Intensive Creative Writing course, Thurs afternoons, April 23 – June 25, in Burlington

Intensive Creative Writing

10 weeks toward mastering your craft

Spring session

Thursday afternoons, 12:15 – 2:45 p.m.

April 23 – June 25, 2015

First readings emailed April 16

Appleby United Church, 4407 Spruce Avenue, Burlington, Ontario (Map here.)

Intensive Creative Writing isn't for beginners; it's for people who have been writing for a while or who have done a course or two before and are working on their own projects. Over the ten 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. 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.

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 Charlottetown. But his proudest boast is that he has helped many of his students get their first book published and launch their careers as authors.

Note: Check out a review of the Intensive course here. More reviews here.
See details of all five courses, from introductory to advanced, starting this spring here.

Fee: 176.11 + 13% hst = 199.  Payment in advance by mail or Interac.

Note: Enrollment is strictly limited, and these courses fill up, so enroll early to avoid disappointment. 

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

See Brian’s full schedule here, including writing workshops and creative writing courses in Barrie, Brampton, Bolton, Burlington, Caledon, Cambridge, Collingwood, Georgetown, Guelph, Hamilton, Kingston, London, Midland, Mississauga, Newmarket, Niagara on the Lake, Oakville, Orillia, Ottawa, Peterborough, St. Catharines, Stouffville, Sudbury, Toronto, Windsor, Halton, Kitchener-Waterloo, Muskoka, Peel, Simcoe, York, the GTA, Ontario and beyond.

A free contest and calls for travel pieces, creative nonfiction, and good writing

Entries are invites for “Passages: Transitions Between Worlds” a free writing contest hosted by the Creative Writing Concentration at Carleton University. Two age categories: under 18 and 18+. Categories: Poetry and Short Story. International entries welcome. Prize: $300 and publication in an anthology (Spring 2015). Submit three poems (max. 100 lines each) or one short story (3,000 words max.).

Deadline: February 15, 2015. Guidelines here.

Cargo literary magazine seeks writing that focuses on passage and transformation for their debut issue. Looking for travel essays, creative nonfiction, poetry and visual art (photography and more) that explores episodes of travel and personal growth. Wants your honesty and bravery. 

Deadline: February 1, 2015.

Room Magazine (Vancouver, BC) invites entries from writers, who identify as women or genderqueer, for their annual creative nonfiction writing contest. First prize: $500 + publication. Entry fee: $35 (includes one-year subscription), and $7 for each additional entry.

Deadline: March 8, 2015. Guidelines here.

Compose: A Journal of Simply Good Writing is reading for their Spring 2015 issue. Welcomes poetry, short fiction, nonfiction and artwork, excerpts from traditionally published collections, and proposals for feature-length interviews and

articles on the craft of writing.

Deadline:February 15, 2015. Guidelines.

See Brian Henry’s schedule here, including writing workshops and creative writing courses in Barrie, Brampton, Bolton, Burlington, Caledon, Cambridge, Collingwood, Georgetown, Guelph, Hamilton, Kingston, London, Midland, Mississauga, Newmarket, Niagara on the Lake, Oakville, Orillia, Ottawa, Peterborough, St. Catharines, Stouffville, Sudbury, Toronto, Windsor, Halton, Kitchener-Waterloo, Muskoka, Peel, Simcoe, York, the GTA, Ontario and beyond.

Next Step in Creative Writing course, Thursday evenings April 23 – June 25, in Georgetown

The Next Step in Creative Writing

10 weeks of creative growth

Spring session

Thursday evenings, 6:45 – 9:00 p.m.
April 23 – June 25, 2015

First readings emailed April 16

St. Alban's Church, 537 Main Street, Georgetown, Ontario (In the village of Glen Williams. Map here.)

The Next Step in Creative Writing will challenge you to take a step up in your writing. Over the ten 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. You bring whatever you want to work on.

Besides critiquing pieces, the instructor will give short lectures at the start of class, 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.

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, teaches creative writing at Ryerson University and has led workshops everywhere from Boston to Buffalo and from Sarnia to Charlottetown. But his proudest boast is that he has helped many of his students get their first book published and launch their careers as authors.

See details of all five courses, from introductory to advanced, starting this spring here.
Check out two reviews of the Next Step course here. 
And see more reviews of Brian’s courses and workshops here.

Fee: 176.11 + 13% hst = 199.  Payment in advance by mail or Interac.

Note: Enrollment is limited and these courses fill up, so enroll early to avoid disappointment.  

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

See Brian's full schedule here, including writing workshops and creative writing courses in Barrie, Brampton, Bolton, Burlington, Caledon, Cambridge, Collingwood, Georgetown, Guelph, Hamilton, Kingston, London, Midland, Mississauga, Newmarket, Niagara on the Lake, Orillia, Oakville, Ottawa, Peterborough, St. Catharines, Stouffville, Sudbury, Toronto, Windsor, Halton, Kitchener-Waterloo, Muskoka, Peel, Simcoe, York, the GTA, Ontario and beyond.

