As February draws to a close, winter seems to be rearing its snowy head one final time! So grab a blanket and get cozy by the fireplace (or by a candle) as we dive into what’s been happening in the children’s publishing industry.
The First Page Feature is a chance for emerging writers to feature the first page of their works-in-progress (ranging from Middle Grade to New Adult) in our monthly newsletter. Interested in featuring your first pages? Read our First Page Feature guidelines here, and submit here!
February’s First Page Feature is Paul Sasges!
Paul was a marine officer, technologist and energy conservation manager. He is perhaps the oldest Creative Writing BFA student at the University of British Columbia. A member of the Métis Nation BC, he resides on the unceded territory of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil Waututh Nations. His poems have been published in the SFU Lyre, and his stories in the Laurentian University Sulfur and UK online journal Porridge.
CW: swearing
Free School by Paul Sasges
Roland sensed someone standing at his desk and looked up. Oh, great, my favourite class bully,
Gerry Laska. Looking down, he mumbled to the floor, “Trouble is the common denominator of
living. It is the great equalizer.” He could feel himself slightly sweating and trembling. Then, he
mumbled an attribute for the quote, “Soren Kierkegaard.”
“Soren who? Fuck off, geek,” Laska said. Then, “Meet me in the hallway.”
Roland had been trying to eat his lunch. He looked at the tiled linoleum floor of the
classroom and felt as dismayed as its ugly industrial blue-gray. He gave up and threw his
baloney sandwich in his bag. He sensed Gerry’s commanding insistence had to do with the adults
at his elementary school ruining everything and felt his life was going to get a whole lot worse.
In his small, Catholic private school’s last week before Christmas break, Father Mann had
just informed everyone that they were losing their favourite teacher, Sister Juliette, and to top it
off, they were getting a new guy named Thorne and changing the school from a free system back
to regular classes. This Thorne seemed an old-school tough guy. Also, the marks they’d be
getting were based on the last term. Roland had been doing so well in Sister Juliette’s free
school, but now, he was back at square one with his marks and chances of getting a scholarship
to St. Gorgeoge’s.
Roland started looking around for someone to save him. The last thing he wanted to do
was step out in the hall and get another pounding from Gerry Laska.
“What? I’m not going to lay a finger on you. I want to talk about something that might
be of mutual benefit. You’re pretty good with computer stuff, eh?”
3 Questions for the Author
What drew you to writing for younger audiences?
Many of my stories are reflections on my early boyhood years here in Vancouver.
What’s your favourite part of the writing process?
Workshopping my work with others. In my opinion, I especially find this process extremely creative. Sometimes it is scary; sometimes, it is rewarding, but it is always useful for my work. To put it another way, it takes a village to raise a story.
What’s the best writing advice you’ve ever received?
Slow down and enjoy the writing process. Refrain from comparing your work to others. Presently, work on the rhythm of your writing.
If you are interested in contacting Paul Sasges, please email young.adulting@ubc.ca.
YAing Updates
We’ve published some marvellous reviews since our last update. Here’s a recap:
- “Ferguson is certainly not dishing up a thin crusted one topping type of story here. Instead, she feeds us a deep dish, multi-layered experience, writing books that are fresh, yet resonate. Winner of the Governor General’s Award for her debut novel, The Summer of Bitter and Sweet, Ferguson should also win an award for inducing food cravings in readers.” Vanessa Bedford Gill reviews Those Pink Mountain Nights by Jen Ferguson
- “What truly stands out is the inclusiveness of the book as a host of under-represented communities find a place in the story. Moulton truly provides a rich tapestry of gender, sexuality, race, religion and culture without tokenizing or stereotyping these characters. Deeper questions about familial bonds, the historical Othering of marginalized groups, and the difficulty of ‘doing the right thing’ are also addressed, making it a more rewarding and layered experience.” Ibha Gupta reviews Don’t Want to Be Your Monster by Deke Moulton
As always, check back every Thursday and every other Tuesday for more reviews of upcoming and new releases.
Industry News
Congratulations to Nafiza Azad for the FOLD’s new Teen Writer-in-Residence!
Nafiza Azad is an award-winning Indo-Canadian Muslim author. She writes books featuring magic and spunky female protagonists. She is also the co-editor of the nonfiction anthology Writing in Color and author of the young adult novel, Road of the Lost.
Check out our interview with Nafiza here!
A reminder that The Toronto Star is hosting their 2024 short story contest! The contest begins at 12:01am EST on Saturday, January 6, 2024 and ends at 5:00pm EST, Wednesday, February 28, 2024. Click here to learn more!
The 2024 CBC Non-Fiction Prize is now open! You can submit original, unpublished nonfiction that is up to 2,000 words. There is no minimum word requirement. Nonfiction includes memoir, biography, humour writing, essay (including personal essay), travel writing and feature articles. Click here to learn more.
Diaspora Dialogues is accepting applications for short-form mentorship! They invite submissions from emerging writers across Canada including short stories or creative nonfiction less than 3,000 words in length; or up to 5 poems! Learn more about their mentorship program here!
As always, please do send us your news related to children’s and young adult literature at young.adulting@ubc.ca so we can feature them in future newsletters. Our newsletter is published on the 2nd and 4th Tuesdays of each month. And remember to keep up with us on Twitter and Instagram!
Take care, and happy reading,
The Young Adulting Editors
YOUNG ADULTING 