Evolving schedule of writing classes, workshops, and retreats

2025

Winter Classes (Details of all classes starting this January here.):

“Writing Personal Stories”
Online: Tuesday afternoons, 1 – 3 p.m.
January 14 – March 4. Details here.

“Writing Picture Books – Intensive”
Online: Wednesday evenings, 6:30 – 9:00 p.m.
January 15 – February 26 (or to March 5 if the class fills up). First pieces emailed Jan 8. Details here.

“Writing Personal Stories & Other Nonfiction”
In person: Thursday evenings, 7 – 9 p.m., in Burlington
Jan 23 – Feb 27 (or to March 6 if the class is full. Details here.

“(Not so) Extreme Creative Writing”

In person: Thursday afternoons 12:30 – 3:00 p.m.
Jan 16 – Feb 27 (or to March 6 if the class fills up). First readings emailed Jan 9.

Burlington Anglican Lutheran Church, in Burlington, Ontario. Details here.

“Intensive Creative Writing”

Offered online at 3 different times:

Tuesday evenings 6:30 – 9:00
Jan 14 – Feb 25 (or to March 4 if the class fills up). First readings emailed Jan 7.

Wednesday afternoons, 12:30 – 3:00
Jan 15 – Feb 26 (or to March 5 if the class fills up). First readings emailed Jan 8.

Friday mornings 10:00 – 12:30
Jan 17 – Feb 28 (or to March 7 if the class fills up). First readings emailed Jan 10.

     Details of all three Intensive offerings here.

     Details of all weekly classes starting this January here. 

***

Writing Retreats

Spring Writers’ Retreat at Elm Hurst Inn & Spa

Friday, April 25 – Monday, April 28. Details here.

June in Algonquin Writers' Retreat at Arowhon Pines Resort in Algonquin Park

Friday, June 13 – Monday, June 16. Details here.

***

Writing Workshops

Online: “Writing for children and for young adults,” with Patricia Ocampo, senior editor with Kids Can Press, Saturday, March 1. Details here. 

Online: “How to Get Published,” with a literary agent as a guest speaker. Probably in March or April. Details to come.   

In-person: “Writing Your Life & Other True Stories,” Saturday, May 3, Niagara-on-the Lake, Ontario. Details here.

Online: “How to Build Your Novel” with guest New York Times bestselling author Kelley Armstrong, Sunday, July 20. Details here.

***

To reserve a spot or for more details about any course, workshop or retreat, email brianhenry@sympatico.ca

“Not Your Usual Christmas Story” by Isolde Ryan

As children grow into young adults, some Christmas traditions become less important than others. For example, every year we have to have turkey with my secret home-made stuffing and nothing else will do – which is work for me – but we can do without the Christmas lights on the eves trough – which is work for them!

Then we became grandparents, and everything changed once more. When my grandson Johnny was about four years old, he asked me if we could put lights on the outside of the house so Santa could find him better. Like any good grandma, I said yes and went out to buy lights the very next day. I installed them with the ladder in the bitter cold with the wind almost blowing me over several times. I did all of this just to see the smile on his face after he got home from kindergarten that day.  Believe me when I say it was so worth it.

The lights had no on-and-off switch; they had to be plugged into an outlet in the garage. This meant I had to unplug them before going to bed, which I forgot to do almost every night. My husband complained about the lights, telling me they would just increase our Hydro bill. Nevertheless, I kept them on for my grandson, and for Santa of course.

About a week before Christmas I was woken up by loud banging on our front door. The clock read 4 a.m. I went to the front window and looked out and saw a young man beating on my door.

I raced downstairs and opened the door. “What’s wrong?” I asked.

He looked at me and replied, “I am so cold!”

I told him to come in and sat him down.  I got him a blanket, and that’s when I noticed he was drunk, so I offered him some water too. He had vomit all along the side of his pants, and he wasn't wearing a coat. His face was frozen and he looked blue. He had been out in minus-20 weather in a thin dress shirt. He was shaking from the cold and crying, telling me he was lost.

