Board of Directors

The Alexandra Writers Centre Society is governed by a volunteer Board of Directors voted by our membership at the annual general meeting for a term of 4 years.

The next Annual General Meeting: September 7, 2021

To contact the AWCS Board email: awcsboard@alexandrawriters.org

Interested in volunteering? Contact Us to learn more about the many volunteer opportunities at the Alexandra Writers’ Centre Society.

2021/22 Board of Directors

President

Nicola Dahlin

Nicola joined AWCS in 2017 and was a mentee in the 2018/19 Author Development Program. She writes YA contemporary and fantasy, and is currently querying agents with her first novel. Her flash fiction has been published, and she has been short-listed for the CANSCAIP writing for children competition. She co-facilitates the YA Round Table alongside Tracy Fox. She loves being part of the writing community, and is happy to be able to support AWCS’s amazing team.

Vice President

Emily Varga

Treasurer

Vicki Lockwood

Six years ago, AWCS opened the world of writing for Vicki as a way of expression of creativity and has helped her to find her voice which had gone missing several years prior. Today she is happy to give back a small part of what the people involved with AWCS have given her. Vicki is a CPA, running an accounting firm full-time, and has been using her accounting skills in the treasurer’s position for the past three years.

In her short writing career, Vicki has written and submitted several short stories, one of which won second prize in a short story contest called “Canadian Shorts” which was in celebration of Canada’s 150^th anniversary in 2017. Currently she is working on a novel with a theme of drugs, addiction and life’s difficult choices.

Secretary

Connie Donoghue

Director at Large

Alex Benarzi

Alex Benarzi is a writer, editor, and educator in Calgary, AB. He has various short stories published digitally and in print, most recently, “The Lies We Tell” published in the Selkie Review anthology, Very Much Alive. In addition to teaching, Alex is a freelance editor, and content and copy writer.

Director at Large

Moni Brar

Born in rural India, Moni Brar a writer, educator, and farmer who now divides her time between the unsurrendered territories of the Treaty 7 Region and the Syilx Okanagan Nation. Her writing explores the immigrant experience, diasporic guilt, and the legacy of trauma resulting from colonization. Her work has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net, and she is the winner of the 2021 SAAG Art’s Writing Prize, runner-up in PRISM international’s 2021 Grouse Grind Prize, shortlisted for Arc’s 2021 Poem of the Year, and a finalist in the 2021 Alberta Magazine Awards. Her writing can be found in The Literary Review of Canada, Prairie Fire, CV2, Passages North, and Hobart, among others.

Director at Large

Anne Georg

Anne has been a writer in many capacities throughout her life and career. As a professional, Anne has worked in journalism and the communications industry. She has created documentaries for CBC Radio, and written feature articles for many print publications. She also works for corporations and not-for-profit and public sector clients producing reports, print articles, websites, marketing materials and videos. On a personal level, Anne writes poetry, short stories and creative nonfiction. She is happy to have found a community of writers through the Alexandra Writers Centre Society and looks forward to contributing to the organization. Anne also works as a photographer, accompanying her print articles with her photographs and undertaking independent photo projects.

Director at Large

Laurie Fuhr

Laurie is a writer and songwriter. Her poetry collection ‘night flying’ was published in 2018 by Frontenac House, and her work has been featured in numerous anthologies and publications. From 2008-2011 she was managing editor of filling Station Magazine. A member of the League of Canadian Poets and Poetry In Voice, she has been an instructor with AWCS for over five years, teaching classes such as Free Verse Revival, Womens’ Verse Revival, Espresso Poetry, Famous Poets, and her ongoing Sunday drop-in prompts session, Poetry Cafe.

Director at Large

Patty Anasco

Patty (she/hers) is new to the board and brings with her experience in board governance and policy. She works in e-commerce operations during the week and has deep experience in digital marketing and social media management. She lives in Calgary and writes (rather, attempts to write) personal essays and romance novellas in her spare time.