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The Writers' Federation of Nova Scotia (WFNS) is a non-profit charitable organization established in 1975 to foster creative writing and the profession of writing in the province of Nova Scotia. Its mandate is to provide advice and assistance to writers at all stages of their careers; to encourage greater public recognition of Nova Scotian writers and their achievements; and to enhance the literary arts in both regional and national culture. Membership is open and advocacy available to both professional and developing writers.

The WFNS is administered by an Executive Director and an Executive Committee. The Executive Director is hired by the Federation and is responsible for the day-to-day operations and business of the Federation. He/she works closely with the Executive Committee and various work groups and special committees.

The Executive Committee are elected by the membership and serve two-year terms. They serve the purpose of a board of management with the traditional responsibilities of officers of a non-profit service organization, and are responsible for the policies and general management of the Federation.

The self-governing Nova Scotia Writers' Council, the Federation's professional wing, comprises about one-third of the Federation's membership and deals with policy issues arising from and affecting the publishing industry. The self-governing and self-administered Nova Scotia Dramatists' Co-op is made up of the Federations' playwrights and screenwriters.

The Federation also serves writers and readers in the community, publishers, editors, teachers, librarians, and representatives of the book industry.

The Federation continues to augment and improve its advocacy and public relations efforts and programmes (including the development and administration of major book awards for the Atlantic region), and to work in concert with other regional and national writers' and publishers' groups for the benefit and growth of the industry.

The Nova Scotia Recreation Department provided the initial funding under its program for assistance to cultural associations.

Alexander (Sandy) Young was a prominent Nova Scotian educator, author and sports historian. Born in New York City in 1938, he was educated in Pennsylvania and Maryland before moving to Canada in 1970 to join Dalhousie’s School of Physical Education. Young was an active member of the Dalhousie community, serving as president of the Dalhousie Faculty Association in the mid-1980s, director of the School of Health and Human Performance from 1989-1993, and helping to establish Dalhousie’s popular “Noon-time Ball” competition. He continued teaching at the university until 1998.

Young was widely known for his commitment to and knowledge of Nova Scotia athletics. He was the author of Beyond Heroes: A Sport History of Nova Scotia (1998), which examined the cultural and historical impact of sports in the province. He was a founder the Nova Scotia Sport Heritage Centre and co-hosted the Nova Scotia Sport Hall of Fame induction ceremonies for some twenty years. He died on 6 August 2000 at the age of sixty-two, survived by his four daughters, Nicole, Michelle, Julie and Gabrielle.

Recognition for Sandy Young’s years of dedication to Nova Scotia sport include the 2000 renaming of the Dalhousie Award to the Sandy Young Award and a posthumous induction to the Nova Scotia Sport Hall of Fame in 2002.

George Renny Young was a publisher, lawyer, author and politician. He was born in Falkirk, Scotland, on 4 July 1802 to John Young and Agnes Renny. In 1814 he came with his family to Nova Scotia, where he helped to establish John Young and Company with his father and brother William. Young worked for the family dry goods business until 1821, when he started at Pictou Academy. In 1824 he founded a weekly newspaper, The Novascotian. In 1827 he sold the paper to Joseph Howe in order to pursue legal studies in Britain. He became an attorney in 1833 and a barrister in 1834, when he established an insurance practice with William that would last into the 1850s. In 1838 he married Jane Brooking, with whom he had one son, John.

Young entered the Nova Scotia assembly in 1843 as the member for Pictou County. He was a strong and vocal supporter of the reformers, protesting the General Mining Association’s monopoly in the province and supporting the creation of a Halifax and Quebec Railway. In 1848 he became a minister in J.B. Uniacke’s government. In the following years Young’s physical and mental health deteriorated. Although he did not seek re-election in 1851, he continued to voice his political opinions in a series of letters published in the British North American.

George Young wrote articles, books and letters to newspapers on a variety of topics. His first book, The British North American Colonies, was published in 1834. He also wrote a romantic fiction, The Prince and his Protégé, which appeared in a variety of formats in 1844. Young lectured and served as president of the Halifax Mechanics’ Institute. He died in Halifax on 30 June 1853.

