Great creative writing courses – starting soon

Welcome to Creative Writing

Nine weeks of exploring your creative side

Tuesday afternoons, Sept 24 – Nov 19
12:45 – 2:45 p.m.
Appleby United Church, 4407 Spruce Ave, Burlington, Ontario (Map here.)

This is your chance to take up writing in a warm, supportive environment. This course will open the door to all kinds of creative writing. We’ll visit short story writing, children’s writing, and just for fun writing. You’ll get a shot of inspiration every week and an assignment to keep you going till the next class. Best of all, this class will provide a zero-pressure, totally safe setting, where your words will grow and flower.

Fee: $115.04 plus 13% hst = $130

To reserve your spot, email brianhenry@sympatico.ca

Writing Your Life & Other True Stories

An eight-week adventure in writing

Tuesday evenings, Sept 24 – Nov 127 – 9 p.m.
Appleby United Church, 4407 Spruce Ave, Burlington (Map here.)

If you've ever considered writing your memoirs, your family history or just getting your thoughts down on paper, this weekly course will get you going. 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 or for a wider public, don't miss this course.

Fee: $115.04 plus 13% hst = $130

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

The Next Step in Creative Writing

12 weeks of creative growth

Offered in two locales:

Thursday afternoons, Sept 19 – Dec 12, 2013 (No class on Oct 31, Halloween)
12:30 – 2:45 p.m.First readings emailed Sept 12
Unity Church, Unit 8, 3075 Ridgeway Drive, Mississauga(Don’t look for a steeple. Unity Church is a unit in a business mall and looks nothing like a church. Map here.)

And

Thursday evenings, Sept 26 – Dec 19, 2013 (No class on Oct 31, Halloween)6:45 – 9:00 p.m.First readings emailed Sept 19
St. Alban's Church, 537 Main Street, Georgetown
Iin the village of Glen Williams. (Once you go around the bend on Main St, it’s the second church on your right – Map here.)

This course will challenge you to take a step up in your writing.  Over the twelve weeks of classes, you’ll be asked to bring in five 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. You bring whatever you want to work on. Besides critiquing pieces, the instructor will give short lectures at the start of each class, addressing the needs of the group.

Fee: $181.42 + 13% hst = $205.  Payment in advance by mail or Interac.

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

Intensive Creative Writing

An adventure in creative growth

Offered in two locales:

Wednesday afternoons, Sept 18 – Dec 4
12:15 to 2:45
First set or readings emailed Sept 11
Appleby United Church, 4407 Spruce Ave, Burlington (Map here.)

And

Wednesday evenings, Sept 18 – Dec 4
6:45 to 9:00 p.m.
First set or readings emailed Sept 11
Sheridan United Church, 2501 Truscott Drive, Mississauga (Map here.)

This course is for people who have some experience as writers and are working on their own projects. Over the twelve classes, you’ll be asked to bring in six 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. You bring whatever you want to work on. 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: $181.42 + 13% hst = $205.  Payment in advance by mail or e-transfer.

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

See Brian's full schedule here, including writing workshops and creative writing courses in Kingston, Peterborough, Toronto, Mississauga, Brampton, Bolton, Caledon, Georgetown, Milton, Oakville, Burlington, St. Catharines, Hamilton, Dundas, Kitchener, Guelph, London, Woodstock, Orangeville, Newmarket, Barrie, Orillia, Sudbury, Muskoka, Peel, Halton, the GTA, Ontario and beyond.

Writing for Children & for Young Adults workshop, Saturday, Jan 18, Bolton branch of the Caledon Library

The Caledon Public Library presents…
Writing for Children and for Young Adults – the world’s hottest market
Saturday, January 18, 2014
10 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Albion Bolton Branch of the Caledon Public Library

150 Queen Street South, Bolton, Ontario (Map here.)

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.

Special option: You may, but don't have to, bring 2 or 3 copies of the opening couple pages (first 500 words) of your children’s book or young adult novel. (Or if 1,000 words will get you to the end of your picture book or to the end of your first chapter, bring that.) If you’re not currently working on a children’s story, don’t worry, we’ll get you started on the spot!

Workshop leader 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 (see here) 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. 

"Brian’s the real deal. He isn't just an inspiring teacher – he's plugged into the publishing world! He got me an agent who sold my first novel, Bitten, to publishers around the world. Last May, my young adult novel, The Awakening, hit number 1 on the New York Times bestsellers list. And Random House Canada, Bantam U.S. and Little Brown in Britain have contracted my next seven books. So it looks like I’ll be writing for a while." - Kelley Armstrong, Aylmer, Ontario, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Awakening, The Rising and other supernatural thrillers for teens and adults.