We live on a rural road, surrounded by forest.  When I asked him how he got to my house, he said he followed the lights, “Yours were the only lights I could see.”

I asked him again how he got here, and he told me he was at a party in town and went outside to pee. In his state, he walked the wrong way, got turned around and got lost. The town is eight kilometers away! He must be mistaken, I told him, but he stuck to his story.

I asked him if I could call someone for him and he gave me a number, but no one answered. He then suggested I call his brother, and he gave me another number, where I left a message. He said his name was Jeff, and his family had moved from Woodbridge to Tottenham only a month before. He kept telling me how thankful he was that we had our lights on, as he couldn't see anything walking around outside in the dark.

My husband John heard the commotion and finally got up to see what was going on. I kept calling Jeff’s brother, and finally a girl answered. She said his brother was out looking for him. It was now 4:30. We told her where we lived and that Jeff was okay now. A little shaken up, but okay.

We sat at the table with Jeff, who finally started to get normal colour back in his face. He had stopped shaking, but was still talking about our lights. He kept thanking us for having them on.

His brother arrived about 30 minutes later in a pick-up truck. My husband helped the intoxicated Jeff out of the house and into the truck.

When John came back inside, he told me there was vomit all over the passenger seat and door. He said his brother must have thrown him out of his truck after he got sick in it, and left him outside, in the cold, without even a jacket. That theory made more sense to me then the story Jeff had given us.

The next day, I mentioned all of this to a friend, who called me crazy for “letting some strange young guy in to my home at four in the morning!”

 “What if it had been your son?” I said.

I told my grandson the next day that the lights he wished for weren't only going to help Santa find his way, but they had also saved a young man from freezing to death outside. Johnny was very happy about asking for the lights.

My husband never mentioned the Hydro bill again.

The following week I had card in my mail box from Jeff's mother. It read: “Thank you for saving my son!” and was accompanied by a gift certificate.

I often think how Jeff's story could have ended differently if I had remembered to turn the lights off.

Isolde Ryan has been a visual artist and writer all her life. She is a contributing author in both The Chicken Soup for the Soul: The Spirit of Canada (2017), and We are the Wordsmiths, (2017). Through the South Simcoe Arts Council, Isolde won First Place in the Battle of the Brushes in 2017 and 2015; and in 2010, won the Peoples’ Choice Award. 

Though Isolde put her creative side on hold to raise her family and breed prize-winning Dobermans, she has produced many original pieces for art lovers around the world. She frequently writes short stories, and is now working on her first novel. This story was previously published on CommuterLit. Follow her on Twitter @isoldesryan, and visit her blog here.

See upcoming weekly writing classes, one-day workshops, and four-day retreats here. 

Read more short stories, essays, and reviews by your fellow writers here (and scroll down).

Happy Hanukkah

 

חנוכה שמח 

Hanukkah Sameach

Happy Hanukkah

It's a grim time still, with more than 100 Israelis still held hostage by Hamas, among them a baby who is by now a toddler (if she's still alive). 

But after darkness, light. 

And the people of Israel still live. 

Am Yisrael Chai. עַם יִשְׂרָאֵל חַי

To everyone who celebrates it: Merry Christmas!

And may you have a wonderful holiday season!

We have seven classes starting in January and most still have at least one or two spots

Intensive Creative Writing

Offered online at 3 different times:

Wednesday afternoons, 12:30 – 3:00

Jan 15 – Feb 26 (or to March 5 if the class fills up). First readings emailed Jan 8. (We still have 2 spots in the Wednesday afternoon class; email to snag one!)

Tuesday evenings 6:30 – 9:00
Jan 14 –March 4. First readings emailed Jan 7. (This class is probably full. But plans change, so if you’re interested in signing up, email me.)

Friday mornings 10:00 – 12:30
Jan 17 –March 7. First readings emailed Jan 10. (This class is probably full. But plans change, so if you’re interested, email me.)

Intensive Creative Writing isn't for beginners; it's for people who are working on their own writing projects. You’ll be asked to bring in several pieces of your writing for detailed feedback. All your pieces may be from the same work, such as a novel in progress, or they may be stand-alone pieces, such as short stories or essays. You bring whatever you want to work on. 

