August 18, 2022

 

Hello!

 

As we write this, we're at the end of a long stretch of hot weather here that makes fall seem a very long way off. But the days are already getting shorter, and before we know it SiWC will be here. Today we've got some staff news for you as well as volunteer opportunities and deadline reminders for our short story writing contest and scholarships. Read on!

 

It's been a busy summer here at SiWC Central. We have a brand new staff member to introduce to you. Kim Harbridge has taken on the role of Admin Assistant for this year's conference, working with Conference Administrator Jen. Kim is a writer and editor of speculative, scary, and otherwise strange fiction. She started attending SiWC in 2014, and is excited to join the conference team for 2022. She is a voracious consumer of horror movies, crime novels, and Kit Kats.

 

Those of you who are attending in person this year will usually be able to find Kim at the reg desk. The rest of the faces many of you have come to know on our staff and board who were with us last year are back again for 2022. 

 

Registration

 

At the time of writing this, in-person packages for SiWC are over 90% sold out, and our fall rush seems to have started a bit early, with several registrations coming in over the last couple of days. If you'd like to attend in person, please don't leave it too long and potentially miss out, as there are very limited spaces left. Registration for the virtual conference will remain open until early October unless we reach capacity, which is larger for the virtual conference but still capped to allow for a cozy SiWC conference experience. Register for the conference and master classes on our website at https://www.siwc.ca/registration.

 

Volunteer Opportunities

 

This year's hybrid conference comes with the need for a lot of volunteers to help with the in-person, virtual, and hybrid parts of the conference. If you've ever thought about volunteering at SiWC, maybe this is your year! Check out some of the general volunteering info on our Get Involved page - https://www.siwc.ca/conference/get-involved/volunteer-at-siwc/ - and then email our volunteer coordinator Stephanie at volunteers@siwc.ca if you'd like to apply. If you can't be in town for the conference, volunteering for the virtual aspect of SiWC is definitely still possible. We couldn't run SiWC without our amazing team of volunteers.

 

Writing Contest

 

Our annual short story contest is open to submissions. Deadline is September 15. The winner of our Jack Whyte Storyteller Award receives $1000 Canadian and their entry submitted to Pulp Literature for publication, subject to editorial review. Honorable mentions receive $150 and submission to Pulp Literature, subject to editorial review. Our entry fee remains unchanged at $15, and every penny goes to support the contest and our not-for-profit conference. Rules, details, and submission instructions can be found here: https://www.siwc.ca/writing-contest/.

 

Scholarships

 

Also coming up on September 15 is the application deadline for our scholarships. Please apply if you qualify. We strongly encourage you not to self-reject. And if you know someone who might not see this newsletter who might be a good fit for one of our scholarships, please pass this along to them. We have both in-person and virtual scholarships available for young writers, Black writers, Indigenous writers, and writers from any underrepresented group. Details are on the News and Community menu at https://www.siwc.ca

 

If you've already registered for SiWC, keep an eye out for our first attendee newsletter, which should show up in your inbox around the end of the month with information about ride and room share, accessing our virtual conference, and more.

 

More soon!

Kathy

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Surrey International Writers' Conference Society
Suite #544 | 151-10090 152nd St | Surrey BC V3R 8X8 | Canada