FBCW upcoming events

April Writers' Social (14 Apr 2026)

Wed, 15 Apr 2026 02:00:00 GMT

Join us for a Writers' Social on Tuesday, April 14, from 7:00 - 8:15 PM Pacific by registering here and a Zoom link for the event will be emailed to you.

Many of us strive for connection with other writers. This monthly members-only event is designed to help bring us together for casual chats, with Breakout Rooms for specific topics, genres, and niches. Join us for 75 minutes of craft, career, and connection talk, with the chance to meet new people and get the most out of being a part of the FBCW.

Below are the proposed discussion groups for this month's meeting (subject to change). Please email hello@bcwriters.ca if you would like to suggest a discussion topic for an upcoming meeting. See you there!

Discussion Groups:

All about poetry
Editing and revision
Children's books / picture books
What are you reading? Current reads, favourite books
Memoir writers connect
Non-fiction writers connect (travel writing, journalism/reporting, research, etc)
Connecting writers with chronic illnesses
History and Mythology in Fiction
Romance writers
Traditional publishing chat (publishers, queries, finding an agent, etc)
Self-publishing chat
General writing discussion

This event is exclusive to FBCW members. If you’re not a member yet, we would love to have you join us. You can find out more about membership at https://www.bcwriters.ca/benefits.

Digital Doors Open at 6:55 pm, Event Starts at 7:00 PM Pacific

Evening Webinar: Using Setting to Enhance Your Fiction with Eileen Cook (16 Apr 2026)

Fri, 17 Apr 2026 02:00:00 GMT

Using Setting to Enhance Your Fiction

with Eileen Cook

Member Price: $18

Non-Member Price is $28

**This event will be recorded. A link to the recording will be emailed to registrants within a week of the session. The recording will be available for 45 days.

Pick up Eileen's latest book:

HERE

Workshop/Event Description

Setting is often an overlooked tool for writers, but it can be so much more than just an interesting backdrop. This workshop will show how setting can be used to increase conflict, show tone/theme, and clarify characters. Practical examples and prompts will be provided.

Key Takeaways

Setting beyond the backdrop
Setting as a reflection of character and belonging (or lack thereof)
Using setting to increase conflict
Using setting to show a character's development

Intended Audience:

Writers of any skill level

Eileen's Bio:

Eileen Cook is a multi-published award-winning novelist with over a dozen novels in print. She has written middle-grade, young-adult, women’s fiction and non-fiction on the craft of writing. Her most recent novel was The Champagne Letters written under her pen name Kate MacIntosh. Eileen is a popular speaker at conferences and teaches for both Simon Fraser University The Writers Studio and the online community, The Creative Academy for Writers.

April 2026 Member Orientation (17 Apr 2026)

Fri, 17 Apr 2026 16:00:00 GMT

Whether you’re a new FBCW member or a seasoned member who wants a refresher, join us for Member Orientation! We’ll be discussing member benefits, focusing on ways that the FBCW members can: Learn, Write, Connect, and Promote. Find out about the latest events, writing sprints, how to get involved, and where to get the information you seek.

The orientation overview will take about 20 minutes, and then there will be 10 minutes for questions at the end (30 minutes total).

Digital Doors Open at 8:55 AM, Event Starts at 9:00 AM Pacific Time

**This event will be recorded. A link to the recording will be emailed to registrants within a week of the session. The recording will be available for 45 days.

Sunday Webinar: Writing Hi-Lo Books for the Educational Market with Gail Anderson-Dargatz (19 Apr 2026)

Sun, 19 Apr 2026 21:00:00 GMT

Writing Hi-Lo Books for the Educational Market

with Gail Anderson Dargatz

Member Price: $18

Non-Member Price is $28

**This event will be recorded. A link to the recording will be emailed to registrants within a week of the session. The recording will be available for 45 days.

Workshop/Event Description

People think writing for kids is easy, but any writer of children’s or YA fiction will set you straight: writing for kids is hard. Writing hi-lo books for striving readers can be even harder. In this interactive workshop, award-winning novelist Gail Anderson-Dargatz will talk about the craft involved in writing high-interest, low-reading-level (hi-lo) books, and illuminate this vibrant and rewarding market that many writers aren’t aware of.

