Two Opportunities for Playwrights

Early Bird Deadline for PlayWorks Ink 2009Fast Approaching!

Register on or before Friday, September 18th and receive $35 off the Full Weekend Package or $10 off any Day Pass.

PlayWorks Ink 2009: Process of Illumination

October 22 – 25, 2009

Downtown Calgary, Glenbow Museum (130 – 9th Avenue S.E.)

Register online: www.theatrealberta.com

Full Weekend Package $220/Day Passes $80–$100

PlayWorks Ink 2009: Process of Illumination—a weekend of workshops, discussions, and readings of fresh, new plays—features special guest and Canadian playwright Colleen Murphy. Among her many successes, Ms. Murphy is the recipient of the Governor General’s Literary Award for Drama, the Enbridge PlayRites Award, and the Canadian Authors Association/Carol Bolt Award for Drama. Renowned for creating work that braves dark questions and kindles meaningful engagement with audiences, Calgary audiences will be familiar with recent productions of her plays The Piper (Downstage) and The December Man (Alberta Theatre Projects).

Ms. Murphy joins PlayWorks Ink this year to lead a workshop in playwriting, deliver her keynote speech, “Confronting Ourselves: Writing Tragedy in a Godless World,” and participate in a panel discussion on the vitality of Canadian theatre—it’s currently inspiring creative methods, the blending of theatrical practices, and the growth of Canadian artistic confidence.


PlayWorks Ink 2009 offers an exciting line-up of workshops for theatre professionals, educators, students, patrons, and all those eager to explore and illuminate the darkened corners of the creative unknown! Instructors feature a pantheon of skilled industry professionals teaching workshops in:


· Playwriting—Colleen Murphy, Jane Heather, Conni Massing, Vicki Stroich

· Performance Creation—Jillian Keiley, Eric Rose

· Improv and Acting skills— Lynda Adams, Dennis Cahill, Cindy Vanden Enden

· Directing—Kevin McKendrick

· Lighting Design—Roger Schultz

· and so much more!


Workshops are limited to 12-16 participants—book now to avoid disappointment! For more information, including the schedule and details of workshops and readings, visit www.theatrealberta.com or call 1-888-422-8160.



PlayWorks Ink: Alberta’s Theatre and Playwriting Conference

Presented by Theatre Alberta and Alberta Playwrights’ Network




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Wilfrid Laurier University


Interactive Script Writing for Film, Theatre and Television


This web-based course will introduce you to the craft of writing scripts for film, television and the theatre.

When you enroll you will be given a password that unlocks the entrance to the first level of writing challenges. Every step along the way you will submit writing assignments for feedback. Your fee purchases a set number of feedback opportunities, and you set the pace for your submissions.

You are free to select from among a variety of pathways and approaches. You might choose to move quickly through the guided steps for an overview, or you might undertake a series of challenges designed to improve competence in a single facet of script writing. You will have six months from your first login to complete the course. Access to the course will be available October 5, 2009; your first login must occur by Novmeber 2, 2009.

Successful completion of each level opens the doorway to the next set of challenges. Returning students receive a password to the level achieved.

This course has been designed by and will be administered by Dr. Leslie O'Dell; feedback will be provided by Dr. O'Dell or by freelance professional writers under her supervision.

Leslie O'Dell is an associate professor of English and theatre at Wilfrid Laurier University, where she teaches acting, directing, play writing, and dramatic literature at the undergraduate and graduate levels and acting for singers for Laurier's Faculty of Music. She received her Honours BA in Drama from Queen's University and her MA and PhD from the Graduate Centre for the Study of Drama at the University of Toronto.

Leslie is a veteran text consultant at the Stratford Shakespearean Festival and has worked with such directors as Richard Monette, Marti Maraden, David William, Richard Rose, Bernard Hopkins, Robin Philips, Michael Langham, Brian Bedford, Douglas Campbell and Joe Dowling.

Please note: you will require a computer and Internet access to participate in this course as it is delivered completely online.

Course Information

Start Date: October 5, 2009
Time: Whenever is best for you!
Where: From the comfort of home (online)
Cost: $123
Instructor: Dr. Leslie O'Dell, Wilfrid Laurier University

This Blog Needs a Devoted Shepherd

The board of Mystery Writers Ink is working hard to bring members lots of cool programming this year, including the usual great lineup of crime and writing speakers as well as our first-ever Master Class for the Mystery Novel, starting after Christmas with Garry Ryan (signup for this is in November, and a completed first draft is a pre-requisite), and an all-new initiative called 'Members Forum'. Watch for news of this at the October meeting.

