers’ attention spans get shorter there will be a renewal of the short story market; e-books will be the biggest growth area of publishing; technology will make it easier to write and get published than ever before, but harder to get paid for it; and whereas writers once had to compete for money, increasingly, they will have to compete for attention.
“It’s been a huge learning experience,” says Toronto poet Avi Dhaliwal. “I don’t think I would have ever gotten such learning in any other place in such a concentrated manner.”
“It’s like a three-day crash course that always provides new tips to pick up, new people to meet, new markets to explore and new things to learn,” says journalist and conference co-director Wendy Elaine Nelles.
“The writing life is like a maze,” adds author, speaker and conference co-director N. J. Lindquist. “And when you come to writers’ conferences, you meet other people who may have gone a little further in that maze who can help you.”
Next year’s conference dates are June 17-19.
Get this press release in a downloadable word document.
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