A Writer's Guide to Regina

The main branch holds the Prairie History Collection, more than 11,000 items on the community history and genealogy of Regina and the prairies. Everything stays in the building, and staff bring out the specialized items for anyone with a library card. You can also book a meeting room or record in the Digital Media Studio's self-serve sound studio. It is open daily.

Connaught is the Cathedral branch, on the 13th Avenue strip, and it is open daily. You can book a room there or print and scan. The building has no wheelchair access.

Albert Branch is inside the mâmawêyatitân centre in North Central. You can book a room or use a laptop, and the branch has hearing loops. It is open daily, with evening hours Tuesday through Thursday.

Archives & Special Collections gathers private papers in the visual arts, journalism and Saskatchewan literature, and it keeps University of Regina theses back to 1966. Write to the archives with research questions. Adults over 18 who are not post-secondary students can get a free Public Access Library Card with a Saskatchewan health card and driver's licence. The card covers up to 50 items across the four campus libraries.

The Provincial Archives has a public Reading Room. Its holdings include historic newspapers on microfilm, homestead and land records, and more than 1.9 million photographs, maps and special media items. The Pioneer Questionnaires, gathered in the 1950s, record early settlers' memories. Contact the archives before you visit.

Spafford Books sells antiquarian and second-hand books and specializes in Prairie Canadiana and in books on Indigenous and Métis Nations. It was established in 1970. The shop is at the back of Outlook Optometry and opens Fridays and Saturdays, by chance or by appointment.

Aware House calls itself Regina's original metaphysical and spiritual shop and has sold books and gifts for over 40 years. You'll find it on 13th Avenue in Cathedral Village.

Spaces runs three coworking centres in Regina, including one on the seventh floor of the Royal Bank Building downtown. It sells cowork day passes and dedicated desks, and you can book a meeting room. The other two centres are at 2125 11th Ave and 335 Hoffer Dr.

The late physics professor and homebrewer Bev Robertson founded this brewpub, and it keeps a Writer's Corner near the back all year. The Saskatchewan Writers' Guild holds its Bushwakker Writers' Corner author readings here. Monday nights bring jazz and blues, and Wednesday is Folk Night. It is 19+ and closed Sundays.

Craft Services is a daytime café run by Cafe Français inside the MacKenzie Art Gallery.

The Guild has served Saskatchewan writers of every genre and level since 1969, and it publishes the literary magazine Grain. Its programs include a Manuscript Evaluation Service and mentorships, one with a BIPOC stream. Writers can apply for scholarships and bursaries to its retreats, some held at St. Peter's Abbey.

Regina Public Library hosts a writer in residence, whose office is on the second floor of Central Library. Email to book a one-to-one appointment for writing advice or a professional critique at any stage, from research and first drafts to publication. The writer also gives public readings.

SaskBooks is the association for Saskatchewan's small and independent book publishers. Writers can use its Publishers Directory and its guides to traditional, hybrid, and self-publishing. Each year it puts out the Read Saskatchewan catalogue. It also runs Saskatchewan Book Week.

University of Regina Press launched in 2013 on the foundation of the former Canadian Plains Research Center Press. It publishes academic and trade nonfiction meant for general readers as well as specialists, and its national bestsellers range across Canadian history, Indigenous studies, memoir and food studies. Series cover Indigenous languages and Black Canadian studies, among others.

Edward Willett founded Shadowpaw, a small traditional publisher of adult and young adult fiction, nonfiction, poetry, anthologies, and children's books. Its Endless Sky Books imprint publishes new editions of previously published books. Shadowpaw belongs to the Literary Press Group and the Association of Canadian Publishers.

Radiant Press publishes poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, and cross-genre books by emerging and established Canadian authors, with a special emphasis on Saskatchewan writers. It is based on Treaty 4 territory in Regina.

Clinical Psychology Review publishes substantive reviews on clinical psychology topics, from psychopathology and psychotherapy to assessment and child development. Its editor-in-chief is at the University of Regina. Preparing an article for Clinical Psychology Review

SK Arts funds emerging and established professional artists in Saskatchewan, literary artists included. Grants can support creative work, research, professional development, or the production and presentation of work. Applicants must be Canadian citizens or permanent residents who live in the province.

Since 1993 the Saskatchewan Book Awards has honoured the province's writers and publishers, with each category judged by three professionals from outside Saskatchewan. Categories run from Fiction and Poetry to Scholarly Writing and First Book, and they include the City of Regina Book Award.

The City of Regina funds this award and the Saskatchewan Writers' Guild runs it. Each year it gives one Regina writer, 19 or older, three months to work on a solo project in any genre. Professional writers from outside Saskatchewan judge the entries anonymously.

The Guild's Hicks awards go to unpublished book-length manuscripts by Saskatchewan residents. The genre rotates each year among poetry, fiction, and literary nonfiction. Judging is anonymous.

SK Arts honours individuals and organizations in every arts discipline at its awards gala. One award is for lifetime achievement.

Editors For Students collects funding awards and campus writing support for the University of Regina, along with its thesis requirements.