And the winners are.... !!

Congratulations!  The winners of the Algonquin Reads Student Contest are:

Paula Norton, a student in the Office Administration Executive program, for her entry in the "Creative Category"

Marc Lavigne, a student in the Business Accounting progam, for his entry in the "Critical essay" category.
Each students wins $150 and may have their entries published in Algonquin Times! Thanks to our judges, David Bromley, Margaret Cusson, Bill Garbarino, Dan Cuddy, Steph Hulse and Faelan McEwen.

Best year ever to enter the Student Contest

Why is it the best year ever to enter the Algonquin Read Student Contest?

Well, the student contest is a chance to win money, and get published!  Every year, we hold the contest for students, to submit entries that are either creative in nature (written, performed, drawn,etc) or critical (critical essay, journalistic piece).  The entries are to be 'inspired' by the current Algonquin Reads book of the year.  And by inspired, we mean this in many, many ways. The entries to the contest can be in the same theme or similar characterization or settings as the chosen book. The critical essay can discuss any aspect of the book, as the student sees fit.

So this means, lots of reading right? You have to have read that book, before you can do something for the contest, right?

Well, that's why this year is so great - because the book this year is Alice Munro's book, The View from Castle Rock.  And this book is a collection of SHORT STORIES.

Aha ! So now you see the good part right?  You really only have to read ONE of the stories and base your creative or critical piece on that one story!

And luckily, Reading Week is coming up!  So get reading, and get creative!  Or critical!

I hope you will consider entering the Algonquin Reads Student Contest. Win $150 cash prizes.  Potentially get published in Algonquin Times.  

Need more info? Email me:  merriah [at] algonquincollege.com  (written this way so spammers can't find me so easily.... I hope)

Good luck to you!
Helena

Used Book Sale

Come buy great books at great prices!

We're holding our annual Used Book Sale to raise money for Algonquin Reads. The book sale supports our activities such as author visits and even better, CASH PRIZES to students who enter our contest each year. Our student volunteers who held organize and sell the books also can receive a Co-curricular record for their transcript. 

When: Wednesday Oct 8 and Thursday Oct 9

Time: 10:00am to 2:00pm

Where: 3 locations to serve you! 

              J-N link

              Student Commons

              B building in the Rotunda

How much?

Textbooks - $3.00

Hard cover - $2.00

Paperbacks - $1.00

Magazines, CDs, Children's books - $0.50

Hope to see you there!

One college, one book: Get reading!

We're launching this year's Algonquin Reads, at the President's Breakfast! Stop by our table and enter our draw for a free copy of Alice Munro's book, View from Castle Rock.  The book is also available at Connections: The Campus Store and through the AC Library.

Next year's book!

Plan to relax with a good book this summer? Try The View from Castle Rock by Alice Munro

When Alice Munro won the Nobel Prize for literature for 2013, the Algonquin Reads committee decided it was time to choose a book by this renowned Canadian author for the college community to read. The View from Castle Rock, the Algonquin Reads book for 2014/2015, includes stories about several generations of Alice Munro’s family, from their roots in Scotland to her life in rural Ontario and everything in between. She interweaves her ancestors’ writing with her own in what she insists are “stories,” not strictly memoir. This collection shows her as the “master of the contemporary short story” as she is described in the Nobel announcement. The View from Castle Rock is now available at Connections – The Campus Store for $15.

Congratulations!

Congratulations to the winners of the Algonquin Reads Student Contest!

The winners are:
Breanne Leblanc won in the Critical essay category, for her essay entitled Survival in Indian Horse. She won $150.00

Victoria Crawley won in the Creative category, for her poem entitled Victim. 

Both entries were published in the April 3 edition of Algonquin Times, with an article about them as well. 

Congratulations to Breanne and Victoria!

Live over Skype!

For the first time ever, Algonquin Reads hosted an author reading session over Skype.  Richard Wagamese, the author of Indian Horse, lives in British Columbia and graciously agreed to fit us into his schedule, corresponding nicely with the Algonquin Learning Resource Centre’s Library Week, in October. The event was held in the beautiful Mamidosewin Centre, and the staff there treated us to Moose stew and other refreshments.   The technology for the Skype session went off without a hitch, thanks to our wonderful ITS team.  The only problem was…. I couldn’t get the author to sign my copy of the book!

It was a great session, attended by staff, faculty and students.  Richard Wagamese read a selection from his book and answered questions from the audience. He was funny and serious and gave helpful advice to aspiring authors in the audience.  He even gave us a sneak preview of his next book, Medicine Walk, coming out in April. 

Thanks for all the assistance from the Learning Resource Centre the Mamidosewin Centre. And a big thank you to everyone who attended!