ANTHOLOGIES. In 2011, Ruth landed a double-header — her poetry featured in two anthologies: Being Unquiet and Tuesday’s Child launched December 4 and 6, respectively. Being Unquiet (both books shown at left) is an anthology of the writing of 14 writers who met with U.S. writer Pat Schneider (founder of the Amherst’s Writers and Artists method) on the shores of Lake Simcoe for 6 days in May 2011. 53 pages of poetry, prose and song celebrate those diverse voices. Tuesday’s Child is a workshop anthology and features three poems from Ruth along with those of the other workshop members held this fall at Blue Heron Books in Uxbridge. Copies of the anthologies are available to order from the publisher, Piquant Press at www.piquantpress.ca.
LONGLISTED. Ruth’s poetry made the longlist (out of over 3,000 entries) for the 2011 Montreal Poetry Prize! Five poems will be featured each day from mid-October to mid-November. Winner to be announced in December.
TV APPEARANCE. Ruth chatted, on Rogers Cable TV’s “Daytime” with Christian and Julia, about being creative with writing.
GUEST SPEAKER. Ruth spoke to the Writers’ Community of Simcoe County (WCSC) about “Luck, Stupidity and the Bliss of Ignorance: The Wins and Losses of a Reluctant Writer”. For pictures of the event, visit the WCSC Facebook page.
PERFORMANCE. Ruth joined the acclaimed percussion quartet TorQ at the Haliburton Forest Festival. TorQ’s show, “The Call of the Drum”, launched the 5-day festival in June. Ruth’s poem “Water Dreams” was also performed as an interpretative dance. On a floating stage at the Bone Lake Amphitheatre, her reading of “Water Dreams” inspired an improvisation by one of Canada’s most exciting and innovative percussion ensembles. John Terauds of The Toronto Star says “TorQ can stand proud among the growing throng of chamber percussion ensembles around the world” and Ruth was absolutely honoured to be asked to perform with them.
HAIKU SET TO MUSIC. Ruth’s haiku was chosen with 16 others as part of the Great Canadian Haiku Contest. The winning haikus were set to music by Hawksley Workman, Royal Wood, Emm Gryner and Catherine McInnes, resulting in 17 “little gems” or “little magical moments” performed by the artists on a workshop stage at the 2011 Home County Folk Festival. Hosted by CBC Radio 3′s Grant Lawrence, the workshop was recorded and streamed live by 94.9 CHRW in London.
PERFORMANCE. Ruth was treated to a beautifully choreographed performance of excerpts from her poem “Water Dreams” before an audience of 600 students and staff at Durham Integrated Arts Camp in Haliburton. A dozen young dancers from the advanced class moved to selected lines from Ruth’s poem while she read from the stage. Earning a standing ovation, this performance by talented teens was, for Ruth, “unforgettable.”
TEACHING. Ruth attended Durham Integrated Arts Camp (DIAC), where she was teaching creative writing to regional youth.
POEM SELECTED. Ruth achieved a top-ten spot in Robert Lee Brewer’s poetry blog challenge for Writer’s Digest. As part of his ‘Poem a Day’ blog, Brewer challenged poets to write a Big Ten poem: ten lines, ten syllables each line. (Simple enough…until you try it.) Ruth’s poem “Spring Thaw 2011″ was picked #5 of the Big Ten entries. To read the winner, “Oak Harbor, Ohio” by Brett Elizabeth Jenkins and see the list of the top ten that includes Ruth, click here.
INTERVIEW. Ruth was featured in the May 2011 issue of Markham Village Writers. Read the interview with Donna Marrin here.
WRITESCAPE FEATURED. Ruth and Gwynn’s 2011 ‘Spring Thaw’ retreat featured on CHEX TV’s Newswatch. Watch clip below.
LISTING. Ruth appears in the Poets & Writers’ Directory of Writers online.
AWARD. Ruth was awarded an education grant from the Writers’ Community of Durham Region. This year, a total of 13 writers were awarded scholarships under the WCDR’s granting programme for its members. To learn more, visit the WCDR’s website.
UTNE READER, a US guide to alternative and independent press, has featured Ruth’s story “Death in the Family” (which won an honourable mention in Geist‘s postcard story competition last year) in its Library Crawl series. Read “Close Reading: Trolling the Utne Library” on Utne Reader‘s website.
CONNECTING. Ruth is on Facebook, Twitter, and Posterous.
NEW WORKSHOPS. Visit Ruth’s Workshops page often to view the latest news on where and when her skills will be available! See what’s on for February!
INTERVIEW. Ruth interviewed on Open Book Ontario’s “Get to Know Literary Ontario“, where she discusses her work with Gwynn Scheltema and their Writescape writing retreats.
GUEST FACILITATOR. Ruth, with colleague Ingrid Ruthig, facilitated discussion about Rabindranath Maharaj’s first novel, Homer in Flight, on the Reading As Writers (RAW) website.
WORKSHOPPING IN QUEBEC. Ruth visited Quebec once again, to facilitate a two-day immersion Writescape workshop (among others) with Gwynn Scheltema.
POEMS. A suite of Ruth’s poems were published by Scotland’s Chapman literary journalin Issue #110.
INTERVIEW. Ruth was interviewed about on York Region Rogers TV about her “Write to Win” workshop (with Dorothea Helms) in Win” workshop in Aurora.
NEW BOOK. Ruth and writing retreat collaborator Gwynn Scheltema announced the release of their creativity book Inspiration Station (pictured at left). The official launch took place at Blue Heron Books in Uxbridge, Ontario. Click cover for more info about the book.