Besides critiquing pieces, the instructor will give short lectures addressing the needs of the group, and in addition to learning how to critique your own work and receiving constructive suggestions about your writing, you’ll discover that the greatest benefits come from seeing how your classmates approach and critique a piece of writing and how they write and re-write. This is a challenging course, but extremely rewarding.

Fee: $256.64 + hst = $290

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

“Writing Picture Books – Intensive”

Online: Wednesdays, 6:30 – 9:00 p.m.
Jan 15 –March 5. First readings emailed Jan 8.  (We still have 1 spot in this class; email me to reserve it!)

This Intensive course will be organized like my other Intensive courses, but it’s for people writing picture books. You’ll be asked to bring in four pieces of your writing for detailed feedback. This may be four separate picture book manuscripts or, possibly, just one, reworked four times. You bring whatever you want to work on. 

Besides critiquing pieces, we’ll have discussions and I’ll give short talks addressing the needs of the group. You’ll receive constructive suggestions about your writing, learn how to critique your own work, ands you’ll discover that the greatest benefits come from seeing how your classmates approach and critique a piece of writing and how they write and re-write.

I expect you’ll find this course extremely rewarding – and fun. After all, we’re working on picture books! ~Brian

Fee: $247.79 + hst = $280

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

“(Not so) Extreme Creative Writing”

 ~ For more experienced writers 

In-person: Thursday afternoons, 12:30 – 3:00 p.m.
Jan 16 – Feb 26 (Or to March 5 if the class fills up). First readings emailed Jan 9.
Burlington Anglican Lutheran Church, 3455 Lakeshore Rd, Burlington, Ontario (Map here)
(We still have 1 or 2 spots in this class; email me to snag one!)

Extreme Creative Writing isn't like an extreme sport – it doesn't demand something crazy – but it is meant for writers who have been writing for a while or who have done a course or two before and are working on their own projects.

You’ll be asked to bring in a few pieces of your writing for detailed feedback, including a couple longish pieces. All your pieces may be from the same work, such as a novel in progress, or they may be stand-alone pieces, such as essays, picture book manuscripts, or short stories. You bring whatever you want to work on. 

Besides critiquing pieces, we’ll have discussions on topics of interest to the class. In addition to learning how to critique your own work and receiving constructive suggestions about your writing, you’ll discover that the greatest benefits come from seeing how your classmates approach and critique a piece of writing and how they write and re-write. This is a challenging course, but extremely rewarding.

Fee: $256.64 + hst = $290

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

“Writing Personal Stories”

Online: Tuesday afternoons, 1 – 3 p.m.
January 14 – March 4
(This class is probably full. But plans change, so if you’re interested in signing up, email me.)

If you've ever considered writing your personal stories, this course is for you. We’ll look at memoirs, travel writing, personal essays, family history – personal stories of all kinds. Plus, of course, we’ll work on creativity and writing technique and have fun doing it. 

Whether you want to write a book or just get your thoughts down on paper, this weekly course will get you going. We'll reveal the tricks and conventions of telling true stories, and we’ll show you how to use the techniques of the novel to recount actual events. Weekly writing exercises and friendly feedback from the instructor will help you move forward on this writing adventure. Whether you want to write for your family and friends or for a wider public, don't miss this course.

We’ll also have a published author as a guest speaker for this course.

Fee: $220.35 plus 13% hst = $259

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

“Writing Personal Stories & Other Nonfiction”

In-person: Thursday evenings, 7 – 9 p.m.
Jan 23 – Feb 27 (Or to March 6 if the class is full)
Burlington Anglican Lutheran Church, 3455 Lakeshore Rd, Burlington, Ontario (Map here)
(Still lots of space in this class, but please sign up soon – it starts in less than a month.)

If you want to write any kind of true story, this course is for you. Personal stories will be front and centre – we’ll look at memoirs, travel writing, personal essays, family history – but we’ll also look at writing feature articles, creative nonfiction and other more informational writing. Plus, of course, we’ll work on creativity and writing technique and have fun doing it. 

