(pseudonym); Angela Day (legal)
Website: www.anniedaylon.com

Story: Buryin’ Day Today, was published in FREEFALL MAGAZINE (www.freefallmagazine.ca) in May, 2009 and, in December, 2009, was submitted by the publishers to the national JOURNEY PRIZE competition. It is the suspense-filled story of a young woman who, on a routine trip to the UBC campus, soon regrets choosing ‘this day, this bus.’

Process to get it published: I entered this story in Freefall’s annual short story competition and won second place. I found out about that competition (and about Wyn Lit) from the Canadian Writers’ Contest Calendar which is available annually from White Mountain Publications.

Article: Have and Have Not was published twice, in THE PLACENTIA CHARTER (www.thecharter.ca) in May, 2009 and in the DOWNHOME (www.downhomelife.ca) magazine in December, 2009. THE CHARTER is a small paper based in my hometown and the DOWNHOME is a well-known east coast magazine published in St. John’s. Have and Have Not is a portrait of memories—my father’s and mine—and an offshoot of research for an in-progress novel which is set in Argentina, NL. It documents some of the upheaval created in the lives of the residents of Argentina during WWII when their tiny fishing/farming community was transformed, almost overnight, into a strategic U.S. naval base.

Process to get it published: I initially sent this article just to DOWNHOME, waited a month, called the magazine and asked if they would mind if I also submitted the article to THE CHARTER … just a courtesy call, but it was worth it. The DOWNHOME said go ahead and that they would still consider the article for publication. THE CHARTER accepted the article immediately and asked if I would mind if they published it in two parts. (Of course I did not mind … why have your work published for one week when you can have it published for two?) After a while, I gave up on the idea of the article being printed in the DOWNHOME but, nine months after I submitted it, it appeared!

Bio:

I was born and raised in Placentia, Newfoundland and am very proud of my Newfoundland heritage. I now live in British Columbia, but watch NTV daily news and read the monthly Newfoundland “Downhome” magazine.

My first love was books and I learned to read by following my busy mother around the house, pointing at a word and saying “What’s that word, Mommy?” As soon as she told me, I repeated the procedure. At that time, I was too young to go to school but wanted to go so badly that, one day, I followed my older sister right into her grade one classroom. The teacher, Sister Mary Marilyn, was very kind—even let me read to the class—but then she sent me home. After an interminable year of waiting, I was old enough to attend and I loved school. To this day, I am very grateful for the excellent education provided by the Presentation Sisters and lay teachers of St. Edward’s Elementary and of Sacred Heart and Laval High Schools.

I attended three universities: Mount Allison (B. Music) in NB, where I met my wonderful husband, David; the University of Manitoba (Cert. Ed.) in Winnipeg, where I taught music in the Fort Garry School Division; and, the University of British Columbia (M. Ed.) in Vancouver where I began my BC teaching career as a substitute teacher.

For many years, I taught grades four to seven at Capitol Hill Elementary School in Burnaby. My duties there included: Language Arts (Reading, Writing, Drama, Public Speaking), Music (Choir, Recorder, Orff, Guitar, Musical Production and Direction, Concerts, Assemblies) as well as all other subjects in the intermediate curriculum.

And now, I am channelling my love of books and the many skills I acquired as an educator into my second career—writing!