Sadly, none of the board has leisure to feed this little blog as it yearns to be fed, on a steady diet of writing news, book launches, writing contests and anything else of general interest to members.

If you are a member visiting the blog and bemoaning its lack of new content, this opportunity is waiting for you!

Email your interest to info@mysterywritersink.com

and someone from the board will leap gladly to accept your offer.

With hopes for an exciting 2009-10 season of criminal conspiring for us all,

Jayne Barnard
Treasurer

It's that time again! Time for the CBC Literary Awards:

http://www.radio-canada.ca/prixlitteraires/english/index.shtml

Ready, set, write!

The Literary Awards Team is anxiously awaiting your original and unpublished works (short story, poetry, and creative non-fiction) by November 1, 2009. You could win $60,000 in cash prizes.

Submit online!

Join us on Facebook!

The Awards are Canada's only literary competition celebrating original, unpublished works in both official languages. There are three categories: short story, poetry, and creative non-fiction, with cash prizes totalling $60,000, courtesy of the Canada Council for the Arts, publication in Air Canada's enRoute magazine, and visibility for the winners and their winning entries offered by CBC.

If you've already received this email, please feel free to forward it.

Thank you and we look forward to receiving your submissions!

The Awards Team
Literary_Awards@cbc.ca
1-877-888-6788

(This information line is open from June 1 to December 15.)

Semi-Permanent Change of Venue

Due to overwhelming support by members who voted at the May meeting, the June 11, 2009 meeting and AGM will be held at Owl's Nest Bookstore in Brittania Plaza (Elbow Drive and 49th Avenue SW, Calgary), starting at the usual time of 7 p.m.

Speaker TBA.


Further, the attending members voted overwhelmingly to move to the bookstore for the new Ink year starting in September 2009.

The venue will be reviewed by membership consultation toward the end of the next Ink season (May/June 2010) and a decision made then whether to stay at Owl's Nest or move back to the Old Y.

Meanwhile, the mailing address will continue to be care of the Old y as shown on the website.

How to Decontaminate a Meth Lab

From "Forensic Magazine" :

Homemade laboratories pose dangerous risks not only to those running them, but also to neighbors and the environment. The chemicals involved in meth production are toxic, corrosive, and flammable, creating a high risk of contamination. Further, it is estimated that the production of one pound of meth produces over 5 pounds of toxic waste. As most clandestine “cooks” are amateurs, you can expect a good deal of contamination in a seized lab. Not only will all surfaces be contaminated by the fumes, but much of the toxic waste will have been disposed of in sinks, toilets, bathtubs, and the land surrounding the lab.

For the full article go to

http://www.forensicmag.com/News_Articles.asp?pid=549

April Meeting CHANGE OF VENUE

April speaker: Mike Hare, co-owner of Owl's Nest Bookstore

Topic: The bookseller's role and how authors can work with sellers to make their books fly off the shelves.

Venue: *Different location Owl's Nest Bookstore in Britannia shopping
centre, on 49th Ave SW at Elbow Dr.

There is a parking lot in front of the store and a large overflow lot
in the back. For transit users, the #3 bus stops right outside
Sunterra market. It is a frequent and late-running bus.

Updates of Miscellaneous Interest

Reminder: February 12th at the Old Y, Melanie Little from Freehand Press will be speaking. See the preceding post for details.

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Further to the recent Mystery Press article on the present sorry state of the publishing industry, two things have changed since publication:

1) Book Expo Canada is, as predicted, officially now canceled.

2) The Consumer Product Safety Commission approved a one-year stay of enforcement of the newly added certification and testing requirements for manufacturer and importers of products for children. http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml09/09115.html

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Fun link that will nibble away at your spare time for weeks: Top 100 Creative Writing Blogs
http://www.bestcollegesonline.com/blog/2009/02/05/top-100-creative-writing-blogs/

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Quotable on Mystery Writing:

At least half the mystery novels published violate the law that the solution,
once revealed, must seem to be inevitable.
- Raymond Chandler