Bernadette Wagner. Author. Editor. Poet. Mentor.
Meet Bernadette
Growing up on a small family farm just outside of Regina, Saskatchewan, influences every thought, idea, and perception you have. Bernadette Wagner embodies the spirit of Canada’s prairies. Ranging from sweet, gentle summer breeze to the howling winter winds, prairie life steels and tempers character. Gently rolling parkland instilled Bernadette’s love of the land and her compassion for those in need imbued her commitment to community and humanity.
She began a formal meditation practice almost 20 years ago and was struck by its compatibility with her fledgling writing practice. She is now a Teacher with the Training In Power Academy of Meditation and Healing. and is developing workshops and courses that involve meditation and writing.
Bernadette served on the boards of several organizations including the Saskatchewan Writers Guild and the Sage Hill Writing Experience and as Chair of the Cathedral Village Arts Festival. She was the inaugural writer-in-residence at the Last Mountain Lake Cultural Centre and edited, A Gift of the Prairie, a collection of writings arising from the southern shore of Last Mountain Lake. In 2018, Bernadette was awarded the Hyland Volunteer Award for her service to the literary community in Saskatchewan.
Featured in journals, anthologies, newspapers and magazines, on radio and television, film and the web, in schools, on stages, and in the streets of Regina, Bernadette writes in multiple genres.
Studying with former Vancouver Poet Laureate, Rachel Rose, in the Vancouver Manuscript Intensive allowed her to visit Japan and complete a first draft of a manuscript exploring uranium. An excerpt from an unpublished work of fiction netted her a Saskatchewan Writers Guild Short Manuscript Award for Children’s Literature. And her collection of poetry, This hot place (Thistledown Press, 2010). was shortlisted for the Saskatchewan First Book Award. Her second collection of poetry, The Dry Valley (Radiant Press, 2019) was shortlisted for the Sask Book Award for Poetry. An excerpt from her work on uranium tied as runner-up for the 2020 City of Regina Writing Award. And the full manuscript, Situate Uranium, placed third in the 2021 John V Hicks Long Manuscript Award for Poetry..
She's a sought after manuscript evaluator and editor, working with clients in the non-profit sector, and individuals who seek out her skillset. In Fall 2021 she launched the B Print Ink Writers' Room, a home for the webinars, workshops, and courses she's offering.