Intensive Creative Writing

Wednesday afternoons online 12:30 – 3:00
First readings emailed Sept 9
Classes: Sept 16 – Dec 2 (or to Dec 9 if the class fills up). No class Oct 21

Note: We may also still have a spot or two open in the in-person “Intensive Creative Writing” class on Thursday afternoons in Burlington (see here) and in the online “Advanced Creative Writing” on Friday mornings (see here).

The Tuesday evening online Intensive class is full, but email if you’re interested; sometimes people need to drop out at the last minute. Plus, there is still space in the online “Welcome to Creative Writing” on Monday evenings and in “Writing Personal Stories” class on Tuesday afternoons. See everything coming up here.

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 or a picture book manuscript. You bring whatever you want to work on.

Besides critiquing pieces, the instructor will give short lectures addressing the needs of the group. 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: $292.04 + hst = $330

To reserve your spot, email: brain.henry123@gmail.com

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, taught creative writing at Ryerson University (now called Toronto Metropolitan University) and has led workshops everywhere from Boston to Buffalo and from Saskatoon to Toronto to Saint John. But his proudest boast is that he’s 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.

Hi, Brian.

Been a while since I wrote this during your writing classes in Burlington and Mississauga, but The Queen of Swords: A Tarot Card Murder Mystery is finally out. It’s available on Kobo, Kindle, Friesen Press publishing and on Amazon. Many thanks to you and the fellow writers I met along the way.and for your help in my first book published in 2021, Follow the Money, A Diana Darling Private Investigator novel.

Kind Regards,

Connie Cook

Read more about The Queen of Swords here and Follow the Money here.

Hi, Brian.

Two publishers are interested in A is for Ancestor and CANSCAIP just longlisted Grandmother Moon for their Writing for Children Competition.

Colour me happy – couldn’t have done it without you

Sue Kelly

Hi, Brian.

Views to Die For is longlisted for CANSCAIP. I like the competition - it keeps me writing. Now I better get this book done. I do have it sketched out. See you in the fall course for sure!

Couldn’t do it without you and the class :-)

Yvonne Denomy

Congratulations also especially to Andrea Bishop, Kyla McGrath, Sally Wylie and to everyone else who made the longlist for CANSCAIP’s Writing for Children competition. Full list here.

Hi, Brian.

I’m pleased say I won 2nd prize at the writing contest hosted by the Friends of The Library here in Linsday for a short story that I submitted. There were 27 entries and this was my first entry into this contest.

I actually won last summer as well. The Town of Lindsay had a promo for the bus shelters called “Words While You Wait.” I was awarded a $200 honorarium for it. My words were paired with an artist who happens to be a writing friend but had no idea who the owner of the words was, so for me it was a double win.

Thanks Brian

Evelyn Anne Nielsen

Dear Brian,

I am writing to let you know that my collected translations of Carol Shields’ poetry, La Poesia di Carol Shields, have been published by I Quaderni del Bardo Edizioni di Stefano Donno in Italy. I have just returned from Italy where the Italian launch was generously hosted by Carol Shield’s daughter, Anne Giardini. What a wonderful way to release this unique collection! My hope is that this work will bring awareness of Carol Shields’ unique poetic voice to readers who may know her only as an accomplished, award-winning novelist. Before the novels, though, came the poems, her initial foray into the world of literature.

This is a first bilingual collection, with facing English and Italian versions of the poems. It is now available from the publisher, IQdB Edizioni, or from Amazon. I attach the cover image and hope you will pass this information on to your wide circle of followers, including my past classmates from your wonderfully helpful workshop sessions.

With my warm regards and thanks,

Nella

Nella Cotrupi

Writer, Scholar, Translator

Member, The Writers’ Union of Canada

Member, Association of Italian-Canadian Writers

www.NellaCotrupi.com

La Poesia di Carol Shields is available here.

See where else your fellow writers are winning accolades or getting their work published here (and scroll down). And see more new books by your fellow authors here (and scroll down).

If you’ve had a story (or a book!) published, if you’ve won or placed in a writing contest, if you’ve gotten yourself an agent, or if you have any other news, send me an email so I can share your success. As writers, we’re all in this together, and your good news gives us all a boost. Email me at: brain.henry123@gmail.com

See all of my upcoming weekly writing classes, afternoon workshops, and wonderful writing retreats here. ~Brian

I passed by the Strip Club on the corner many times, and although women taking off their clothes and dancing naked for a living had always intrigued me, I never felt compelled enough to go inside. That is, until I heard about the tiger.

The long white semi-trailer was parked on the side street next to the club for several weeks. The newspaper said the show was held over for just one more week and featured the lovely Jane Jones and her lovable co-star, Qadesh, a 465-pound Siberian tiger. The act also featured a large python, a boa constrictor and exotic birds.

The python, boa constrictor and birds didn’t particularly interest me, but the tiger. This I had to see.

Maybe it was the writer in me looking for new material for my next novel or short story, but I was determined I wasn’t going to miss my chance to see it before they left town.

My mom, who was in her eighties, was visiting from Toronto for the weekend. Of course, she wasn’t my first choice. I asked a couple of my friends to accompany me, but they weren’t interested, and the more I tried to convince them, the more I feared I sounded like a bit of a weirdo.

So, I thought, maybe I could convince my mom to come with me.

“Aren’t you at all curious?” I asked her.

“Not really.”

“Don’t you want to see the tiger?”

“Nope.”

“Oh, c’mon, Mom. I can’t go by myself.”

“Can’t you get one of your friends to go with you?”

“I would, but they’re busy this weekend.” Which wasn’t quite true.

“Please mom, I’d go alone, but I’d feel better if someone came with me and I don’t have anybody else.”

Even my husband wasn’t interested in going, which frankly surprised me.

“I’m too old for this,” my mom protested.

“No, you’re not. I’m sure people of all ages will be there.”

I was right. There was at least one other elderly person, a man sitting to the right of the stage who appeared to be there alone. He gave my mom a welcoming smile when we looked his way. She snubbed him, turning her head in the opposite direction.

There was an admission fee of $5.00.

The man at the door asked us to hold out the back of our hand so he could stamp it, just in case we left and tried to come back in on another night without paying. I watched as the black ink from the ink pad smudged over my mom’s thin, wrinkled skin. What was I thinking, bringing my mom to a place like this?