Intended audience:

Writers of any skill level

Bio:

GAIL ANDERSON-DARGATZ’s internationally bestselling novels The Cure for Death by Lightning and A Recipe for Bees were both short-listed for the Giller Prize. Her thrillers The Almost Wife and The Almost Widow were national bestsellers, and The Almost Widow was shortlisted for the Crime Writers of Canada Howard Engel Award for Best Crime Novel Set in Canada. HarperCollins will release her next novel, The Atlas Keeper, in the fall of 2026. Gail also writes hi-lo books for the educational market. She taught for nearly a decade in the CW MFA program at UBC and now works as a mentor and developmental editor.

For more, visit her website: gailanderson-dargatz.ca

Pick up Gail's latest book

Here

Digital doors open at 1:55 pm, event starts at 2:00 pm

Evening Webinar: Publishing Etiquette in the Literary World with Jennifer Landels (23 Apr 2026)

Fri, 24 Apr 2026 02:00:00 GMT

Publishing Etiquette in the Literary World

with Jennifer Landels

Member Price: $18

Non-Member Price is $28

**This event will be recorded. A link to the recording will be emailed to registrants within a week of the session. The recording will be available for 45 days.

Workshop/Event Description

There are hundreds of individual interactions authors and their manuscripts have to make as they climb the ladders of the literary world. Each time you send an email, respond to an edit, create a post, or meet an agent you’re leaving an impression. Find out how you can make it a good one.

We’ll cover dos and don’ts in the areas of
• Schmoozing vs stalking: how to approach your literary heroes.
• Queries, manuscripts, cover letters, synopses: when, why, and how?
• Submissions: how to avoid angering editors.
• Rights: when can you use that story again?
• Grace under pressure: dealing with rejection, bad reviews, or edits you don’t like.
• Shaking the hand that feeds you: ways you can thank the people that put you where you are now.
Bring your etiquette questions and polish your publishing manners to become the writer everyone wants to work with.

Intended Audience:

Writers of any skill level

Bio:

Jennifer Landels (she/they) is the Managing Editor of Pulp Literature Press. She holds a BA in Mediaeval English Literature from UBC and may some day return to her doctorate in Arthurian Romance at University College London. She has been a freelance editor since 2002, and co-founded Pulp Literature Press in 2013. Jennifer is a frequent lecturer, blue penciller, keynote speaker, and workshop facilitator at writing events locally and abroad, and has travelled to France, Germany, the UK, and the US to speak and teach at conferences. As JM Landels she writes fantasy and historical fiction, including the bestselling Allaigna’s Song trilogy. In addition to her literary activities she also teaches swordplay from horseback with Academie Cavallo at Cornwall Ridge Farm in Langley BC.

Sunday Webinar: Direct Sales at Markets and Cons with Kirsten Poll-Mah (26 Apr 2026)

Sun, 26 Apr 2026 21:00:00 GMT

Direct Sales at Markets and Cons

with Kirsten Poll-Mah

Member Price: $18

Non-Member Price is $28

**This event will be recorded. A link to the recording will be emailed to registrants within a week of the session. The recording will be available for 45 days.

Workshop/Event Description

Stop missing 86% of your audience! Join us to master the "Indie Advantage." Learn to build a boutique market presence, collaborate with fellow authors, and turn physical browsers into lifelong superfans. Sell direct, beautifully.

Intended audience:

Writers of any skill level

Bio:

Kirsten Poll-Mah, writing as Keay Francis, is the author of the swoon-worthy contemporary Port Russell Romance series. After years spent trying to educate young minds, she now writes feel-good romance novels—a career switch she made because, as she jokes, it’s much easier to get her characters to do what she wants.
A rehabilitated prairie girl, Keay wisely traded the snow and cold for the rain and evergreen of the west coast two decades ago. She celebrates the natural beauty of her adopted home, British Columbia, by setting her small-town romances in the province. Keay lives near Vancouver with her three talented kids and two very demanding Schnauzers, Twix and Hazel.

