New Creative Writing Series

We’re excited to introduce a new creative writing workshop series beginning on Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024.

If you’re a writer looking to learn some new techniques to apply to your creative works and meet some like-minded folks from different parts of campus along the way, this series is for you.  “These workshops are opportunities to take breaks from regular academic work to try new things. At each session, we'll be offering lunch, a cozy atmosphere to meet new people, and fun workshops to explore creative writing,” said Mary McCaffery, writing specialist, Writing & Learning Services.

Each session runs from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m., in Raithby House, and will include a light lunch. Registration for the Creative Writing Series is now open. We look forward to embarking on this creative journey with you! Learn more about each session below.

Session Information 

Writing Poems that Spring from Poems: The Surprising and Inevitable Art of the Glosa 

Learn from other poets and experiment with new uses of language by writing a glosa—a structured poetic tradition that involves borrowing lines from other texts. This session is led by Anna Lee-Popham. 

Lee-Popham is a writer, editor, and teacher based in Toronto. Her writing has been longlisted for the CBC nonfiction prize, first runner-up in PRISM international’s Pacific Poetry Prize, shortlisted for The Fiddlehead Creative Nonfiction Contest and ROOM Magazine's Poetry Contest, and published in Arc, Riddle Fence, Canthius, and Autostraddle. She holds an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Guelph and is a graduate of The Writer’s Studio at Simon Fraser University and University of Toronto’s School of Continuing Education Creative Writing Certificate, where she received the Janice Colbert Poetry Award. As an editor, Anna has worked with numerous writers and memoirists, including Clayton Thomas-Muller whose memoir, Life in the City of Dirty Water, was a Canada Reads 2022 finalist. As a teacher she is excited to nurture a creative community amongst students that establishes trust and encourages both vulnerability and exploration.

• Register for Writing Poems that Spring from Poems, happening Tuesday, Sept. 24.

A Poet must look at the moon: Poetic Devices Workshop

Drawing inspiration from Billy Ray Belcourt, this session will introduce you to metaphor and enjambment as the building blocks of imagery. This session is led by Jedidiah Mugarura. 

Mugarura is a storyteller descended from the people of Nkore. Their storytelling seeks to find and reimagine the missing vowels to the songs we once sang before colonial violence, to project a future of agency and possibility for those still negotiating their bodies in empire. Their poems appear in Contemporary Verse 2, Brittle Paper and Humber Literary Review. You can read their short story, ‘Can I Show You Magic?’ in issue 5 of Lolwe. ‘Special Boy’ is their latest short fiction out in issue 133 of Transition. 

• Register for A Poet must look at the moon: Poetic Devices Workshop, happening Friday, Sept. 27.

Writing Stories: Redefining Narrative Structure

Using shapes in nature as inspiration, you’ll draw and diagram a structure for your own story using coloured pencils and markers. This session is led by Christine Ottoni. 

Ottoni is a writer and educator living in Hamilton. Her short story collection Cracker Jacks for Misfits (2019) was a ReLit Awards Finalist for Best Short Story Collection and won the Bressani Literary Prize for First Book. In 2021, Christine’s poetry chapbook under insides was published by Frog Hollow Press. Christine has an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Guelph and has taught creative writing at the University of Guelph and the University of Toronto Scarborough. She is currently developing a novel with the support of the Canada Council for the Arts.

• Register for Writing Stories: Redefining Narrative Structure, happening Friday, Oct. 4.

Writing Stories: Description through Character

Through this hands-on workshop, you’ll find out what cartoons can teach us about describing settings through the perspectives of your characters. This session is led by Michael Melgaard. 

Melgaard is the author of the short story collection Pallbearing and the novel Not That Kind of Place. His writing has appeared in Best Canadian Stories anthology, as well as Joyland, Lithub, and elsewhere. He is a former book columnist for the National Post. Originally from Vancouver Island, he currently lives in Toronto.

• Register for Writing Stories: Description through Character, happening Wednesday, Oct. 9. 

Questions?

Contact us. We’re happy to help.

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