The room was dark and I wondered if that was so people wouldn’t recognize one another or if they couldn’t afford good lighting. I read later it was deliberate to create a sense of privacy for the patrons and to lower inhibitions. For whom, I wondered, the performers or the people watching?

We found some seats not too far from the front of the stage. When I leaned my arm on the table, my skin felt sticky when I lifted it off again, perhaps another reason for the dim lighting – to hide the lack of attention to cleanliness.

I looked around me to see if I recognized anybody. I thought I saw a woman I knew and her boyfriend, but it was hard to tell, two familiar silhouettes.

We ordered a drink and waited for the show to begin.

A petite blonde woman who looked somewhere in her late twenties to early thirties walked by our table towards the stage. She was dressed in a buckskin thong and tight top. She stood about 5 feet tall and didn’t seem to have an ounce of fat on her small, toned body.

The noise in the room went quiet as she walked on stage, removed her clothes and began painting herself in multi-colours. She then turned on an overhead shower washing all the paint off as she ran her hands over every part of her body.

Once she was dried off sufficiently, she reached into a bag and pulled out a flute. I couldn’t imagine what she had in mind for that, until she raised it to her mouth and began to play.

I turned to mom and whispered, “She’s clearly multi-talented.”

The old man at the side of the stage was jumping up and down in excitement, clapping his hands.

“Look at him,” my mom said. “He’s making a spectacle of himself.”

We watched as the dancer twisted her naked, compact body around a rope hanging from the ceiling, climbing high in the air and slid back down again.

Then she walked to the back of the room and in less than a minute returned, dragging a heavy braided rope along the thin, stained carpeted floor.

At the end of that rope was a nine-foot-long female Siberian Tiger named Qadesh, pronounced Kadesh. I’d done my research and the name originated from an ancient Semitic root meaning holy or sacred.

The room fell silent as all eyes were now on the tiger.

As the beast sauntered right past our table, we heard the sound of its heavy breathing. It was so close mom could have reached out and patted it.

The lovely Jane Jones, as it said in the newspaper, guided her oversized pet to an area on the stage and instructed it to lie down. Then she lay naked against the tiger, cuddling into it like a giant soft plush toy.

Across the table, I looked at my mom, her mouth open and her eyes wide.

We stared at that majestic beast, huge and golden and its naked mistress, the tiger’s solemn eyes staring back at us.

In that moment that tiger truly was holy.

Margaret Ruttan is an award-winning contemporary visual artist, performing artist and published author based in Belleville, Ontario.

During the past several years, she turned her hand to writing one-act plays, several of which were performed in local community theatres and one even went international being performed in the United Kingdom earlier this summer.

Presently, she is working on a novel with the feedback and support of online classes offered by Brian Henry.

For more short stories, poetry, and essays by you fellow writers see here (and scroll down).

See Brian Henry’s upcoming weekly writing classes, afternoon workshops, and writing retreats here.

Terrorism first intersected Tanya’s life in 1982 when she was twelve years old and living in Israel. Its shadow loomed closer when her family moved to Beirut at the height of the Lebanese Civil War to accompany her father on his United Nations peacekeeping mission. That was forty years ago. But the aftershock, the trauma, and the imprint of terror remain.

In these narrative essays, the reader moves from the Middle East to Europe, from Quebec’s Eastern Townships to Yellowknife in a personal exploration of terror — psychic, criminal, spiritual, and political. The journey is challenging, yet it carries both redemption and hope.

When asked how to defeat terrorism, Salman Rushdie answered, “Don’t be terrorized. Don’t let fear rule your life. Even if you are scared.” The essays in Carrying War are about one woman’s lifelong struggle with fear and the ways she has found to overcome it.

Carrying War: A Memoir is available from the publisher Dundurn Press here.

Tanya Bellehumeur-Allatt is the author of the critically acclaimed Peacekeeper’s Daughter: A Middle East Memoir (Thistledown, 2021, see here) and two collections of poetry: Chaos Theories of Goodness, (Shoreline, 2022, see here) and The Hospitality of Trees (Shoreline, 2025, see here).

Tanya’s award-winning essays, poems and fictions have been published in numerous journals and anthologies including Grain, Prairie Fire, Malahat Review, The New Quarterly, and Best Canadian Essays 2015 and 2019. She holds an MA in English Literature from McGill and an MFA in Creative Writing from UBC.

Visit Tanya at her website here.

For information about submitting to Dundurn Press, see here.

See more new books by your fellow writers here (and scroll down).

If you’ve had a story (or a book!) published, if you’ve won or placed in a writing contest, if you’ve gotten yourself an agent, or if you have any other news, send me an email so I can share your success. As writers, we’re all in this together, and your good news gives us all a boost. Email me at: brain.henry123@gmail.com

See all my upcoming weekly writing classes, afternoon workshops, and wonderful writing retreats here. ~Brian

“Friday’d give me time, Saturday could wait, but Sunday’d be too late…”
– “Seven Days,” Sting

“I’ll do it later” – every teenager, everywhere, has said this at least once. Spoiler: they never do.

I shouldn’t throw stones, for me, it’s the height of hypocrisy, because I am a terrible procrastinator. It’s a curse. Partly ADHD – self-diagnosed, but before you scoff, try having a conversation with me.

What else inspires my procrastination? Fear of failure maybe? Hard to be sure.

I was visiting family when we found ourselves watching their still-kittenish cat rolling around on the floor, apparently playing with air. My friend studied the cat for a moment before asking (with a laconic air I’d dearly love to emulate), “Do you have demons?”

Well, yes, obviously for the cat – all cats do.

And yes, me, too. I have demons. Well, one demon.

No, I am not schizophrenic.

My demon is my narrator. Think The Wonder Years: grown-up Kevin Arnold calmly explaining to the audience what was really going on while his younger self blundered enthusiastically through life.

Unlike Kevin, however, I’m a fifty-something, grown-ass-looking adult still faking my way through life while my internal narrator placidly comments on whichever ridiculous rabbit hole has most recently caught my attention.

I’m just a girl with an iPhone, a perpetually open Notes app, and a narrator who seems convinced the bathtub is the ideal place to workshop an essay. Yes, it’s a bizarre premise, but don’t knock it. There are still people who think gummy bears and Frank’s RedHot can’t be a wonderful combination. How is a sensory deprivation bathtub writing space any stranger?

