by Heather Pyrcz. “Caveat: A short history of Canadian poetry will not please everyone. Poets are left out, lacunae that some will think unforgivable. Frye suggested that anthologies ought to have blank pages at the end on which the reader may enter his own neglected favorites. I have used a 1945 birth date as my end point, although there are a few exceptions for reasons of inclusion. I have clustered the poets in unfamiliar groupings. There are many constellations we could form, each one revealing something different and important about the poets. This digital history page, I hope, will be thought of as a reference point, one of many in an ongoing conversation about the rich meaning of Canadian poetry.”

This awesome resource can be found at youngpoets.ca.

Canada
http://www.youngpoets.ca/history/history.php

“Manuscript evaluation is the heart of Black Swan’s business. Our readers work in the publishing industry—as writers, editors and book reviewers—and know what makes a good book great.”

Black Swan also offers the services of editing, writing, book design, and independent publishing.

British Columbia,  Canada
http://www.blackswanservices.com/

“Dedicated to uniting people and organizations around the world in the global promotion of poets and poetry.”

See CFPChatForum | Calendar

Canada
http://www.federationofpoets.com

“The Canadian poetry Association strives to be a broad based umbrella organization. It organizes poetry readings and social events; publishes anthologies, chapbooks, and the national newsletter Poemata containing markets, reviews, poetry, and other information.”

Canada
http://canadianpoetryassoc.com/

Join Coach House or their authors at events around the country.

Toronto,  Ontario,  Canada
http://www.chbooks.com/content/events/

“The Descant Blog is a handy tool and thoughtful read that’ll keep you in the know about national calls for submissions, launches and all things literary. It will also offer stunning original content you won’t find anywhere else, with knowledgeable and insightful literary and arts commentary by our team of bloggers: Zoe Whittall, Leah Sandals and Michelle Alfano.” (from Descant’s email announcement)

Also, check out Descant in its other incarnations.

Toronto,  Ontario,  Canada
http://www.descant.ca/blog/

“The Federation of BC Writers is a not-for-profit organization established in 1976 to contribute to a supportive environment for writing in the province.”

British Columbia,  Canada
http://bcwriters.com/

“The League of Canadian Poets, a non-profit arts service organization, is the national association of professional publishing and performing poets in Canada.”

Post events on their event calendar. Check out the Poetry Spoken Here Webstore, the Who’s who directory of members of the league, and the benefits of membership. Students and teachers will love the offshoot site youngpoets.ca.

Canada
http://www.poets.ca

The League has a reading series list as well as a readings calender to guide you to member readings by region across Canada.

Canada
http://www.poets.ca/linktext/links/links12.htm

“The Manitoba Writers’ Guild was inaugurated in August 1981 at Aubigny, Manitoba, as a grassroots organization created for and by Manitoba writers. From the 20 members who joined after that first meeting, the Guild has grown to over 550. We continue to expand our services and programming to find, develop and promote literary talent all over the province.”

Check out the guild’s Show Me the Poetry project, bringing “the fun back into reading poetry.”

Manitoba,  Canada
http://www.mbwriter.mb.ca/

““Northwest Passages is a virtual bookstore and information resource for readers, scholars, and students of Canadian literature.”

In addition to this overview of Canadian literary awards, they also have an extensive CanlitLINKS page, offering “the largest set of Canadian literature links on the Internet”. Subscribe to their monthly email newsletter, The Compass.

Vancouver,  British Columbia,  Canada
http://www.nwpassages.com/awards.asp

“Northwest Passages is a virtual bookstore and information resource for readers, scholars, and students of Canadian literature. Founded in 1996, by Rob Stocks and Paul Martin, Northwest Passages operates out of Vancouver, British Columbia…. Northwest Passages focuses on a very specific niche: Canadian fiction, poetry, drama, and literary criticism. By so doing, we have taken a deliberate step to position ourselves as the complete antithesis of the online superstores; rather than trying to address some of the needs of everyone, we have chosen to focus on all of the needs of a particular group of readers.”

Northwest Passages ships worldwide. Check out their overview of Canadian literary awards and their extensive “CanlitLINKS”: page, offering “the largest set of Canadian literature links on the Internet.” Subscribe to their monthly email newsletter, The Compass.

Vancouver,  British Columbia,  Canada
http://www.nwpassages.com/

Pandora's Collective: Promoting the Arts That Inspire the World to Take Notice of Itself. “Founded in June 2002 by poets Bonnie Nish and Sita Carboni, the collective is “dedicated to promoting literacy and self-expression in the community.”

Check out their Vancouver Literary Event Listings page and explore their Poets Directory.

Contest page — Next contest: Kisses and Popsicles Spring Poetry Contest (Deadline May 15, 2008, Winners announced June 1, 2008).