For more, visit her website: www.keayfrancis.com/

Instagram: www.instagram.com/keayfrancisauthor/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/keayfrancisauthor/

Pick up Kirsten's latest book

Here

Digital doors open at 1:55 pm, event starts at 2:00 pm

Memoir Writing Intensive: Avoiding the Potholes of Memory Lane (11 May 2026)

Mon, 11 May 2026 16:00:00 GMT

Join us for five days of online learning from May 11 to 15, 2026.

ABOUT

Memoir Writing Intensive: Avoiding the Potholes of Memory Lane is a week for writers looking to shape lived experience into meaningful story, with sessions exploring big-picture memoir ideas such as:

finding the right slice of a life;

identifying the hook or angle;

creating structure;

writing for legacy as well as publication;

using interviews and memory as tools for excavation;

connecting to your readers through personal narrative;

and navigating ethics, consent, and the many truths that memoir must hold.

The week of learning, activities, and connection will include at least 7 hour-long sessions.

Presentations will be recorded and available to registrants for 45 days after the intensive. Socials and writing sprints will not be recorded.

EVENT SCHEDULE OVERVIEW

All times are in Pacific (Vancouver) time

11:00 am Workshop sessions

2:00 pm Workshop sessions or socials

DETAILED SCHEDULE

Full Schedule Available April 10th.

ZOOM LINK

The Zoom link will be included in your registration confirmation and in follow-up reminders.

We will be using the same zoom link for the duration of the event.

Please watch your email for a confirmation of registration email.

If you do not receive your confirmation within 24 hours of registration, please check your spam folders.

Contact us at hello@bcwriters.ca if you have not received your confirmation by Thursday, May 7th to ensure we can get you the needed information.

RECORDINGS

Sessions (except social/discussion-based events) will be recorded and made available for 45 days after the last session.

WHAT TO EXPECT

Sessions will be a combination of talks, activities, and workshops.

The FBCW's statement of participant expectations applies in all settings. Please help us make this intensive a fun, safe experience for our presenters and community members by being respectful and considerate in your participation.

Most sessions will be 1 hour in length. Q&A may extend the session, but participants are not required to stay.

Participants are encouraged to have a pen and paper handy for all sessions.

RATES

FBCW MEMBERS: $69.5
GUEST: $89
SCHOLARSHIP: Limited scholarship-based discounts are available for those experiencing financial difficulties. Please email us at hello@bcwriters.ca to inquire.

POLICIES

RECORDINGS

Our presenters are provided with contracts that stipulate the length of time that recordings are available. We are obligated to respect these contracts. No extensions are possible.

Reach out if you have any tech challenges related to access of the recordings by February 18th so that we can help you in the timeframe available.

REFUND POLICY

Full refunds will be issued up to April 30^th at 11:59pm.

Refunds for half of registration fees will be be issued until May 9^th 11:59pm.

No refunds are possible after May 9^th at 11:59pm except in the case of severe illness, death, or other urgent situations determined on a case-by-case basis.

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

We are an organization that cherishes the work of writers and artists. To that end, we ask that all participants respect the intellectual property of our presenters, recordings, and material shared. Do not reproduce or distribute Writing Intensive materials without written permission.

Similarly, if other participants share information or excerpts from their projects, please respect their intellectual property.

LIABILITY

In registering, participants understand and agree that the Federation of BC Writers (FBCW), its board, staff, presenters, and members are not liable for any damages or losses arising and waive any of the above from any and all liability.

The FBCW provides a space for presenters to share their experiences and insights with participants. The writing industry is a complex and ever-changing environment. As such, the FBCW does not endorse any specific information shared in our programming as being complete or accurate in all scenarios. Participants have a responsibility to research and make informed decisions on any information given or implied.

Difficult and triggering topics can arise as part of artistic practices that are unforeseeable for staff, volunteers, and other participants. The FBCW is not liable for any damages or harms caused by participating in our programming.