I have a bone-deep faith in the Wizard of Oz business model – hide behind a curtain and fake it! Or perhaps it’s simply this: if it looks like a writer, acts like a writer, and sounds like a writer… then, egad, it must be a writer.

For years, I comforted myself by insisting I simply wasn’t a writer. Other than an admiring English teacher or two – about as objective as your mother telling you you’re pretty – the concept of being a writer belonged to other people. My friends with agents, journal publications, and six fantasy novels – or is it seven? The closest I’d ever come was a three-year stint as a book blogger.

Ask me how pissed I am that it wasn’t my blog that gave Ice Planet Barbarians its big break, but some BookToker’s! Four years after I’d read Ice Planet Barbarian and raved about it.

Ugh.

Not to worry. Here’s my next step toward World Domination: I shall conquer BookTok, bend it toward nonfiction, essays, to be specific.

But I’m getting ahead of myself. (Another good way to procrastinate.) Six months ago, my self-image was best described as … murky. I was the last one to know writing was my path. Even my internal narrator hadn’t caught on. She just kept talking about stuff. I was like one of those people you read about who show up with a complete tiny human being and earnestly tell people they had no idea they were pregnant.

Perhaps I assumed everyone had internal commentary on their life, the universe and everything going on inside their skull. It never occurred to me that writing any of it down might become a vocation. My entry into writing was more akin to a harassed mother finally exclaiming, “Fine, we’ll go to the park NOW!”

So, I began writing without much of a destination, simply following the white rabbit – or, in this case, my demon.

When I shared this disturbing development with a friend, her advice was refreshingly straightforward: “You should take a course.”

Not just any course. Brian Henry’s “Writing Personal Stories” happened to be starting a new session just a couple of weeks later. I wasn’t entirely sold on what I assumed was the memoir aspect.

Memoirs are things people like Greta Thunberg write, not hockey moms in the middle of an existential crisis.

My pieces were certainly personal. I just wasn’t convinced they were stories.

None of my bathtub recollections could reasonably be considered memoir any more than a conversation that begins, “This reminds me of this one time at band camp…” before abruptly veering into, “Did you know dolphins and whales are both cetaceans – and closely related to hippopotamuses?”

Regardless, I decided professional help was in order. One of our first exercises was to draw our childhood home, street, or neighbourhood. Brian is a delightfully flexible instructor.

We were then asked to write something inspired by it.

I wrote a confessional about the death of a neighbourhood pet.

We were witnesses, not future serial killers. Rest easy.

But it still amazes me that a rudimentary – not even remotely to scale – floor plan of my childhood home somehow unearthed the memory of a blistering summer day straight out of Cujo, complete with second-guessing ourselves over the fate of a stray cat that had somehow gone from being the neighbourhood’s pet to mine. And then died.

At the end of class, Brian outlined our homework. I’ve since dubbed it the Choose Your Own Adventure approach to creative writing.

Option one: continue the piece we’d started.

Option two: write about something else we’d discussed in class.

And if neither of those appealed?

Write whatever we wanted. Just write.

Week after week, I did.

I wrote.

I started a Substack. I researched; I read and researched some more. All the while, I kept writing.

The essays wandered drunkenly from The Three Little Pigs as an analogy for birth order to a rumination on why Prince Harry gets on my last nerve, from hockey fandom as a meditation on business practices to… well… octopuses.

Lots of octopuses. And crows.

Looking back, none of this should have surprised me.

Even in my twenties, I imagined my life revolving around books. Publishing. Editing. Marketing. Eventually, book blogging. I seemed determined to find every job adjacent to writing while avoiding the uncomfortable business of becoming a writer.

Perhaps it was lack of confidence. Or much more likely procrastination dressed up as practicality. They can look remarkably similar from the inside.

Somewhere along the way, I stopped focusing on what a writer was and simply wrote.

These days, whenever someone tells me they’d love to write someday, I hear echoes of my former self: “I’d love to write, but …

“I don’t have enough time.”

“I need another course.”

“I should read a few more books first.”

“I’m waiting until I feel like a writer.”

I understand the instinct to avoid, to procrastinate; I spent decades perfecting it. But apparently, all those hippies and yogi types were onto something:

Sometimes the doing comes first.

Being catches up.

“Later” has an uncanny habit of becoming “never.”

Andrea Whittle is a writer and market analyst with a longstanding habit of looking for patterns and asking why things work the way they do. After spending much of her career finding patterns in data, she now finds them everywhere – which is either useful for an essayist or a terrible way to get anything else done.

Her creative nonfiction combines personal narrative, cultural observation, and whatever has most recently sent her down a rabbit hole. Previous subjects have included hockey, fairy tales, Prince Harry, octopuses, crows, and the occasional existential crisis.

She writes and publishes The Intellectual Peacock, a weekly Substack about culture, behaviour, books, media, and the wonderfully strange business of paying attention.

See more pieces about or inspired by Brian’s retreats, workshops and classes here (and scroll down).

For more essays, short stories, and poetry by you fellow writers see here (and scroll down).

See Brian’s upcoming weekly writing classes (including a “Writing Personal Stories” class), afternoon workshops, and wonderful writing retreats here.

The Read Agency

Toronto, Canada

https://thereadagency.com/

Olga Filina recently left 5 Otter Literary to create her own agency: The READ Agency. How new is this agency? Well, when I started preparing this post, her website wasn’t up yet and I had to get the scoop on how to submit straight from Olga. If you’re looking for representation, this strikes me as good opportunity to get in on the ground floor. ~Brian

Olga’s worked at every level of the publishing industry for over twenty-five years: bookselling, buying, directing literary festivals, editing, consulting, and agenting, and she’s a founding member and former executive treasurer of PACLA, the Professional Association of Canadian Literary Agents.

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“Understanding how books are sold and discovered allows me to position the clients I represent in both English language and translation markets,” says Olga. “I’m drawn to work that’s intellectually stimulating, ambitious, or written from a perspective that hasn’t yet been heard. As an immigrant, I have a particular affinity for stories of belonging, displacement, and international experience. If your book could be banned in the current political climate, I want to read it.”

