Join us for 5 days of digital learning from July 22 to 26, 2024 Online.
All times are in Pacific (Vancouver) time. Our event is focused on creative nonfiction and memoir. Check out our included sessions below!
MONDAY
11:00AM: Interview LIKE a Vampire with JJ Lee: Interviewing is a fundamental skill that aids non-fiction writers in filling narrative gaps, enhancing points of detail, and bringing past events to life. JJ Lee, memoirist, podcast producer, and former CBC broadcaster talks techniques of listening and question forming that can draw the heart, blood, and tears out of an interviewee WITHOUT crossing personal boundaries and journalism ethics. Sink your teeth into the interview.
TUESDAY
11:00AM: Treading Deep and Writing Softly with Wanda Taylor: How to write the hard parts with care in Creative Nonfiction and Memoir
2:00PM: Getting Past the First Page with Bryan Mortensen: This session will walk you through alternative strategies to get your writing started. We'll discuss technology, writing exercises, and more.
WEDNESDAY
11:00AM: Outline Your Memoir Using Fairy Tale & Myth as Your Guide (Part 1) with Janelle Hardy. Janelle will take you through an innovative & fascinating memoir outlining process by using fairy tale & myth to identify underlying structures, patterns and mythic narratives. This workshop is experiential & includes a comprehensive rites of passage document. Be prepared to be delighted!
2:00PM: Outline Your Memoir Using Fairy Tale & Myth as Your Guide (Part 2) with Janelle Hardy. Continued.
THURSDAY
11:00AM: From the Heart: Writing for Family and Friends with Rachel Dunstan Muller: This session will explore ideas and techniques to help you write the most engaging version of your memoir or personal stories – whether you’re writing for publication or a more intimate audience.
2:00PM: Live Editing Session with Tara Avery and Kyle Hawke from Editors BC: Back by popular demand, our friends from Editors BC markup a sample provided by one of our participants. Tara and Kyle are pros and will make suggestions with care and kindness. This session is a great opportunity to see the editing process and take away some suggestions for your own writing. (tentative time)
FRIDAY
11:00AM: Unearthing Your Aesthetic Voice with Keiko Honda: This session is an invitation to discover your aesthetic voice - the way you perceive and translate beauty, emotion, and experience into written language. The key takeaway includes but is not limited to Deeper self-awareness, Crafting a "sensory library", and finding beauty in the "mundane".
2:00PM:
3:00PM: Wrap Up Writers Social: Join us to discuss key learnings, takeaways, and any conversations you want to have. We'll gather topics in advance to establish breakout rooms on anything that has peaked your interest.
DAILY
8:30am: Morning Mindfulness with Shelley A. Leedahl: back by popular demand, in these daily sessions, Shelley will guide us through a writing focused meditation to ground us for our day.
9am: Writing Sprint with Bryan Mortensen: In these daily sessions, we will open a zoom room for an hour for a dedicated group writing space. Each day, the sprints will vary in length so that writers can find their ideal writing sprint time. We will also provide some nonfiction and memoir inspired prompts.
The event schedule
- 8:30 am Mindfulness Exercises (5 sessions)
- 9:00 am Writing Sprints (5 sessions)
- 11:00 am Main Sessions (5 Sessions)
- 2:00 pm Bonus Sessions (2+ Sessions)
Presenters:
- Tara Avery, Janelle Hardy. Kyle Hawke, Keiko Honda, JJ Lee, Shelley A. Leedahl, Bryan Mortensen, Rachel Dunstan Muller, Wanda Taylor, and more!
