Dear all,

Please find following & attached a Press Release concerning the announcement of our 2012-2013 Writer-in-Residence at the Pictou-Antigonish Regional Library - Ms. Donna Morrissey.

New Writer-in-Residence at the Library!

Pictou-Antigonish Regional Library welcomes Donna Morrissey, as our 2012-2013 Writer-in-Residence.

The Pictou-Antigonish Regional Library is pleased to announce our 9th Writer-in-Residence at the Library, Donna Morrissey.  Donna is an award winning novelist, screen-writer and writing mentor. Ms. Morrissey will be our Writer-in-Residence @ the library from September 2012 until February 2013. The Pictou-Antigonish Regional Library and our patrons, gratefully acknowledge the financial support of the Writer-in-Residence @ the Library program through funding by the Canada Council for the Arts - Author Residencies program and the Pictou-Antigonish Regional Library Board. 

To welcome Donna, and to launch the Writer-in-Residency program, two special Meet & Greet/author reading evenings will be held -

• Tuesday, September 11 , 7:00 pm at the Antigonish Town & County Public Library,
• Thursday, September 20, 7:00 pm at the Pictou Public Library.

All are welcome to drop by and join us. Light refreshments will be served.

Three additional author readings with Ms. Morrissey are scheduled for September 27 (7:00 pm) at the New Glasgow Public Library, November 22 (6:30 pm) at the Stellarton Public Library, and December 13 (6:30 pm) at the River John Public Library. All are welcome to drop by.

Starting in October and continuing until February, a series of four writing workshops with the Writer-in-Residence will begin at various PARL libraries on Revealing Character through Setting, Sentence Structure: Rhythm in Language, Writing Effective Dialogue, and Finding Voice. For more information and to register (as space is limited to just 12 participants per workshop), please contact your local public library, or visit the library website, www.parl.ns.ca.

In addition, local writers who would be interested in having their work reviewed by the Writer-in-Residence at the library are asked to contact Steve MacLean (Programming Department), at Regional Library Headquarters for details and to arrange an appointment (755-6031/toll-free 1-866-779-7761).

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For more information about the Pictou-Antigonish Regional Library’s Writer-in-Residence program, or to arrange an interview with Ms. Morrissey as our Writer-in-Residence @ the library - please contact Trecia Schell (Community Services Librarian) or Steve MacLean (Community Outreach Assistant), Regional Library Headquarters, Pictou-Antigonish Regional Library (755-6031/toll-free 1-866-779-7761) or visit us online at www.parl.ns.ca.  

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About the Author

Donna Morrissey is the award-winning author of Kit’s Law, Downhill Chance, What They Wanted, and Sylvanus Now, which was shortlisted for the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize. She recently wrote a children’s book, Cross Katie Kross, illustrated by her daughter, Bridget.

This fall, her newest book, The Deception of Livvy Higgs (Penguin Canada) will be released in September 2012 (and early sneak previews have received much positive acclaim!).

Morrissey grew up in The Beaches, a small fishing outport in Newfoundland and now lives in Halifax. She studied at Memorial University in St. John's and lived in various parts of Canada before settling down in Halifax, where she now lives.

Donna Morrissey's best selling, award winning novel, Kit's Law, has been translated into Japanese, German and Dutch. Her two screenplays have won the Atlantic Film Scriptwriting Competition two years in succession, with one of her scripts, Clothesline Patch, filmed and aired on CBC. Clothesline Patch was nominated for two Geminis Awards, Best Writing in a Dramatic Series and Best Production, which it won. Her second novel, Downhill Chance, won the 2003 Thomas Head Raddall Award for Fiction, and Sylvanis Now won the Raddall and the Booksellers' Choice Award. What They Wanted, a sequel to Sylvanus Now, was released in Fall 2008.

Donna Morrissey has instructed numerous writing workshops and seminars over the years from Humber College’s School for Writers, Creative Writing at Dalhousie University (Department of English), to several Writers’ Federation of Nova Scotia professional workshops and community workshops too.  Donna is a member of the Writers’ Federation of Nova Scotia.

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Pictou– Antigonish Regional Library
Headquarters
(902) 755-6031 or 1-866-779-7767
www.parl.ns.ca