If you have a project ready to share, here’s exactly how to submit it:

Currently, Olga is looking for literary and upmarket fiction, narrative nonfiction, cultural criticism, and projects from experts in the subject matter.

Plus, children’s literature across all ages.

She also has particular focus on underrepresented voices, international stories, and the global diaspora.

Query Olga at: submissions@thereadagency.com

Submit your query and the first ten pages of your manuscript pasted into the body of your email. Full submission guidelines here.

Note: If you’re interested in getting published and meeting an agent, don’t miss our upcoming “How to Get Published” workshop with guest Gaby Sheiner of Creative Artists Agency. See here.

See all our upcoming weekly writing classes, afternoon workshops, and glorious writing retreats here.

The Summerset Review

This online journal invites submissions of literary fiction or nonfiction of up to eight thousand words. Poets may submit up to five poems.

While primarily an online publication, the Summerset Review does periodically generate print issues.

To get more of an idea of what we they’re looking for, The Summerset Review asks writers to please read the journal. Writers can also consult their list of Recommended Reading or may be interested in additional advice (contains no mandatory requirements). To learn more about the history, aesthetic, and underpinning of the journal, you may be interested in an interview with the editor, held at Lit Mag News in March, 2024.

Full submission guidelines here. No deadline – open for submissions year-round.

The Globe and Mail – First Person Essays

The daily First Person essay (formerly called Facts & Arguments) is a great forum for you to share your own experiences, viewpoints and writing flair with other Globe readers.

So what makes a good essay?

They look for an original voice; an unexpected view; an unfamiliar perspective; humour; vivid details that show rather than tell; anecdotes that illuminate a wider theme.

A successful First Person essay may be funny, surprising, touching or enlightening – or all of these. It may present a slice of life or a powerful experience that changed you in some way. It may be a meditation on something that matters to you. It goes beyond a rant, and it is deft in moving from the particular to the universal.

Above all, an essay should be personal rather than political. It must be true, not fictional.

Essays should run between 700 and 900 words.

Full submission guidelines here. No deadlines. The Globe needs a First Person essay 5 days a week, every week of the year.

Pure Slush

Pure Slush publishes anthologies of flash fiction, nonfiction and poetry. Curently, they’re looking for submissions for Volume 25. Theme: Someday

Your Someday submission must be:

• original, so previously unpublished online or in print (so that includes authors’ websites and blogs)

• 150-word minimum limit for fiction and nonfiction, stories and essays / maximum 1000 words. (That’s for each story / essay: maximum number of prose pieces you can submit is 3.)

• 80-word minimum limit for poetry / maximum 1000 words. (That’s for each poem: maximum number of poems you can submit is 5.)

• must include something about plans or hopes or wishes or wants or desires about the future … “some day something will happen” …

Full submission guidelines here. Deadline: August 31, 2026

Their next submission period will run October 1 – November 30, 2026. They’ll be looking for fiction, nonfiction and poetry that includes the City or Rome. Details here.

See more writing contests and markets for your short pieces here (and scroll down).

See information about all our upcoming weekly writing classes, afternoon workshops, and writing retreats here.

How to Get Published

With literary agent Gaby Sheiner of Creative Artists Agency

Sunday, September 27, 2026
1:15 – 5:00 p.m. Toronto time
Offered online and accessible wherever there’s Internet

If you’ve ever dreamed of becoming a published author, this workshop is for you. We’ll focus on the process of submitting to an agent or publisher, and show you exactly how to write a query letter that will get a “yes.” Bring all your questions. Come and get ready to be published!

Special Option: Participants are invited to prepare a draft of a query letter you might use to interest an agent or publisher in your book. You don’t need to prepare anything, but if you like, email me a draft of your query prior to our workshop. Gaby and I will critique several queries, perhaps half a dozen, so everyone can see what works, what doesn’t and how to improve your query. Do remember that agents come to these events wanting to hear what you’ve got. ~Brian

Guest speaker Gaby Sheiner works in the publishing department at leading entertainment and sports agency Creative Artists Agency (CAA), where she represents authors across fiction and nonfiction. On the fiction side, she represents commercial and upmarket authors and is always on the lookout for buzzy book club fiction, thrillers and suspense, romance, and family sagas. On the nonfiction side, she is particularly interested in cookbooks and lifestyle, psychology, memoirs, and books by experts with distinctive perspectives and authority in their fields.

Gabby began her career at CAA in 2023. She is from Toronto, Ontario, and is a graduate of Tufts University.

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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, taught creative writing at Ryerson University, and has led workshops everywhere from Boston to Buffalo and from Saskatoon to Toronto 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 reviews of and works inspired by Brian’s classes, workshops, and retreats here.

Fee: $46.90 + 13% hst = $53 paid in advance by mail or Interac

To reserve a spot now, email: brain.henry123@gmail.com

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

House of Anansi Press and Groundwood Books

House of Anansi Press is looking for literary fiction, especially from Canadian authors. Anansi is always open for submissions and they particularly welcome submissions from authors launching their literary careers later in life.

Groundwood is looking for Picture Books, Middle Grade and Young Adult fiction and nonfiction. They open for submissions in August and September.

More about Anansi and Groundwood here.

Book*hug Press

Book*hug is a radically optimistic Canadian-owned publisher based in Toronto.

“We are deeply committed to advancing and integrating equity, diversity, inclusion, and accessibility in all our publishing activities. We prioritize submissions from equity-deserving writers marginalized by attitudinal, historical, social, and environmental barriers based on race, ethnicity, nationality, disability, economic status, age, gender, and sexual orientation.”

Book*hug Press publishes contemporary, innovative, and boundary-pushing books of literary fiction, translated literature, poetry, and creative nonfiction.

They do not publish commercial fiction, thrillers, crime fiction, fantasy, children’s books, YA books, graphic novels, cookbooks, scholarly or academic texts, or self-help books.

Book*hug seeks to acquire innovative, groundbreaking, and adventurous literary books that thoughtfully engage with contemporary cultural and social issues. They’re most excited by bold, dynamic writing that challenges and pushes the boundaries of cultural expectations and conventions, and that offers new ideas and perspectives.

They love formally innovative writing that takes risks and plays with form and style, but we are not interested in experimentation for its own sake. We love hybrid, genre-defying writing. Above all else, they value the quality and craft of the writing.