Whether you want to write a book or just get your thoughts down on paper, this weekly course will get you going. We'll reveal the tricks and conventions of telling true stories, and we’ll show you how to use the techniques of the novel to recount actual events. Weekly writing exercises and friendly feedback from the instructor will help you move forward on this writing adventure. Whether you want to write for your family and friends or for a wider public, don't miss this course.

Fee: $212.39 plus 13% hst = $240

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

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 (now called Toronto Metropolitan University) and has led workshops everywhere from Boston to Buffalo and from Sarnia to Saint John. But his proudest boast is that he’s has helped many of his students get published. 

Read pieces about ~ or inspired by ~ Brian's retreats, courses and workshops here (and scroll down).

See all of Brian’s upcoming weekly writing classes, one-day workshops, and four-day retreats here.

"Trudeau ponders his political belly button while "antizionists" shoot up a school" by Brian Henry

December 21, 2024

For the third time, a school for little girls in Toronto has been shot up. Why? Because the girls who go to Beit Chaya Mushka Elementary are Jewish.

And what’s our Prime Minister doing? He’s wholly consumed with holding on to power. It’s not just the opposition, most of the Liberal caucus are calling for his resignation. He says he’s “reflecting on his political future.” Should he stay or should he go?

Things were bad enough a month ago. While our Prime Minister fiddled the night away at a Taylor Swift concert, Montreal burned. In anti-Jewish riots, “pro-Palestinians” torched cars, smashed storefront windows, and attacked police officers (here). Why? Because, they feel, Canada and NATO aren’t not doing their part in the sacred war to wipe Israel off the map.

Yes, I know, this supposedly makes them antizionists, not antisemites. I’ve been told specifically and personally by the Jew-haters – sorry, Zionist-haters – who show up every Sunday at the intersection of Bathurst and Sheppard, in the heart of Toronto’s Jewish neighbourhood, that they don’t hate Jews, just Zionists.

So, we need not worry about the little girls at that Jewish school. They deserved having their school shot at. Because not only are they Jewish, but those little girls, their parents, and their teachers are all Zionists. Indeed, ninety percent of Jews in Canada are Zionists, and among Jews who care about being Jewish, that percentage is much higher.

For that matter, about 80% of all Canadians are Zionists, because Zionism is simply the belief that Israel has a right to go on existing, and the Jews and others who live there have the right to go on living.

This is not what our “antizionists” believe. Last month, one of the Bathurst and Sheppard protesters came dressed up as Yahya Sinwar (killed by Israel in October). This is very like showing up in a Jewish neighbourhood dressed up as your hero, Hitler.

At Bathurst and Sheppard, man on chair dressed as Yahya Sinwar. Another man holds a sign with an inverted red triangle – the sign used by Hamas to designate people they want to kill and which has spread worldwide to become the contemporary equivalent of a swastika. And a woman holding sign reading: “Free flights to Amsterdam” – where thousands of thugs had recently led “Jew hunts” through the streets (here). — Source: Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center (here).

Sinwar was the Hamas leader who masterminded the terrorist assault of October 7. The man who ordered the mass slaughter or kidnapping of every Israeli the invaders could find – man, woman, and child. The man who ordered a campaign of mass torture and of mass rape and sexual mutilation. The man who ordered it all filmed for the delight of fellow “antizionists” and the horror of the victims’ friends and family.

This was the man whom Palestinians – not Israelis, but Palestinians – nicknamed the Butcher of Khan Yunis for the many, many Palestinians he had tortured and executed because he suspected them of collaborating with Israel.

This is the man who masterminded the war between Hamas and Israel, in which Hamas’s entire defensive strategy has been to burrow beneath the cities of Gaza, to embed themselves within hospitals, schools, and mosques, and to hide weapons or tunnel entrances in half the homes in Gaza – in short to make it impossible to get at Hamas without going through civilians.

This is the man who is a hero to the “antizionists” among us.