Inkwell Management has two agents seeking authors: Lauren Smythe and Allison Hunter

Lauren Smythe

InkWell Management
521 Fifth Avenue, 26th Floor
New York, NY 10175
http://www.inkwellmanagement.com/

InkWell Management is a large New York agency. It was formed in 2004 through the merger of Arthur Pine Associates, Carlisle & Company, and Witherspoon Associates. InkWell handles both fiction and nonfiction, literary and commercial literature, adult and young adult books. Inkwell has two newish agents looking for authors:

Lauren Smythe worked in the Literary Department of William MorrisEndeavor before joining Inkwell in 2010. Her interests are wide-ranging but tend toward smart narrative nonfiction (narrative journalism, modern history, biography, cultural criticism, personal essay, humor), personality-driven practical nonfiction (cookbooks, fashion and style), and contemporary literary fiction.

Lauren grew up in Indiana, attended New York University, and lives, predictably, in Brooklyn.

Update, Feb 9, 2015: Allison Hunter has left Inkwell Management and joined The Stuart Krichevsky Literary Agency. See here.

Allison Hunter, a native of the San Francisco Bay Area, began her publishing career in 2005 working for the Los Angeles-based literary publicity firm, Kim-from-L.A. 

Allison Hunter

She joined the InkWell team in New York City in 2010, and is actively acquiring literary and commercial fiction (including romance), memoir, narrative nonfiction, cultural studies, pop culture and prescriptive titles, including cookbooks.

Allison is always looking for funny female authors, great love stories and family epics, and for non-fiction projects that speak to the current cultural climate. She has a B.A. in American Studies and Creative Writing from Stanford University and a J.D. from the University of Chicago Law School.

Query Lauren or Allison at: submissions@inkwellmanagement.com 

Include 1 or 2 chapters in the body of your email (no attachments).

Full submission guidelines here.

Brian Henry will lead "How to Get Published" workshops in Niagara on the Lake on Saturday, March 7, with literary agent Olga Filina of The Rights Factory (see here) and in Windsor on Sunday, May 31, with Marth Magor Webb of Anne McDermid Agency (see here). 

Anne Shone

Also, Brian will lead a “Writing for Children & for Young Adults” workshop with Anne Shone, Senior Editor at Scholastic Canada, on Saturday, May 2, in Oakville (see here). 

For more information or to register for any workshop or course, email: brianhenry@sympatico.ca

Other upcoming workshops, include: "How to Write Great Dialogue," Saturday, Jan 24, in Georgetown (here), and "Revising and Editing," Saturday, Jan 31 in Oakville (here). 

Then “How to Build Your Story,” Saturday, February 7 in Stouffville (here), Saturday, February 28 in Collingwood (here), Saturday, March 14 in Burlington (here), Saturday, May 9 in London (here) and Saturday, May 30 in Guelph (here), and “How to Make Your Stories Sizzle,” Saturday, February 21 in Mississauga (here).

Weekly courses: Whether you're looking for an introduction to creative writing or you're getting your manuscript ready to submit to an agent, your best bet is a weekly course. See details for all six courses starting in January here. 
For details of courses starting in the spring, email: brianhenry@sympatico.ca 

Read reviews of Brian’s courses and workshops here.

See Brian's full schedule here, including writing workshops and creative writing courses in Barrie, Brampton, Bolton, Burlington, Caledon, Cambridge, Collingwood, Georgetown, Guelph, Hamilton, Kingston, London, Midland, Mississauga, Newmarket, Niagara on the Lake, Orillia, Oakville, Ottawa, Peterborough, St. Catharines, Stouffville, Sudbury, Toronto, Windsor, Halton, Kitchener-Waterloo, Muskoka, Peel, Simcoe, York, the GTA, Ontario and beyond.

Love letters ~ where your fellow writers are getting published and Writers wanted

Kathleen Rushall
of Marsal Lyon agency

Happy New Year, Brian!
I have some exciting news that I want to share with you. My Young Adult contemporary debut, FIRSTS, was sold to Kat Brzozowski at Thomas Dunne Books/St Martin's Press by my agent, Kathleen Rushall {of Marsal Lyon agency}. Publication is scheduled for 2016. I couldn't be happier about joining the Macmillan family and working with Kat on my book.
I hope to see you at another workshop in London soon!
Laurie Elizabeth Flynn
www.laurieelizabethflynn.com

Hi, Brian.

A quick note to thank you for all of your insight over the past couple of years.  2014 saw me finish a first draft of my novel and get published in the Facts and Arguments section of the Globe & Mail, as well as on CommuterLit.  I don’t think any of this would have been possible without your guidance and input.  Looking forward to our upcoming class.  See you in 2015!

Shauna Clinning 

For information about submitting to CommuterLit and about their latest print book, see here. Information about submitting a Facts & Arguments essay to the Glove & Mail here.

Hi, Brian.

I entered the print-edition of my recently-published nonfiction book, Blaze of Colour: Embracing Creativity, in Shelf Media’s Indie Book competition, and it is being honored as Shelf Unbound Notable Book in the category of Instructional Books.