Book*hug books and authors receive regular recognition and acclaim in the media and from literary awards. Our authors have been nominated for and won national and international awards, including the Governor General’s Literary Awards, the Giller Prize, the Amazon Canada First Novel Award, the League of Canadian Poets’ Book Awards, the Griffin Poetry Prize and more.

Book*Hug will open for submissions in September. Full submission guidelines here.

See all of Brian’s upcoming weekly writing classes, afternoon workshops, and writing retreats here.

For information about other publishers looking for manuscripts, see here (and scroll down).

Spring Writers’ Retreat

At the Elm Hurst Inn & Spa

Friday, April 23 – Monday, April 26, 2027
Register early to be sure of a spot!
The Elm Hurst Inn & Spa
415 Harris Street, Ingersoll, Ontario. (1½–2 hours west of Toronto / 1 hour west of Hamilton / 1–1 ¼ hours east of Sarnia, ON, and Port Huron, MI, / 2 hours east of Windsor and Detroit. Map here)

Note: We also have retreats coming up in a few weeks at the end of August (see here) and in October (see here).

Give yourself four days of writing time – a long weekend of instruction, inspiration and creativity. Award yourself with time away from distractions, with no dishes to do, delicious food at every meal, and with the leisure you need to sit with your feet up and write.

The retreat will feature both instruction and guided writing exercises, plus one-on-one critiquing and coaching from Brian. You’ll also have lots of time to relax, rejuvenate, and reconnect with your creativity. All writing levels welcome. Whether you’re just beginning or have a novel in progress, please join us.

The setting: Nestled on 30 acres of beautiful rolling countryside, the Elm Hurst mansion was built in 1872 as the personal residence of James Harris and family. A fine example of the Gothic Revival style, it remained a family home for more than a century.

The last Harris heir sold the property in the mid-1970s, and the house was transformed into a popular dining establishment that opened in 1979. An addition was added to the rear of the original structure five years later, with the 49-room Elm Hurst Inn & Spa being built in 1988.

The original mansion and its beautiful carriage house with its rustic wooden beams (often used for weddings) remain integral parts of the Inn.

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James Harris made his fortune partly from the apple orchard planted on the grounds but mostly from the cheese business. He erected the James Harris Cheese Factory in 1865. To establish the area as the cheese capital of Ontario, he and other local cheese makers created a giant, 7,300-pound cheese ball. The Mammoth Cheese toured exhibitions in Toronto, Chicago, New York, Paris, and London (Yes, the cities in France and England, not the Ontario versions).

Ingersoll still boasts a cheese museum, which is a two-minute drive or twenty-minute walk from the Inn (here).

James McIntyre, a local poet, wrote an ode to the big cheese ball. McIntyre possessed a talent for writing poetry so truly awful that international experts in the field of Good Bad Verse consider him one of the greats and cite his “Ode on the Mammoth Cheese” as a world-class example poetry so bad that it exhibits a certain genius. (For more on Good Bad Verse, see here and here.)

Much later, the Town of Ingersoll created an annual poetry contest in McIntyre’s honor, though the object was to write good poetry, not bad. For many years Brian Henry had the honor of judging the children’s division of the contest.

Rates for the retreat include accommodation and meals. Each room has a king bed or two queens, an en-suite four-piece bathroom, and a desk for writing.

All meals are provided, from dinner on Friday through to lunch on Monday, including the Elm Hurst’s wonderful Sunday brunch. And of course, we’ll also have coffee service for our meetings. Alcoholic beverages are extra, as are Spa treatments – but you might want to check those out (here).

All activities included. When you’re not writing, or for spouses who accompany you, the inn has an indoor sauna and steam room and an exercise room. The rural Oxford County setting offers idyllic opportunities for biking and hiking, with numerous trails in the area (here). The Inn itself has beautiful grounds – it’s a great place to get away and relax.

Check-in on Friday is 3 p.m. Our first writing get-together will be at 5 p.m. On Monday, we’ll have our last writing get-together at 9:30 a.m. Check out is at 11 a.m. followed by lunch an our final get-together.

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 Saskatoon, to Toronto, to Saint John. But his proudest boast is that he has helped many of his students get their first book published and launch their careers as authors.

Read pieces related to Brian’s previous writing retreats, workshops, and classes here.

Fee, including both the writing retreat and accommodation, meals, coffee & snack service, tips, and all inn amenities, for all three nights: $1,708.85 plus 13% hst.

Not included: alcoholic drinks, spa services, or other extras.

Bring a (non-participating) significant other along for the weekend to share your room for an additional $548.67 plus hst for the three nights. (No change from last year. Includes accommodation, meals and all amenities, but not the writing part of the retreat).

Book early – space is limited! And this retreat may fill up quickly.

For more information or to register, email: brain.henry123@gmail.com

Note: Bookings for accommodations for this retreat must be done through Brian (unlike our retreats in Algonquin, where you book your accommodations through the resort).

Should I bring my work in progress?

Yes! If you have an on-going writing project, bring it with you. Bring more than you expect to get to; you’ll have lots of time for writing. Besides, you may want to switch projects or share a project that’s just started or one that’s all done, except for reading it to a small, appreciative audience. If you’re not currently working on anything, don’t worry, we’ll get you writing.

Should I bring my laptop?

Yes! Unless you only work on paper. Or bring both – your laptop and your writing pad. No sense being short of essential supplies.

Who can attend the retreat?

Everyone interested in developing their writing skills is welcome to attend, whether you’re an aspiring writer or an accomplished author or simply enjoy writing as a hobby. There is no requirement for you to have been previously published or even to have an intention to publish.

I’m a poet / playwright / other writer. Is this retreat for me?

The retreat is open to anyone who enjoys writing. Instruction will focus on narrative writing; i.e., stories, whether fiction or memoir. But if you’re an essayist or poet or whatever, you’re entirely welcome.

Can you cater to specific dietary requirements?

Yes. But you need to let me know ASAP, so I can let the staff know about your needs.

I want to stay longer or arrive early. Is that possible?

If you want to arrive early or stay longer, that’s fine. You’ll book the Friday, Saturday, and Sunday night with Brian, and arrange any additional nights with the inn; just make sure they know you’re with Brian Henry’s writing group.