Fee: $39.82 + 13% hst = $45 
Limited enrolment. Please pay in advance by mail or Interac to ensure your space. To reserve a spot now, email brianhenry@sympatico.ca

See Brian’s full schedule here, including writing workshops and creative writing courses in Kingston, Peterborough, Toronto, Mississauga, Brampton, Georgetown, Milton, Oakville, Burlington, St. Catharines, Hamilton, Dundas, Kitchener, Guelph, London, Woodstock, Orangeville, Newmarket, Barrie, Orillia, Bracebridge, Sudbury, Muskoka, Peel, Halton, the GTA, Ontario and beyond.

Photos: Two books by Brian’s students: The Rising, a New York Times best-selling young adult novel by Kelley Armstrong, and Business in Bangkok, a picture book by Lynn Westerhout. 

A story about Israel and Syria for Rosh Hashanah

An Israeli girl (left) smiles at a Syrian girl (right) who suffered severe injuries when a shell exploded in her village.

“.מי שהציל נפש אחת - כאילו הציל עולם ומלואו” 

“Whoever saves a life, it is as if he saved the entire world.”

(Associated Press) NAHARIYA, Israel — It looks like a standard scene in the corner of the children's intensive care unit at a hospital in this northern Israeli town. The counter is jammed with stuffed animals, and balloons shaped like princesses float against the ceiling. A nervous, silent father hovers over his injured daughter.

But he and the girl are Syrians, spirited across the border by the Israeli military for medical treatment unavailable amid the civil war at home. He is silent because he cannot speak Hebrew, nervous because his presence in Israel, Syria's long-time enemy, could place his family in danger if his trip is discovered.

He came to the hospital six days ago, following after his daughter. He refuses to say how he arrived, and hospital staff step in quickly to deflect questions about the journey. He has no contact with his family at home. All of this, he says, is worth it.

“For my daughter, I'm willing to do anything,” said the father, who, like his 12-year-old daughter, could not be named because he fears repercussions in Syria.

While he was grateful for high-quality medical care, he was visibly afraid of the potential consequences of his trip, speaking in one-word answers and keeping his eyes lowered. He checked footage filmed by an AP Television News crew to make sure his daughter's face was obscured.

On both sides of the Syrian civil war, militant groups like Hezbollah and fighters linked to al-Qaida are virulently opposed to Israel's existence.

A young Syrian girl in Israeli hospital

The Syrian regime itself is a longtime Israeli enemy, and its citizens are banned from travel there, facing possible jail time if they are discovered.

The two countries have fought two wars, and Israel has annexed the Golan Heights, a plateau it captured when Syria attacked Israel in 1967.

President Bashar Assad and his late father Hafez, the former Syrian ruler, have used their anti-Israeli stance as a source of legitimacy and have hosted and funded anti-Israeli militants.

Generations of Syrians have grown up under propaganda vilifying the Jewish state.

All of this means that the father's presence in Israel could mean trouble for his family back home from any number of groups.

Those fears, said Dr. Zonis Zeev, the head of the children's ICU at Western Galilee Medical Center in the city of Nahiriya, are often the hardest for the patients to overcome.

"Probably at some time they were told about the 'animals' on the other side of the border, us, like the Zionists or the Jews," he said. "So they are terrified, and we have to treat the anxiety not less than treating the physical part. Sometimes it is much harder."

The hospital has treated 44 Syrian patients since March 27, four of them children as young as 3 years old. The 12-year-old daughter is one of seven Syrians currently scattered throughout different wards of the hospital, most guarded by Israeli soldiers stationed outside their rooms.

The Ziv Medical Center in the city of Safed, along with Army field hospitals, have also taken in Syrian patients.

Dr. Masad Barhoum, director-general of the hospital, said those numbers were a “drop in the ocean” given the scale of violence in Syria. The United Nations announced last month that their estimated death toll in the Syrian civil war had topped 100,000 people. Still, he said, his doctors are proud to offer whatever help they can.

In the case of the 12-year-old girl, her father had taken her to an aunt's house, thinking she would be safer there than at home. Instead, standing in the doorway of the sitting room 16 days ago, the girl was struck by flying shrapnel. The metal damaged her kidneys and spleen and wounded her back, said Zeev, the ICU chief.

The daughter underwent surgery in a hospital in Syria. It was there, the father said, that he heard secondhand whispers that treatment was available in Israel. “I heard from people that they treat people well here,” he said.

After five days in the Syrian hospital, the girl said, a relative of her aunt took her to the border.

The hospital used Arabic-speaking teachers and social workers to talk to the girl, and the aunt of another patient became like a surrogate mother to the rest of the ward. The staff provided comforts like a red stuffed elephant and portable DVD player. Her spirits were lifted five days later when her father showed up.

Shana Tova – happy new year – to all the little girls in the world. May this be a sweet year for us all - Brian

Love Letters: Where your fellow writers are getting published and winning contests

Alice Munro,
Canada's best loved short story writer

Hi, Brian and classmates, 

Just had to share this good news with all of you, since you helped me improve "Nearly Forever" before I sent it in, and now it’s a finalist in Alice Munro Festival's Short Story Competition!   