And what has been our government’s policy? Why to occasionally tweet its concern and to declare that Israel has a right to defend itself against those who would gleefully film themselves murdering all the Jews on the planet. But our government’s policy is also apparently that Israelis must defend themselves with their bare hands, because our government also forbids arms sales to Israel.

Antizionist gives Nazi salute at Montreal riot, says, "Final solution is coming."
Videos of Montreal riots here.

In an interview for CTV, former NDP leader Thomas Mulcair put it to our Foreign Affairs Minister, Mélanie Jolie, that the government’s policy was incomprehensible. Her reply? “Thomas, have you seen the demographics of my riding?” (here).

Mulcair wrote: “I was astonished to hear such a candid admission that very local politics were playing such a role in shaping Canada’s foreign policy on this highly complex and sensitive issue.”

Of course, it’s not just Jolie’s riding. The Liberals can count. They know that among people for whom the issue might move their vote, Hamas supporters greatly outnumber Israel supporters, especially in urban and suburban ridings where the Liberals must get re-elected if they hope to escape being wiped out in the next election.

This accounts for why Trudeau supports anti-Israel fictions and policies that play into Hamas’s war aims – so much so that Hamas has publicly thanked him for his support (here). Trudeau hopes to buy the votes of the Zionist-haters. And if this results in encouraging these “antizionists” to shoot up a school for little girls? Ah well, he has far more important things to consider, such as his future!

Should he go?

Yes, please!

***

For more on the danger we face, see here.

This piece was originally published on the CanadianZionist Forum.

Read more of my pieces here (and scroll down). ~Brian

You're invited to “Writing Kid Lit” with guest Patricia Ocampo, senior editor at Kids Can Press

Mortified by Kristy Jackson a finalist
for the Governor General's Prize
this year ~ yay, Kristy!

“Writing for Children and for Young Adults”

 ~ with guest Patricia Ocampo, senior editor at Kids Can Press

Saturday, March 1, 2025
 1:15 – 5:00 p.m.
Online via Zoom and accessible wherever there’s Internet

If you want to write the next best-selling children’s books or just want to create stories for your own kids, this workshop is for you. Learn how to write stories kids and young adults will love and find out what you need to know to sell your book.

This is your chance to speak with someone within a publishing company in a small group setting and to pull back the curtain and see how it all works. Be sure to bring your questions – we'll have lots of time for interaction.

Special option: Participants are invited to submit the opening couple pages (first 500 words) of your children’s book or young adult novel (or up to 800 words if that gets you to the end of your picture book or to the end of your first chapter). Email your pages to me prior to our workshop.

Patricia and I will publicly critique about half a dozen submissions so everyone can see what works, what doesn’t, and how to improve your story-telling. Get your pages in early if you want to be part of this. If you’re not currently working on a children’s story, don’t worry, we’ll get you started! ~Brian

Guest speaker Patricia Ocampo is a Senior Editor at Kids Can Press. Since 1973, Kids Can has published award-winning, best-selling books for young readers, including The Most Magnificent Thing and the Franklin the Turtle series.

Patricia acquires books for children and tweens, both fiction and nonfiction. She has a particular interest in laugh-out-loud stories – she’s forever looking for the next Angus, Thongs, and Full-Frontal Snogging – and unique approaches to nonfiction.

Patricia has worked at HarperCollins, Annick Press, and Simon and Schuster. She was also a literary agent at Transatlantic Agency. Patricia served five years on the International Board on Books for Young People, including two years as president of the Canadian chapter. She teaches a course on editing books for children at Toronto Metropolitan University’s Chang School of Continuing Education.

Workshop leader Brian Henry has been a book editor, author, and creative writing instructor for more than 25 years. He publishes Quick Brown Fox, Canada’s most popular blog for writers and is the author of a children’s version of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (Tribute Publishing Inc). But his proudest boast is that he’s has helped many of his students get published.

Read reviews and reflections on Brian’s retreats, classes and workshops here.

Fee: $45.13 + 13% hst = $51 paid in advance by mail or Interac

To reserve a spot now, email: brianhenry@sympatico.ca

See all of Brian’s upcoming weekly writing classes, one-day workshops, and four-day retreats here.