Is there cell phone reception and WIFI?

Alas, yes.

Can I use the spa at the inn or play a round of golf in the area?

Yes, you can certainly book a spa treatment (here) though that’s extra, and you book that directly with the inn (not through Brian). As for golf, yes there’s a nearby course (see here).

Can I bring my spouse (or partner or friend)?

If you want to share your room with a partner, they’re very welcome. Just let them know you’ll be spending most of your time writing, (though you will have some free time every day).

For more information or to register, email: brain.henry123@gmail.com

See all of Brian’s upcoming weekly writing classes, afternoon workshops, and writing retreats here.

I’ve just returned from an inspiring weekend of writing with the Quick Brown Fox himself, Brian Henry.

This retreat reminded me that the craft is an interactive process: write, read, receive feedback, revise. Brian encouraged, coached, cajoled and helped us apply ourselves to what we love: the stuff of stories. He presented key topics, led discussions, organized us into reader-feedback buddies, put us at ease in his kind and funny way, and set up an environment that nurtured the writer in us.

In one-on-one sessions, our fearless leader applied his laser vision and editorial savvy to our writing projects and brought them to new levels of clarity.

The beautiful natural setting at Arowhon Pines Resort in Algonquin Park was ideal for a writing retreat. Ethereal mist moved across the lake in the cool early mornings of mid-September.

We hiked, canoed, kayaked, and swam in the still waters of Little Joe Lake, and had a boat tour of the area. Though the word “retreat” suggests temples and robes, the only monastic feature of Arowhon Pines is the old-fashioned bell clanging call to the dining hall for delicious gourmet meals. Dining together gave us wonderful opportunities to connect and draw motivation from each other.

We were an eclectic dozen, including a feng shui expert, a painter in search of a new artistic medium, an accountant with an interest in Depression-era prostitution, and a retired jail warden, to name a few.

After I slipped into Little Joe Lake for a pre-breakfast swim one misty morning, I was designated Chief Lemming in the line up for the Go Jump in the Lake exercise that we’re planning next time ... I’ve already reserved my spot.

This piece arose out of Joyce’s retreat with us a couple years ago. To read more about Arowhon Pines Resort, see here. And read more pieces about – or inspired by – Brian’s retreats, workshops and weekly classes here (and scroll down).

For information about upcoming writers’ retreats, at both Arowhon Pines in Algonquin Park, Sherwood Inn on Lake Joseph in Muskoka, and at the Elm Hurst Inn and Spa in Ingersoll, see here (and scroll down).

See all my upcoming weekly writing classes, one-day workshops, and four-day retreats here. ~Brian

It’s been a summer of cones at my house. Not just the ice-cream variety devoured by grandchildren on the front steps, while we play a game where we each choose a car colour, and count until someone’s tally reaches ten. This summer required a different cone, the one pet owners recognize; the plastic weave-a-collar-through-looped-tabs contraption that extends and widens to prevent an animal’s mouth from reaching a site that needs to heal.

Think lamp at a party if an exuberant dancer flipped the shade upside down before pulling it over their head. In July while our American neighbours were celebrating their independence, 13-year-old Blossom was losing hers. A tumour, an anaesthetic, an incision. And a plastic cone.

There are complicating factors. A husband who’s also endured an anaesthetic, an incision, though thankfully not a tumour. Plus, a second dog, Gilly, who’s prompted by instinct to lick and clean her companion which could, probably would, loosen the stitches that are doing their best to hold the wound closed.

“Keep the cone on. Keep the dogs apart.” The vet is calm, competent; a man of few words. I once asked how he made a diagnosis given his patients’ inability to describe their symptoms. He told me he wouldn’t know what to do if they could. He relies on observation, experience, and I rely on him.

On his assistant too. Amelia is upbeat, chatty. She reports with enthusiasm on a recent pig roast and describes how she nabbed tickets for an upcoming rock concert; a peek into how she spends her time when she’s not answering the phone or passing sterilized instruments to her boss.

With the older dog restricted to walks to the curb and the younger free to explore the yard, I become an elementary school principal setting up a schedule for outdoor play. Blossom: cone off, leash on, outside, inside, leash off, cone on. Gilly: backyard, back in, leash on, long walk, leash off. On repeat and on my own since my usual assistant is occupied with his own regime of ice packs and physiotherapy.

The conversation inside the house sounds like Abbott and Costello’s on-stage banter in Who’s on First? in which the similarity between names of baseball players and the questions about their field positions creates confusion. And a hilarious skit. My own frantic opening and closing of doors to check Who’s Where? is less amusing; a slip-up could lead to a set-back. Forget stitches for snitches. It’s glitches I’m worried about.

Overnight requires a sleep divorce. I move into another room with the recuperating dog; a 40-year throwback to the broken sleep that accompanied a newborn. This time, it’s a thump, not a cry, that startles me; the sound of a restless dog bumping into the door, a wall, the bookshelf in her attempt to find a comfortable position. Wide awake. Both of us.

Other nights are too quiet; I turn on the bedside lamp, observe the subtle rising and falling of her chest that indicates she’s still alive. Again, as with infants.

Eight medical appointments over six weeks; we persevere through antibiotics and additional sutures until a single word is entered on her chart. Healed. Insert celebratory, party-popper emojis here. An extra hour has been added to my day. I no longer slide chairs toward the table to clear a path or set partitions between Gilly and Blossom with the diligence of those separating church from state.

When I open the back door to watch two exuberant dogs scoot across the deck and scamper down the stairs, my shoulders relax.

It’s Friday. I’m lingering over the crossword instead of driving to the clinic. Unsettled, out of whack. I call Amelia. She laughs when I tell her we’re fine but that I miss the established routine. She uses words like special, favourite when referring to Blossom; since part of her job involves building rapport, I expect she sprinkles these phrases into conversations with dozens of clients about a roster of pets.

But special, favourite? I agree. Of all the dogs, in all the houses, over all the years. Blossom joined our family after birthing three litters of pups, and is unphased by the time it takes little visitors to clip the purple leash onto her collar for walks to what everyone calls The Blossom Park.

Blossom’s the one who eased me into retirement and provided a routine to cling to during months of lockdown. Our other dogs have liked me, even loved me, but this dog adores me. She follows me from room to room, from my desk to the microwave to nuke my coffee; when I leave the house she waits by the front door for me to return.