WORKSHOP. Ruth and Gwynn offered their workshop ‘CREATIVE COMMUNICATORS’ to the Ontario government. It was such a hit, they’re rebooked for the fall! What’s more, the creative writing duo will be taking their workshopping talents ON THE ROAD in November to the Pointe Claire area of Quebec.
RETREAT. Ruth travelled to Saskatchewan to attend the Sage Hill Writing Experience, where she workshopped her fiction in the ‘Fiction Colloquium’ with novelist Catherine Bush.
GEIST HONOURABLE MENTION. Ruth won an Honourable Mention in GEIST magazine’s recent postcard story competition for her work, “Death in the Family.” To read the story, click http://www.geist.com/postcard-story/death-family. To view the list of winners, click here.
AT CAMP! Ruth was ‘on assignment’ at DIAC – Durham Integrated Arts Camp – where she fostered creative writing skills among students.
ANTHOLOGY. Ruth edited the Writers’ Circle of Durham Region’s anthology Wicked Words, which features the prize-winning writing from the competition. For more information and photos from the launch, visit the WCDR website here.
GUEST VISIT. Ruth was a special guest at Uxbridge Senior Scribes writing circle.
PANEL DISCUSSION NOW ONLINE. Watch Ruth discuss writing in the new millennium with Ted Barris and others at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2KQQpRN4dYM.
POSTCARD STORY LONGLISTED. 
Ruth’s story “Death in the Family” longlisted for Geist Magazine’s 6th Annual Literary Postcard Story Contest. Ruth said, “This piece [of fiction] was one of 15 chosen from 531 entries, so it’s a tremendous honour to be up there.” Winners will be named soon. Meanwhile, the longlisted entries are posted at www.geist.com.
PARTICIPATING WRITER. Ruth was a participating writer/editor at the annual 2011 Ontario Writers’ Conference.
PANEL DISCUSSION. Ruth and other Writers’ Community of Durham Region authors participated in the panel discussion “How to get published in the New Millennium”. Recorded before a live audience, the panel was moderated by veteran journalist/author Ted Barris and produced in conjunction with the WCDR, TV broadcaster Garth Riley, and Avtel Media. A second discussion/debate of the pros and cons of traditional publishing vs. self publishing in the digital age, hosted by the WCDR’s own Carin Makuz, was also recorded. Both will air online soon.
GRANT. Ruth was awarded an Ontario Arts Council grant through their Writers’ Reserve programme. She plans to complete her latest novel while on retreat.
WORKSHOPS. Ruth offered her popular series of workshops. Please visit her Workshops page for more information and registration details.
DIGITIZED WORK. Ruth’s work digitized at the Poetry Library, Southbank Centre, London, UK. Her poem “Mothers Song”, from issue 7 of Rain Dog was included in the digital library website (www.poetrymagazines.org and www.poetrymagazines.org.uk). Funded by the Arts Council of England, the digitization project aims to publish and maintain on the web a free-access digital library of 20th and 21st century English poetry magazines to reach new audiences and preserve the magazines for the future.
RETREAT. Ruth and Gwynn’s ‘Turning Leaves’ all-inclusive Writescape Writing Retreat in the Kawarthas. Visit Workshops page for information on upcoming retreats.
POEM. Ruth’s poem “Lucy’s Bones From Afar” appears in The Science Creative Quarterly, Issue Four, 2009.
WORKSHOP. As part of the Mariposa Writers’ Group annual festival, Lake Country Literary Lapses, Ruth offered a morning workshop, focussing on short fiction and targeting Great Beginnings and Awesome Endings.
SPEAKING ENGAGEMENT. Ruth travelled to Minden where she was guest speaker at the Haliburton Highlands Writers & Editors Network’s Annual General Meeting. She spoke on “Luck, Stupidity and the Bliss of Ignorance: The Wins and Losses of a Reluctant Writer.”
READING. Ruth was a featured reader with Bill Howell at the Hot-Sauced Words Poetry Performances in Toronto.
POEM SELECTION. Ruth’s poem “If I Never Heard or Saw a Frog Again” was chosen by Bob Johnson, Curator, Amphibians and Reptiles at the Toronto Zoo to include in the newsletter Amphibian Voice. He was “touched” by the poem’s “simplicity and insight” and asked permission to also reprint it with the next edition of the frog call CD for their Adopt-A-Pond wetland conservation program. For more information, please click here and scroll down to the April 22nd entry for Ruth.
READING. “Narrative Landscapes”, a collaboration of the Writers’ Circle of Durham Region and the Oshawa Public Library, offered an evening of short story readings by locally-supported authors, including Ruth.
POEMS. Ruth was invited to contribute to a collection of poetry for the Canada Cuba Literary Alliance anthology from the summer’s joint international reading event.
READING. At the Oshawa Public Library’s Northview Branch. Ruth read with novelist Elizabeth Ruth, OPL’s writer in residence, who shared the spotlight with some of the writers she worked with during her recent residency and workshops.
NOMINATION. Prairie Fire magazine nominated Ruth’s poem, “The Doctor Drowns in Bertioga, Brazil, 1979″ for a National Magazine Award. She joined writers John Barton, Evelyn Lau, Barry Dempster, Sylvia Legris, Elisabeth de Mariaffi, Jane Munro, Patricia Young, and M. Travis Lane in being nominated by the magazine. The poem also took third place in the Bliss Carman Poetry Award competition.
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