John Young was a Halifax merchant, author, and politician. Born in Falkirk, Scotland in 1773 to Janet and William Young, he was educated at the University of Glasgow ca. 1790. Young performed well in his theological studies but chose to pursue business in Falkirk and Glasgow. He married Agnes Renny, with whom he had nine children, including George, Charles, and William. In 1814 Young and his family moved to Nova Scotia, where he founded John Young and Company.

Young became interested in agriculture shortly after his arrival in Nova Scotia. Between 1814 and 1816, under the pseudonym "Agricola," he wrote letters to The Acadian Recorder, championing ideas such as the creation of a provincial farming board, rural farming societies, and other initiatives. His suggestions were popular and supported by Lord Dalhousie, who established a Central Board of Agriculture in 1819. Young was appointed secretary and treasurer, making him responsible for mediating between the board and the newly formed farming societies, importing and distributing seeds, tools and other items, managing agricultural competitions, and handling correspondence and other administrative duties. In 1822 many of Young’s Agricola letters were published in the book The Letters of Agricola on the Principles of Vegetation and Tillage. While the board was initially popular and well supported, the House of Assembly failed to renew its charter in 1826.

In 1823 Young ran unsuccessfully in Halifax for a seat in the assembly, and in 1824 he won a Sydney by-election. He proved to be a vocal and active member in the assembly, where he remained until his death in Halifax on October 6, 1837.

William Young was a Nova Scotia businessman, lawyer and politician. He was born in 1799 in Falkirk, Scotland, to John Young and Agnes Renny. In 1814 he moved with his family to Nova Scotia, where he helped to establish John Young and Company, a wholesale dry goods business. He acted as his father’s agent in Halifax and New York. In 1815 he formed a partnership with James Cogswell to operate an auction and commission business that lasted until 1820.

Young began an apprenticeship in 1820 with the Halifax law firm of Charles Rufus and Samuel Prescott Fairbanks. The relationship ended in 1823 when Young was accused of sharing Fairbanks' campaign information with his father during John Young's failed bid against Charles Fairbanks in a Halifax by-election. In 1824 he managed his father’s successful campaign in a Sydney by-election. He became an attorney in 1825 and a barrister in 1826. In 1834 he and his brother, George, established an insurance business that lasted into the 1850s. He married Anne Tobin in 1830.

In 1832 Young won his first seat in the provincial assembly. The election results were invalidated because of interference from his brother, George. In the election of 1836 he ran and won in Inverness County, a seat he held for twenty years. Young was active in the assembly, working with reformers and supporting responsible government. He was a member of a delegation to Quebec City for constitutional discussions with Lord Durham in 1828 and served as speaker of the assembly for many years and as attorney general from 1854–1857. In 1859 he ran and won in Cumberland County and served briefly as premier before being appointed chief justice, a position he held until his retirement in 1881.

Young was actively involved in many aspects of Halifax society. He donated books and money to the Citizen’s Free Library. He was instrumental in negotiating the land lease for Point Pleasant Park, contributed financially to Dalhousie College and served as chairman of the college’s Board of Governors for 36 years (1848-1884). William Young died in Halifax on 8 May 1887.

Edith was born and raised on a farm in the province of Pomerania, Germany. She studied
at the Agricultural College of Potsdam, becoming a farm manager in various parts of the country upon completion of her studies.

In 1954, she immigrated to Canada and landed in Cape Breton. The following year she married Gernot Zillig, who had emigrated from Germany earlier. In 1958, the Zilligs moved and settled on their farm at Scotch Village, Nova Scotia. They raised sheep with other livestock, starting with six Suffolk.

During the 1950's and 1960's, Edith and her husband belonged to the provincial sheep farmers' association, which later became the Sheep Producers' Association of Nova Scotia (SPANS) in the 1970's. She became an active promoter of the Nova Scotia sheep industry through their Sheep Fairs from 1973 to 1983 and she served as director of SPANS during the mid-1980's.

Starting in 1981, Edith also served as Western Director of the Nova Scotia Wool Marketing Board until she retired in 1993. In addition, she maintained an interest in the Purebred Sheep Breeders' Association of Nova Scotia, of which her husband served as its first president in 1980.

Since her husband's death in 1992, Edith farmed and raised sheep in Scotch Village, Nova
Scotia, with the help of her son Manfred and her daughter Margaret until her death in 2009.