Writing Kid Lit, Picture Books to YA, course April 10 – June 19, in Mississauga

The Calling a YA novel by Kelley Armstrong,
a New York Times #1 bestselling author
and one of Brian's students

Writing Kid Lit ~ Picture Books to YA

Monday afternoons, 12:45 – 2:45 p.m. Mississauga

April 10 – June 19  

Unity Church, Unit 8, 3075 Ridgeway Drive, Mississauga, Ontario (Map here.)

See details of all 7 classes offered this spring here.

From picture books to young adult novels, this weekly course is accessible for beginners and meaty enough for advanced writers. Through lectures, in-class assignments, homework, and feedback on your writing, we’ll give you ins and outs of writing for younger readers and set you on course toward writing your own books. 

We’ll have two published children’s authors as guest speakers:

Sylvia McNicoll is the author of over thirty books, many of which have garnered awards and Her YA novel Crush.candy.corpse was shortlisted for the Arthur Ellis YA Crime Novel of the Year Award, the Red Maple Award, the Manitoba Young Readers' Choice Award, and the Snow Willow Award, as well as being selected as one of the Ontario Library Association's Best Bets and Resource Links' Year's Best for 2012. 

Most acclaimed, though, are her three middle grade books about fostering guide dogs: Bringing Up Beauty, Beauty Returns, and A Different Kind of Beauty which won and were nominated for many children’s choice awards.

Her 2015 YA novel Best Friends Through Eternity tells the story of an adopted Chinese teen for whom an ill-fated shortcut along a rail track leads to the discovery of some uncomfortable truths.  In 2017, Sylvia launches her new middle grade series The Great Mistake Mysteries beginning with The Best Mistake Mystery in January and The Artsy Mistake Mystery in September and finishing with The Snake Mystery in January 2018.

Kira Vermond is an award-winning writer with over 1,500 articles to her name. She has been a frequent contributor to the Globe and Mail, Chatelaine, CBC and Today's Parent.

Kira is the author of four nonfiction books for young readers: Half-Truths and Brazen Lies, (just nominated for a 2017 Ontario Library Association (OLA) Silver Birch Award – read more about Half-Truths here); Why We Live Where We Live (more here); Growing Up: Inside and Out, (nominated for on OLA Forest of Reading Award), and The Secret Life of Money: A Kid's Guide to Cash (which was my son’s and daughter’s favourite book  the year it came out, although my kids are four years apart). 

Kira lives in Guelph, Ontario. Visit her web page here. 

Instructor Brian Henry has been a book editor and creative writing instructor for more than 25 years. He publishes Quick Brown Fox, Canada's most popular blog for writers, teaches creative writing at Ryerson University and has led workshops everywhere from Boston to Buffalo and from Sarnia to Saint John. Brian is the author of a children’s version of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (Tribute Publishing). But his proudest boast is that he’s has helped many of his students get published. 

Read reviews of Brian’s courses and workshops here.  

Course fee:  $176.11 plus 13% hst = 199

To reserve your spot, email: brianhenry@sympatico.ca

See Brian’s complete current schedule here, including writing workshops and creative writing courses in Algonquin Park, Bolton, Barrie, Brampton, Burlington, Caledon, Georgetown, Guelph, Hamilton, Ingersoll, Kingston, Kitchener, London, Midland, Mississauga, Oakville, Ottawa, Peterborough, St. Catharines, Saint John, NB, Sudbury, Thessalon, Toronto, Windsor, Woodstock, Halton, Kitchener-Waterloo, Muskoka, Peel, Simcoe, York Region, the GTA, Ontario and beyond.