Bernadette Wagner is a mother, multi-genre writer, activist, singer, and micropress publisher living in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada.
During the 2007 Saskatchewan election Bernadette wrote as the regina mom for the CBC Sask Votes 2007 Election Blog Squad and carried that pseudonym forward. She also blogged for rabble.ca during the 2008 federal election and still posts at rabble.ca on occasion.
Bernadette’s non-fiction has appeared in newspapers and magazines. She’s currently at work on a number of writing projects, including a new poetry manuscript, two manuscripts of Creative Non-Fiction, and a vain attempt at a novel for adults.
Her poetry has been broadcast on radio, published in journals and anthologies, and appeared in film, on CD, and on the web. In 2010, Thistledown Press published her collection of poetry, This hot place, which was shortlisted for a Saskatchewan First Book Award.
At present she is also putting the finishing touches on a children’s novel tentatively titled, Crybaby. A portion from it netted her an Emerging Artists Award from the Canada Council for the Arts, a place in the Young Adult writing workshop at the Banff Centre for the Arts, and an excerpt took First Place in the Saskatchewan Writers Guild’s Short Manuscript Awards.
In June 2007 she was one of 85 women who gathered to record the vocal tracks for the CD, My Heart is Moved. She also served as a Regional Song Leader for another CD project, Widening Embrace, which brought together more than 100 women from Canada and the USA.
Bernadette served as Literary Co-ordinator (2011-12) for the Cathedral Village Arts Festival followed by a year as Co-Chair (2013) and two years as Chair (2014-15), during which time she and the Planning Committee secured funding for artists-in-residence in the community during the festival’s 25th anniversary year.
During 2013-14, Bernadette also served as the inaugural literary artist-in-residence at the Last Mountain Lake Cultural Centre in Regina Beach. In addition to meeting with local writers and offering professional development opportunities to them, she edited a collection of their work, A Gift of the Prairie: Writings from the southern shores of Last Mountain Lake.
the regina mom 
Nadine (Straus) Frisk
/ February 2, 2008Hey Bernadette,
Congratulations on your success and numerous contributions! I’ve enjoyed the read and plan to check in often.
From the sunny Okanagan and where I now call home.
Nadine (Straus) Frisk
Laura Pfeifer
/ March 25, 2008Hi Bernadette,
My name is Laura and I am currently trying to see what people think about the new plan for Scott Collegiate (personally I am appalled that the heritage school is slated to be demolished in favour of a strip mall catch-all and I know several others who feel the same way). I agree with you that inner city schools should not be closed for reasons of small enrolment. The North Central community is growing all the time, and if schools are closed, families will not want to move there. The idea that Scott should be replaced shows a lack of foresight on the part of everyone involved. If the province can put that amount of money into building a new facility, why not use it to improve the existing structure? They are planning on putting a branch of the RPL there, a police detachment, and the 4 corners health centre – it all sounds good, but these services are already only a few blocks away. Why move everything and at the same time remove the fields where kids can play sports and enjoy some open space as well as a heritage structure that reminds us all where we come from? Anyway, I would be interested in talking to you and people who are like minded. Perhaps we can stir the pot a bit and get more discussion going.
Cheers,
-Laura
trish van katwyk
/ April 2, 2008Hello, Regina,
I am a student/mom, using a blog as the research site for my dissertation. I would like to host a conversation with Canadian moms about motherhood, identity and government policy. Is it possible to sent you an invitation to have posted on your blog? Please check out the blog: http://www.mothersvoice.ca, and let me know if you are interested.
Warmly,
Trish
kyla, allie and kyrstin
/ April 19, 2008hi good stuff
kyla, allie and kyrstin
/ April 19, 2008hi bernie we really like your keep up the good work 🙂 hahaha
#$#$#$#$##$$$$
kyla, allie and kyrstin
/ April 19, 2008Hi, bernie
This is your neices kyla, kyrstin, and allie. We really want to congrats you on your awesome work. We really enjoyed the great things you write.
Sarah Wells
/ March 5, 2009great site!
trevor herriot
/ March 23, 2009Bernadette
Thanks for passing the word on about crown land up for sale. Much appreciated. Keep up the good work.
Barbara O' Brien
/ June 4, 2010Dear Bernadette,
I just have a quick question for you but couldn’t find an email so had to resort to this. I am a progressive blogger. Please email me back at barbaraobrien@maacenter.org when you get a chance. Thanks.
Barbara
Lorraine Endicott
/ February 1, 2012Hi, Bernadette. I enjoyed taking a peek at your work. If you would like me to send you a sample copy of Our Times magazine (which I edit), let me know where we should mail it to. My email is editor[at]ourtimes.ca. We publish original work-related poetry, and creative non-fiction in our Working for a Living series, in case you’re interested. IN case you haven;t hear of us, we’re a bi-monthly labor magazine that publishes stories (and poetry, and short stories and reviews) about workers’ rights and social justice. If you want, check out our website at http://www.ourtimes.ca.
Either way, all the best,
Lorraine Endicott
New Glasgow, Nova Scotia
Wilma Bell Wessel
/ January 3, 2013Thanks for your article about Idle No More. Good to see such growing support. Wilma
Jillian
/ July 26, 2013Hi, i read your blog from time to time and i own a similar one and i was
just curious if you get a lot of spam feedback?
If so how do you protect against it, any plugin or anything you can recommend?
I get so much lately it’s driving me insane so any support is very much appreciated.
John Innis
/ September 13, 2022mmm… I knew a ‘Bernie Wagner’ 40 years ago or so… I once sang a song with her… Paradise by the Dashboard Light… it’s always interesting what memories are encroached during the random transitions of web pages.