Shortlisted!

My tall tale, "The Kaiser of Slocumb," has been shortlisted for Storyteller's 2007 Great Canadian Story Contest, and will be published in Storyteller's upcoming Summer 2007 issue. Winning stories will be chosen by Storyteller's readers.

Reading in Swift Current

I will be doing a public reading on Friday, September 22 in Swift Current, as part of that city's "Literary Café" series. The evening will include musical entertainment. Location: Pick-A-Deli, downtown at 215 – 1st Ave NE, 7:30 p.m. Free admission.

3 credits earned, 33 more to go!

Just got back to Regina after ten days in Vancouver, where I participated in an advanced fiction workshop led by Toronto novelist Catherine Bush. The summer workshop was held at Green College, on the main UBC campus, as part of UBC's Optional-Residency MFA program in creative writing. The workshop and the daily panels on writing were terrific, but it's humbling how much I still have to learn!

Published story #7

My short story, "Billy Cheek," was published in Spring, Volume 4, a journal of new work from emerging Saskatchewan writers. Fiction editor Harriet Richards describes the story as "a sophisticated rural mystery." The volume was launched October 13 at a Saskatchewan Writers Guild schmooze-fest at the Hotel Saskatchewan in Regina. The event included readings by several of the authors.

Anthologized

My two-act comedy, The Scarborough Four, was published this month as part of the Playwrights Canada Press anthology Write On Theatre Saskatchewan. The anthology also features the work of playwrights Mary Love of Regina, Dennis Hunt and Ian C. Nelson of Saskatoon, and Sharon Butala of Eastend. The anthology's abstract-looking purple-green book cover (at left) is actually an aerial view of Saskatchewan.

Subsidized rabble?

I'm about to join what Noah Richler once described as that "whole raft of subsidy-funded writers in this country." Specifically, I've been awarded an individual assistance grant by the Saskatchewan Arts Board. The funding will help me take a six-month leave from my day job to work on a writing project, starting July 1, 2005.

Play reading in P.A.

My prize-winning comedy, The Scarborough Four, received a public reading on Saturday, October 16 as part of the 2004 Canada West Play Fest in Prince Albert (see photos below). The reading was a presentation of the Prince Albert Community Players. The Scarborough Four will be published in September 2005 as part of a Playwrights Canada Press anthology.

Story acceptance

My short story "Billy Cheek" has been accepted for publication in Spring, Volume 4, slated for release in September 2005.

Published story #6

My short story "The Purple Finch" just hit magazine stands coast-to-coast in the Summer 2004 issue of Storyteller. Part of an upcoming collection of tall tales set in Depression-era Saskatchewan, the story received "honourable mention" in this year's Great Canadian Story Contest.

This is my fourth appearance in Canada's short story magazine.

Shortlisted

My short story "The Purple Finch" has been shortlisted for Storyteller magazine's 2004 Great Canadian Story Contest. Shortlisted stories and the announcement of winners will be published in the Summer 2004 issue of Storyteller.

Goin' to Sage Hill

I've been accepted into the fiction workshop at the Sage Hill Writing Experience, July 26-August 5, 2004, St. Michael's Retreat, Saskatchewan. The workshop will be facilitated by Vancouver-based novelist and short story writer Lynn Coady.

Cover story

I wrote the cover story for the Spring 2004 issue of The Third Degree, alumni magazine of The University of Regina. The article profiles five alums who have made their mark in literature: Ken Mitchell (pictured on the magazine cover at left), Connie Gault, Marlis Wesseler, Tim Lilburn and Ross King. Mitchell is a member of The Order of Canada; Wesseler's second novel, South of the Border, will be published this fall by Coteau Books; Lilburn won the 2003 Governor General's Award for Poetry for Kill-site; and King cracked the New York Times bestseller list in 2003 with Michelangelo and the Pope's Ceiling.

Chosen for publication

My award-winning full-length comedy, The Scarborough Four, will be published in Write On! Theatre Saskatchewan Anthology, a collection of Saskatchewan plays. The anthology is the result of a playwriting competition organized by Theatre Saskatchewan to help commemorate Saskatchewan's 2005 Centennial. The anthology will be published in September 2005 by Playwrights Canada Press and will also feature the work of playwrights Mary Love of Regina, Dennis Hunt and Ian C. Nelson of Saskatoon, and Sharon Butala of Eastend. The Scarborough Four previously won Regina Little Theatre's 75th Anniversary National Playwriting Competition, and premièred on the main stage of the Regina Performing Arts Centre in June 2002.

• Read the latest Theatre Saskatchewan announcement about the Write On! anthology

"Freak Show" broadcast on CBC

My prize-winning short story, "Ivory Majesto's Eye-Poppin', Stomach-Turnin', Faith-Shatterin' Freak Show," was broadcast the final weekend of March 2004 on the CBC Saskatchewan radio program Gallery. The initial broadcast was Saturday, March 27, on CBC Radio One, with a repeat broadcast the following day on CBC Radio Two. The story was voiced by Saskatchewan actor Ian Black and was produced and directed by Angus Ferguson. The program also featured a comedic radio play by "Eddie Gustafson" creator Dwayne Brenna, as well as the musical stylings of PonderIsaac.

Première

My one-act comedy, The Exploding Tins of Piero Manzoni, was one of five plays produced as part of the 2004 On The River's Edge Literary and Performing Arts Festival, February 10-14 in North Battleford.

Third Storyteller appearance

My short story, "Slow News Day," has been published in the Winter 2003-04 issue of Storyteller (magazine cover at left). This is my third appearance in Canada's short story magazine.

Shortlisted

My short story "Fossil Light" has been shortlisted for the 2003-04 CBC Literary Awards.

Anthologized

The Canadian humour anthology, North By North Wit (2003, Black Moss Press, Dale Jacobs editor), features a one-act play and a short story by B.D. Miller (that would be me). The play, Dumpster Diving, premièred in February 2003 at North Battleford's On The River's Edge Festival, where it was an audience favourite. The story, "Ivory Majesto's Eye-Poppin', Stomach-Turnin', Faith-Shatterin' Freak Show," was previously published in Storyteller, after winning second prize in that magazine's 2000 Great Canadian Story Contest. Learn more about the North By North Wit humour anthology by clicking the book cover.