I'm so thrilled.

Susan McCrae

Hey, classmates:

I figured that we were so fortunate that Susan was a finalist in the Alice Munro competition that it would bring good things to all of us. So I went to the website and lo and behold, discovered I too am a finalist!

So Susan, I guess both of us will be there giggling and holding thumbs, etc. What fun - and how exciting that two of us made it into the finals.

What a slice!

Thanks to all of you who listened to the story when I read it in class.

Marilyn Kleiber

For information on the Alice Munro Short Story Contest, see here.

The "Next Step" and "Intensive" creative writing courses are full for this fall, but I can put you on the waiting list in case a spot opens up or you can reserve space in the winter course. "The Next Step in Creative Writing" will be offered Thursday afternoons in Mississauga and Thursday evenings in Georgetown. "Intensive Creative Writing" will be offered Wednesday afternoons in Burlington and Wednesday evenings in Georgetown. To register, email me at: brianhenry@sympatico.ca

Hello,

I just wanted to share a nice article in the London Free Press about me and my books. Check it out here.

My dreams are coming true. 

Bev Irwin

www.bevirwin.com

www.blackopalbooks.com

Hi, Brian.

Thank you for supporting me all these years as I chose to stay with writing. I want you to be the first to know that I have been appointed the Writer-in-Residence 2013-14 to the Heliconian Club, Toronto, the oldest association of its kind in Canada. It was founded in 1909 to give women in the arts and letters an opportunity to meet socially and intellectually For those of you who want to know more, here is a link to the club website here.

Jasmine

Jasmine D'Costa

author: CurryIs Thicker Than Water, stories

editor: Canadian Voices volumes one, and two

editor: IndianVoices, vol. one

Hi, Brian.

I rewrote with all of the suggestions from you and the "Welcome" class and I’ve had another piece accepted to CommuterLit.

Your inspiration sure has fired me up!

Gratefully,
Suzanne Burchell

Read Suzanne’s latest story on CommuterLit here.

For information about submitting to CommuterLit, see here.

There’s still space in “Welcome to Creative Writing” (see here) and “Writing Your Life” (see here). To register, email me at: brianhenry@sympatico.ca

Hi, Brian.

Good news!  I was just informed that my short story "Beachcombing" has won first prize in the Eden Mills Writer's Festival Short Story Contest.  The festival runs from Sept. 13-15 and they've asked me to do a reading of my story on the 15th.  I'm so grateful for the opportunity (nervous but grateful :).

Thank you for all your advice, it has certainly helped to strengthen my writing.

Sandra Ziemniak 

Check out what’s on at the Eden Mills Writers’ Festival here.

For information on their short story contest, see here.
And check out Sandra's review of Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern on Quick Brown Fox here.

See Brian Henry's schedule here, including writing workshops and creative writing courses in Kingston, Peterborough, Toronto, Mississauga, Brampton, Georgetown, Milton, Oakville, Burlington, St. Catharines, Hamilton, Dundas, Kitchener, Guelph, London, Woodstock, Orangeville, Newmarket, Barrie, Orillia, Bracebridge, Sudbury, Muskoka, Peel, Halton, the GTA, Ontario and beyond.

  

We're reading aloud at CJ's Cafe

But Tonight, poems by our hostess,
CJ Martin

Thursday, September 12

6:30 – 9:00 p.m.
CJ’s Cafe, 2416 Lakeshore Rd W, Oakville
(On the south side of Lakeshore, just east of Bronte Road, next to Lick’s. Map here.)

This is the night that graduates of Brian Henry’s Next Step and Intensive creative writing courses get to strut their stuff. We’ll have a line-up of the most amazing emerging writers west of Toronto, and they’ll be reading some of the best work you’ll hear this year. Don’t miss it!

Meanwhile, be sure to check out all the other great stuff going on at CJ’s, home of the best lattes in North America here.

The fall courses for Brian’s Next Step and Intensive courses are pretty much full. But email to get on the waiting list or to reserve a spot in a winter course. Once again, Next Step in Creative Writing courses will be offered on Thursday afternoons in Mississauga and Thursday evenings in Georgetown, while Intensive courses will be offered Wednesday afternoons in Burlington and Wednesday evenings in Mississauga.

To register, email brianhenry@sympatico.ca

See Brian's full schedule here, including writing workshops and creative writing courses in Kingston, Peterborough, Toronto, Mississauga, Brampton, Georgetown, Milton, Oakville, Burlington, St. Catharines, Hamilton, Dundas, Kitchener, Guelph, London, Woodstock, Orangeville, Newmarket, Barrie, Orillia, Bracebridge, Sudbury, Muskoka, Peel, Halton, the GTA, Ontario and beyond.

Nearly gone...

Summer

Summer's come 

And nearly gone

Like a favorite song

It doesn't last long

- Therese Taylor