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c/o Writers' Federation of Nova Scotia
After a number of years working with geriatrics and mentally handicapped children, Norene changed direction in the 1980's to focus primarily on the book industry. She has been a bookseller, editor, writer, teacher, book reviewer, book publisher, publicist, event organizer and cultural administrator.
She belonged to a children's writing group for over twelve years, during which two anthologies of writing for children were published. She has served on the boards of many arts organizations, regionally and nationally, primarily to do with books, writing or fine art. She was a founding member of the Nova Scotia Children's Literature Award and the Ann Connor Brimer Award for Atlantic Children's Literature.
After five years of facilitating The Word On The Street Book Festival and coordinating the Hackmatack Children's Choice Book Award for another six, she has moved to Pugwash NS to help her husband run a small café and concentrate on her painting and writing in the winter months. She continues to be the Atlantic Rep for CANSCAIP. In 2002 she received the Mayor's Award for Cultural Achievement in Literature.
Besides writing for children, she is a visual artist, scriptwriter and filmmaker. In 2005/2006, she wrote, directed and edited a one-minute film through the Atlantic Filmmakers Cooperative, and created a short digital mocdocumentary with the help of a Media Arts Scholarship through the Centre for Art Tapes.
- Simon and Catapult Man's Perilous Playground Adventure. Illustrations by Brenda Jones, Nimbus Publishing 2009, ISBN-13: 978-155109-714-5.
- French edition: Simon et El Catapulte La périlleuse aventure au parc, illustrations de Brenda Jones, Nimbus Publishing 2009, ISBN-13: 978-1-55109-721-3
- "[This book] follows the adventures of Simon, who visits the playground with his sister Tulip, his dad and Catapult Man action figure. It cleverly juxtaposes Simon's real-life play on various pieces of equipment with his make-believe outer space adventure," - The Nova Scotian, June 2009.
- That Stripy Cat. Illustrations by Tara Anderson. Fitzhenry & Whiteside, 2007. ISBN 78-1-55005-164-3
- Click here for more information.
- "Winter Yard" in Grade Six Textbook. Toronto: Thomson Nelson, 2006.
- "Winter Yard" in Till All the Stars Have Fallen. Toronto: Kids Can Press, 1989. ISBN 0-921103-90-5.
- Four short stories in Open Windows. Kingston: Quarry Press, 1988. ISBN 0-919627-58-7.
- Four short stories in The Fiddlehead. Fredericton: Autumn 1988.
- Short story in Shivers in your Nightshirt. Halifax: Children's Writer's Workshop, 1986. ISBN 0-969-2342-1-X.
- Poetry in Seaweed in your Stocking. Halifax: Children's Writer's Workshop, 1985. ISBN 0-969-2342-0-1.