Using the dog math equation for calculating age, Blossom is 91. At some point, there’ll be another visit to the vet and difficult decisions to make on her behalf.

But not this summer. Not yet.

Marg Heidebrecht lives and writes in Dundas, Ontario. Her first book of essays, In the Shade: Friendship, Loss, and the Bruce Trail (here) was shortlisted for the 2020 Hamilton Arts Council Literary Awards. Her second collection, Mosaic through East-Facing Glass: A Collection of Personal Essays (here), was shortlisted for the same awards in 2024 and includes “Invasions,” an essay which won the creative nonfiction prize in the 2022 Hamilton Arts & Letters contest.

She’s also published several opinion pieces and many letters to the editor in The Globe and Mail and The Hamilton Spectator. The spring retreat at Elm Hurst Inn ignited a spark for her new project which is unnamed, unfinished, but less untidy now that Scrivener’s been downloaded to her laptop.

Visit Marg at:
https://intheshade2019.blogspot.com/
https://mosaicmarg.blogspot.com/
https://www.instagram.com/intheshade2019/?hl=en

For more short stories, poetry, and essays by you fellow writers see here (and scroll down).

See Brian Henry’s upcoming weekly writing classes, afternoon workshops, and writing retreats here.

Writing Retreats

Summer Serenity Writing Retreat

at Arowhon Pines Resort in Algonquin Park
Sunday, Aug 30 – Wednesday, Sept 2. Details here.

Fall Colours Writing Retreat

at Sherwood Inn on Lake Joseph in Muskoka
Sunday, Oct 18 – Thursday, Oct 22. Details here.

Spring Writing Retreat

at Elm Hurst Inn and Spa in Ingersoll (southwest Ontario) Friday, April 23 – Monday, April 26, 2027. Details to come.

***

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Writing Workshops

Online: “Writing for Children & for Young Adults” with Patricia Ocampo, Senior Editor at Scholastic Canada. Sunday, August 23. Details here.

Online: “How to Get Published” with Gabby Sheiner, of Creative Artists Agency. Sunday, September 27. Details to come.

In-person: Writing Kid Lit – a free workshop
Saturday, Oct 3, Merritt Branch Library, St. Catharines, Ontario. Details here.

***

Fall Writing Courses

In-person “Intensive Creative Writing”

Thursday afternoons 12:30 – 3:00 p.m.
First readings emailed September 10
Classes: Sept 17 – Nov 26 (no class Oct 22) and we’ll extend it to Dec 3 or 10 if the course fills up.
Burlington Anglican Lutheran Church, 3455 Lakeshore Rd, Burlington, Ontario.
Details here.

Online “Intensive Creative Writing”

Your choice of two different classes:
Tuesday evenings, Sept 15 – Dec 1 (or to Dec 8 if the class fills up)
First readings emailed September 8
or
Wednesday afternoons, Sept 16 – Dec 2 (or to Dec 9 if the class fills up)
First readings emailed September 9
Details of both Tuesday and Wednesday sessions here.

Online “Advanced Creative Writing”

Friday mornings, Sept 18 – Dec 3 (or to Dec 11 if the class fills up).
First readings emailed September 11.
Details here.

Online “Writing Personal Stories”

Tuesday afternoons, Sept 29 – Nov 17 (or to Nov 24 if the class fills up).
Details here.

Online “Welcome to Creative Writing”

Monday evenings, Oct 26 – Dec 7 (or to Dec 14 if the class fills up).
Details here.

To register of for more information, email me for details at: brain.henry123@gmail.com

Hi, Brian.

I hope you’re having a good summer! I have some exciting news to share: my upcoming book with Orca Book Publishers is now available for preorder!

Animal Talk: What Are They Saying? is a colourful, entertaining nonfiction book about animal communication and how scientists study it. It’s part of the Orca Wild series and is a follow-up to my book Animal Minds: What Are They Thinking?

Animal Talk hits shelves on March 16, 2027, but is available for preorder now from Orca Books, independent bookstores, Amazon, Chapters/Indigo, and anywhere books are sold.

(What a cover Orca designed! Those elephants :-)

Thanks so much, Brian!

Kind regards,

Dana

Dana L. Church, PhD

danachurchwriter.com

Instagram: @danachurchwriter

Note: Animal Talk: What are they saying is meant for children, but I read Dana’s previous book, Animal Minds: What Are They Thinking? and found it fascinating, though supposedly at least, I’m an adult ~Brian

Dana’s also the author of:

· The Honey Trap: How the Good Intentions of Urban Beekeepers Risk Ecological Disaster (Sutherland House, 2024)

o 2026 CANREADS Book Award, Best in Science/Nature

o 2024 Paradigm Prize, Science Writers and Communicators of Canada (SWCC)

· The Monarch Effect: Surviving Poison, Predators, and People (Scholastic Focus, 2024)

· Animal Minds: What Are They Thinking? (Orca Book Publishers, 2024)

· The Beekeepers: How Humans Changed the World of Bumble Bees (Scholastic Focus, 2021)

Note: Orca Books opens for submissions in August. For information about submitting to them, see here.

See more new books by your fellow writers here (and scroll down).

If you’ve had a story (or a book!) published, if you’ve won or placed in a writing contest, if you’ve gotten yourself an agent, or if you have any other news, send me an email so I can share your success. As writers, we’re all in this together, and your good news gives us all a boost. Email me at: brain.henry123@gmail.com

See all my upcoming weekly writing classes, afternoon workshops, and writing retreats here. ~Brian

Hello, Brian.

I hope you’re keeping well!

I’m so excited to share that my debut picture book, Greetings, Floof! won the 2026 Magnolia Book Award — the Children’s Choice Award for the state of Mississippi! I’m so honoured that children in grades Pre-K – 2 chose the book as their favourite.

You were instrumental in helping me to get published. Thank you so much for all your help and support over the years!

Warmly,

Chang

C.J. Hong

Children’s Book Author

Greetings, Floof! (Kids Can Press, 2024)

cjhong.com

Note: If you’re interested in writing books for children or teens, don’t miss our Kid Lit workshop coming up Aug 23 with guest speaker, Patricia Ocampo, senior editor, at Scholastic Books. See here.

Hi, Brian.