Vancouver,  British Columbia,  Canada
http://www.pandorascollective.com/

“PEN Canada, one of 144 centres of International PEN in 102 countries, is a literary and human rights association formed in 1926 to protect everyone’s right to freedom of expression.” See events page.

Canada
http://www.pencanada.ca/

A non-profit site offering resources for Canadian and international writers, updated daily with contests, calls for submission, events and news; other sections are updated weekly.

Canada
http://www.placesforwriters.com

“The Quebec Writers’ Federation (QWF) is playing an increasingly prominent role in the life of the Quebec English-language literary community as an arts presenter and professional and community educator, as well as the representative of Quebec’s English-language writers.”

Quebec,  Canada
http://www.qwf.org/

“Founded in 1969, the Saskatchewan Writers Guild is a province-wide organization representing writers in all disciplines and at all levels of development. It is one of the largest writers organizations in Canada with a membership of over 500. The Guild’s mission is to improve the status of the writer in Saskatchewan.”

Saskatchewan,  Canada
http://www.skwriter.com/

“The Canadian Literature Archive has been online since October 4, 1994 and is a repository for information about Canadian writers, novelists, poets, playwrights, essayists, Canadian literary organizations, magazines, publications, texts and library archives. It is a project of the English Department of the University of Manitoba.”

University of Manitoba, Winnipeg,  Manitoba,  Canada
http://www.umanitoba.ca/faculties/arts/english/canlit/

“Since 2003, HAP has been a club focussed on small-group readings, large open mics, and publications.”

Simon Fraser University,  British Columbia,  Canada
http://www.sfu.ca/~hapoetry/index.html

“The Writers’ Union of Canada (TWUC) is a national organization which brings writers together for the advancement of their collective interests. It aims not only at embracing but also fostering diversity and inclusiveness in all their forms.” TWUC site also lists Canadian Literary Agents.

Canada
http://www.writersunion.ca

Great set of links “found through web searches”.

Canada
http://www.thursdaynight.net/works/x_poetry.htm

“Vancouver Poetry House is a new organization dedicated to the growth and development of poets and poetry of all kinds in Vancouver, British Columbia…. [B]y providing our community with a “house” to dwell in, VPH hopes to strengthen the presence and effect of poetry in the lives of every Vancouver-area resident, regardless of age, class, ethnicity, or language of choice.”

Vancouver,  British Columbia,  Canada
http://www.vancouverpoetryhouse.com/

“For two decades, Wordwrights Canada has helped those who strive for a high professional standard in their writing, be it fiction, literary nonfiction, or poetry.” Founded by Susan Ioannou in 1985, Wordwrights Canada offers an online poetry writing course, a companion handbook for poets A Magical Clockwork, Canadian student writing resources, and Canadian links of interest to writers.

Toronto,  Ontario,  Canada
http://www3.sympatico.ca/susanio/WWC.html

“The Writers Guild of Alberta is a provincial arts service organization that represents both professional and emerging writers in Alberta.”

Alberta,  Canada
http://www.writersguild.ab.ca/

“The Writers’ Alliance of Newfoundland and Labrador (WANL) is a not-for-profit organization established in 1987 to contribute to a supportive environment for writing in the province.”

Newfoundland,  Canada
http://www.writersalliance.nf.ca/

“The Writers’ Federation of New Brunswick is a community of writers, both amateur and professional, who strive to develop the craft of writing and who work to promote and encourage the literary arts in New Brunswick.”

The Federation also has a blog.

New Brunswick,  Canada
http://www.umce.ca/wfnb/

“The Writers’ Federation of Nova Scotia was established in 1975 to foster creative writing and the profession of writing in Nova Scotia; to provide advice and assistance to writers at all stages of their careers; to encourage greater public recognition of Nova Scotian writers and their achievements; and, to enhance the literary arts in our regional and national culture “

Nova Scotia,  Canada
http://www.writers.ns.ca/

“The Workshop Blog is an online resource for those who have attended past Writers’ Trust workshops and to those interested in exploring their own creativity. The blog provides recommended reading lists, writing exercises and advice (via video) from noted Canadian authors to encourage and nourish Canada’s writing community.”

Canada
http://www.writerstrust.blogspot.com/

“Culture.ca, Canada’s cultural gateway, is an initiative of the Department of Canadian Heritage, as part of the Canadian Culture Online Strategy.”

Writing @ Culture.ca | Poetry @ Culture.ca | Spoken Word @ Culture.ca

Canada
http://www.culture.ca/explore-explorez-e/Arts/Writing

“MoonTown Cafe is an online poetry and writing website designed to get your work read, critiqued, and published. Our free forums and blogging space are designed to help you succeed with every area of your writing.”

International
http://www.moontowncafe.com/