PARTICIPANT EXPECTATIONS

The FBCW is an organisation that celebrates diversity and inclusion and that taking part in the program means that participants are expected to be respectful, inclusive, and support the dignity of all people regardless of age, sex, gender, sexual orientation, ancestry, language, ability, nationality, ability, health status, religion, and socioeconomic status. All people have identities that intersect the categories above. Examples of behaviour that undermine the above are: crude jokes, unwanted communication, statements minimising others’ experiences/histories, and threats.

Participants are expected to arrive a few minutes before sessions start. This allows for any technical issues to be resolved without the group being disrupted.

If a participant is late, we ask that they refrain from asking “what did I miss” type questions so that the event can proceed smoothly. Staff and facilitators will do the best they can to assist if vital information has been shared, but the recording should be able to resolve any questions of this nature.

We ask that participants be mindful of the amount of time they speak at events. All participants should have the ability to join in. Participants are expected to keep comments on topic and under a minute so that as many people as possible can participate.

Participants understand that if they are muted, it is not an intentional slight to them, but is needed to keep the session moving forward. Participants can be muted at the discretion of the FBCW facilitators.

Difficult topics can arise participants understand that we cannot always know or understand other people’s histories. To help make the space as welcoming and safe as possible, if a participant’s is to share information or read excerpts from works that contain certain themes (outlined below), they will identify this prior to reading it to the group. (e.g. sexual assault, extreme violence, self-harm/eating disorders/suicide ideation, abortion/miscarriage, mental illness, graphic adult content).

Participants are expected to understand, be sensitive to, and respect the fact that the work of writers, and their opportunity to read their work may be triggering and/or therapeutic to them. Artistic works require vulnerability and the safety to be vulnerable, especially with sensitive topics. Participants agree to do their best to maintain a safe and supportive space for the sharing of the work, regardless of its nature.

ACCOMMODATIONS AND ACCESSIBILITY

The Federation of BC Writers strives to make our events accessible to folks across ability and neurodivergence. We will do what we can to make our programming available to all people.

Our programming is based on zoom which means there are some limitations on what can be accomplished, but also advantages such as closed captioning and the ability to join from anywhere.

Accommodations are assessed on a case-by-case basis.

Accommodations that would significantly hinder the ability of other participants to be involved or participate are not possible.

Some accommodations may be beyond our financial and administrative capabilities. In such cases, we will seek funding or alternatives if possible.

Sessions normally last for an hour. Participants are welcome to step way from their computers if they need to while turning off their camera and microphone, but we will not be able to fill people in on what they missed. Participants are asked to return to the recording in such instances.

Evening Webinar: Setting our Stories in Canada with Erik D'Souza (2 Jun 2026)

Wed, 03 Jun 2026 02:00:00 GMT

Setting our Stories in Canada

with Erik D'Souza

Member Price: $18

Non-Member Price is $28

**This event will be recorded. A link to the recording will be emailed to registrants within a week of the session. The recording will be available for 45 days.

Workshop/Event Description

Should you set your stories in Canada? It depends on your writing goals. If you want to hit the NY Times Best Sellers list or sell 1000s of books on Amazon, could a Canadian setting hold you back?
Erik interviewed top BC authors, including Sam Wiebe and Robyn Harding, and will share their insights.

Key Takeaways

Whether Canadian‑set books sell to American audiences
Publishers' openness to Canadian settings
The pros and cons of self-published authors using Canadian settings

Intended Audience:

Writers of any skill level

Bio:

Erik D'Souza is an author, publisher, and podcaster residing in Port Moody. His writing portfolio is diverse, encompassing mystery novels, creative non-fiction, and anthologies. He is currently working on "The Suzanne Rickson Mystery Series," set on the Sunshine Coast of BC, featuring a charming and resourceful senior sleuth.

In addition to his writing, Erik serves as the Marketing and Communications Manager for Crime Writers of Canada and hosts their popular podcast (Crime Writers of Canada Podcast). He is the President of the Tri-City Wordsmiths, a local writing group that organizes an annual Literary festival, and he hosts the popular reading series "Writers in Our Midst" at the Port Moody Library.