creative nonfiction – Creative Nonfiction Collective

How winning the 2015 CNFC contest changed me

February 12, 2024

Contests, Guest Blog Posts, How to Be a Happy Writer, Members, Members Blog, Publishing, winners

Kirsten Fogg is a bilingual Australian-Canadian journalist, editor and award-winning essayist who has been shaped by living in four countries and by the suicide of her 16-year-old brother. Her essays have been published in journals including Creative Nonfiction and The Malahat Review and adapted by ABC Radio National Australia. Her journalism has appeared in various world media. She has an MFA in Creative Nonfiction (2022). Sign up to her newsletter here: Writer out of Residence and connect with her on…

Interview with Beth Kaplan

January 31, 2024

Guest Blog Posts, Interviews, Members, Members Blog, Publishing

Christopher Moore and Beth Kaplan have both served on the CNFC board and the conference committee. With the release of Beth’s new book Midlife Solo, a memoir-in-essays, they felt the membership might be interested in their conversation about the nuts and bolts of putting together an essay compilation. __ Christopher Moore: Beth Kaplan has taught nonfiction writing at two Toronto universities for decades and is the author of three previous memoirs as well as a number of other works. All…

Interview with 2024 CNFC Contest Judge, Lisa Bird-Wilson

January 9, 2024

Contests, Craft, General, Guest Blog Posts, Interviews, Members, Members Blog, Publishing

Interview with 2024 CNFC Contest Judge, Lisa Bird-Wilson Volunteer Margaret Lynch interviews 2024 CNFC/HLR Contest Judge, Lisa Bird-Wilson who shares her thoughts on writing, reading, and what she’s looking for in contest submissions. Lisa Bird-Wilson is a Saskatchewan Métis and Cree writer whose work appears in literary magazines, newspapers, and anthologies across Canada. Her most recent book, Probably Ruby (2021), is published internationally and was shortlisted for the Governor General’s Literary Award for Fiction, for the Amazon First Novel Award,…

Not Just Mine To Tell

September 21, 2023

Guest Blog Posts, Members Blog

Mary Fairhurst Breen is the author of the memoir Any Kind of Luck at All and the children’s books Pride and Persistence: Stories of Queer Activism and Awesome Andie’s Best of the Block. As a queer feminist author, writing is Mary’s current form of activism after decades spent working for social change and protesting for equal rights. She lives in Toronto. __ In 2021 I published a memoir, after years of revisions necessitated by both life events and intense consultations with interested parties. The people whose…

2023 Contest Shortlist

May 2, 2023

Contests, Craft, General, Members, Publishing

Congratulations to the five writers who’ve made the CNFC-HLR nonfiction contest shortlist! Our judge, Donna Morrissey, had some tough choices to make. According to her, the finalist selection process was difficult because the calibre of writing in each of the longlisted pieces was quite high. 2023 CNFC-HLR nonfiction contest shortlist: Anita Allen – “Funhouse” Raymond Gariepy – “The Unborn and Born Dead are Yet Among Us” Rayyan Kamal – “Departure Lounge” Dhana Musil – “By Association” Laura Ollerenshaw –…

How to Write About Trauma in Memoir

April 6, 2023

Craft, Guest Blog Posts, Members Blog, Resources

Brittany Foster is a freelance writer and editor living in Halifax, Nova Scotia. She holds a Graduate Certificate in Publishing from Toronto Metropolitan University and is a student in the MFA in Creative Nonfiction program at the University of King’s College. She’s also writing her first book — a memoir titled You, Me, and the Tree. You’ll find her writing or editing bylines in a wide variety of publications, including a short story anthology, a Canadian historical fiction trilogy, the…