 I’ve enjoyed your workshops over the years. Thanks!

 Diane Eastham

http://www.dianeeastham.com/books.php

Hi, Brian.

Hope you are doing well. Just wanted to let you know that the second of the four pieces I worked on in your class has been published. The Girl Who Can't Say No is in the December issue of Luna Station Quarterly.  (My first story, Jing Wei, was published earlier in Mirror Dance Magazine)

Hoping to take the Intensive Creative Writing course again soon. Thanks again for all your help and encouragement. 

Stephanie

For details of all six courses starting in January, see here.

For information on submitting to Luna Station Quarterly and to Mirror Dance magazine, see here. 

Writer to Writer

Julia

Hi, Brian.

I recently started a critique group for African fiction (all genres) based in Brampton.

Please, please spread the word. I'm calling all level writers of African literature to our first meeting on January 23. Or if you miss it, come to our second meeting on February 20. Or catch us on any third Friday of the month thereafter. Venue: a Brampton coffee house. 

Thanks Brian for everything that you do,

Julia 

For more information, email Julia at: thewritingden@yahoo.ca 

See Brian Henry’s schedule here, including writing workshops and creative writing courses in Barrie, Brampton, Bolton, Burlington, Caledon, Cambridge, Collingwood, Georgetown, Guelph, Hamilton, Kingston, London, Midland, Mississauga, Newmarket, Niagara on the Lake, Oakville, Orillia, Ottawa, Peterborough, St. Catharines, Stouffville, Sudbury, Toronto, Windsor, Halton, Kitchener-Waterloo, Muskoka, Peel, Simcoe, York, the GTA, Ontario and beyond.

“Who I Am,” by Johanna Montilla B.

Like every girl, when I was a child, I wanted to be a princess, then in elementary school I wanted to be a boss. In high school I decided I wanted to fight for what is right. Somehow I managed to be all of those things, I was my daddy´s little princess; as the oldest sister, I was my brothers´ boss, and after five years of college I became in a lawyer.

But there was more I wanted.

My passion for writing was always there, from the time when my best friend used to ask me to write poems for his girlfriend or when I was known as the best helper for literature homework, and classmate paid me in chocolates, candy bars or chips.  Kind of cheap, don´t you agree?

 In Law School, I continued creating poems and poetic prose.  However, I started to write for the academic world and so I changed my writing style from pink poetry to formal writing.

As a lawyer and university professor, writing was part of my career, part of my life. There was not one day in which I did not do it. 

That was my life, a life immersed in words. Maybe not all of them were creative ones, but they were my words.

Landing in Canada by Henry Sandham

One day, I changed my address, from the South America to the North. With all our belongings stuffed in six suitcases, my family found a new home in a small paradise. Still, that first morning I couldn´t recognize my reflection in the mirror, who was that estranger?

I was afraid of losing myself, it was harder when I found a book which included an article I’d written. As I ran my fingers over my name in the table of contents, loneliness and sadness invaded my heart. This book it was a memory of all I left behind. 

Then out the blue I recalled one of my favorite poems, “The road not taken” by Robert Frost. It was me in that poem. It was me, “who took the one less traveled by and that made me different.”

It has not been so long since then, but in this moment I have to admit, Canada changed me in every possible way. I am not even a shadow of the person who I was. For good or bad, I believe that people who used to know me are incapable of recognizing me now, nevertheless I like to think, that one thing remains intact, is my passion for writing. Now when I see this book in my shelves, I continue felling melancholy, but it is also a symbol of the power of my words and a reminder of how able I am.  

 Who was I? Well, when I remember about that time as a Litigant Attorney and University Professor, I like to think that I was good doing my job, that I helped a few people and maybe I was a good teacher and I collaborated with others to express themselves. Sometimes when I receive email messages or tweets from my ex-students, I like to think that I am right. 

Who am I now? It a complicated. I want to believe that I am a writer, a poet, a teller of  fairy tales, a professional science writer. Furthermore, I am a teacher,  a lawyer, a mom and a wife. I am a simple human being who is trying to live without regrets.

Johanna Montilla B. is always Lawyer and University Professor, sometimes a writer and Poet. She also loves books, T.V. shows, movies with happy endings and chocolates. Born and raised in Maracaibo, Venezuela, Johanna is a believer in new beginnings. In 2012 she, along with her husband and daughter found a new home in Burlington, Canada. She tweets at: @jhmontilla and blogs at: www.poetryandlaw.blogspot.com  

See Brian Henry’s schedule here, including writing workshops and creative writing courses in Barrie, Brampton, Bolton, Burlington, Caledon, Cambridge, Collingwood, Georgetown, Guelph, Hamilton, Kingston, London, Midland, Mississauga, Newmarket, Niagara on the Lake, Oakville, Orillia, Ottawa, Peterborough, St. Catharines, Stouffville, Sudbury, Toronto, Windsor, Halton, Kitchener-Waterloo, Muskoka, Peel, Simcoe, York, the GTA, Ontario and beyond.