I’m looking forward to the Oct 18 – 22 writing retreat at Sherwood and will start fasting now.

I signed with Three Seas Literary in February and my agent is Kara G. We are currently getting one of my interactive stories ready so she can start submitting.

Also, within two weeks of this, inbetween books offered me a contract to publish my picture book A Monsters Guide to Children. (You helped me a lot with this). Hoping for a release in late 2027. I still don’t think I’ve really even processed this yet but definitely want to thank you for all of your support and feedback to help A Monsters Guide to Children come to life.

Can’t wait for the fall retreat.

Susan Wollison

For information about submitting to 3 Seas Literary Agency, see here.

inbetween books is a new children’s publisher, and they’re looking for manuscripts. Read more about them here and, for submitting, see here.

For information about our fall writing retreat (at Sherwood Inn on Lake Joseph in Muskoka), see here.

Hi, Brian.

I wanted to share that I submitted one of the short stories I wrote during one of your Creative Writing courses to All Your Stories and Poems, and it was published in their June 2026 issue of All Your Stories.

It’s a convoluted website (I think it is) but the webpage with my story in it is this edition here.

It’s a simple story and one of my first ever efforts but pleased to see it in a collection with other authors!

All the Best,

Catherine de Korte

Hi, Brian.

I’m having a wonderful spring and summer for news. As always, thank you for cheering us on and sharing your knowledge and expertise. Here’s my little update.

Two exciting writing gifts found me in the last couple of weeks while I have been recovering from surgery.

I received copies of the French version of My Amazing Race Car Brain. I am super proud of Mon incroyable cerveau -voiture de course. Thank you, DC Canada Education Publishing, for believing in this project and message.

My TV Pilot, Moosekeg County FM, was #44 in the Capital Fund Screenplay Competition Hot 100.

I don’t know much about this list, but it says, “This well-respected list is published and provided to film industry financiers around the world and includes the top 100 Scripts of the year.”

No one has called and waved wads of cash in my face for the script, but I did receive an email this morning informing me that I earned a ten-cent royalty from Draft to Digital for a collaborative novel, which brings my total to $1.67. Don’t worry, they already took off $0.26 for tax.

I’m looking forward to your fall classes.

Enjoy the rest of your summer!

Dianne Koebel-Pede

To see what kind of books a publisher publishes, always check out their recent catalogue(s). For DC Educational Publishing, see here. See their submission page here.

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

See where else your fellow writers are winning accolades or getting short pieces published here (and scroll down).

If you’ve had a story (or a book!) published, if you’ve won or placed in a writing contest, if you’ve gotten yourself an agent, or if you have any other news, send me an email so I can share your success. As writers, we’re all in this together, and your good news gives us all a boost. Email me at: brain.henry123@gmail.com

Writer-to-Writer

Hi, Brian.

It was nice to see you at the Muskoka Authors’ Association Publishing Summit (here)! At the time you asked what everyone was working on and I’ll admit, I held back. Besides the Middle Grade Novel that I’m doing a final edit on, I had an inspired idea to create a journal in February and was able to bring my vision to life! I’m self-publishing and had the prototype completed in June.

A Creative’s Journal is unique in that it provides a highlighted section at the bottom of each page to store inspired ideas until you’re ready to work on them. I journal almost every day and often writing ideas come through and I would have to stop to look for my “ideas” notebook, or if I didn’t, it was often hard to find those ideas later when I was ready to work on them. One of the key ideas that came through was to create such a journal.

Here are some key highlights:

- Hard Cover, Black leatherette

- 365 lined pages and several blank pages for sketching

- Quotes about creativity included throughout.

It’s now available for pre-order on my website: www.catherineleighmccallum.com

This is meant for all types of creatives – from writers to artists and other professionals. I thank you in advance for sharing with your readership!

All the best,

Catherine McCallum

Scholastic Canada

604 King St W
Suite 100
Toronto, Ontario

https://www.scholastic.ca/

Scholastic Canada’s priority is publishing “kid picks” – books that children would spend their own money to read. Stories featuring Canadian culture, settings, and history are also a priority.

M.R. (Robbie) Robinson founded the original Scholastic company in 1920 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Incorporated in 1957, Scholastic Canada Ltd. was the first of an international family of companies that now includes members in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, India and Asia.

Scholastic Canada has its own editorial and acquisitions office. They do not usually accept un-agented manuscripts, but on August 23, 2027, we’ll be have Patricia Ocampo, senior editor at Scholastic, as the guest speaker for our online “Writing for Children & for Young Adults” and afterwards, she’ll be accepting queries from attendees (see here).

Don’t miss it!

Also, Scholastic Canada welcomes submissions from professional illustrators (especially from underrepresented communities) interested in working with Scholastic. Illustrators are invited to email sample art and links to an online portfolio to Andrea Casault, Art Director, at acasault@scholastic.ca

Full submission guidelines here.

See all of Brian Henry’s upcoming weekly writing classes, afternoon workshops, and writing retreats here.

For information about other publishers looking for manuscripts, see here (and scroll down).

Imagine you have received a letter – not a bill or an invite to increase your credit limit – but an actual letter. A letter from a loved one, a friend, or a distant relative.

The excitement builds as you break the seal on the envelope and pull out the finely decorated stationery. The flow of the elegant handwriting draws your attention and time stands still as you read all the gentle messages. Upon reading the closing statement. “hope to hear from you,” you smile – you now have an entry into a letter writing sequence.

At this point some would be thrilled for the opportunity to write and mail a letter, whereas others who have lost, or abandoned, the true art of letter writing would simply send an email.

We’ve become so accustomed to the fast world of “type, correct, click” that many of us would see the effort of physically writing a letter, finding an envelope, and sticking a stamp on it as an unpleasant burden.

But I am willing to face this more disciplined journey.

I saw how, in the past, letter writing helped my family keep in touch. We often received letters from far away relatives. Unlike a short phone call, letters could be passed around and reread for days after. They often included photos or postcards, and some relatives even took to including small side-sketches as part of their letters.

Some would argue that emails serve the same purpose and are a more efficient way of communicating. True. But in my mind, nothing compares to that moment when you hold a letter in your hand – especially one you didn’t expect!

I had many of these moments in my university days.

My mother would always, send a “do your best, we love you” letter. Whereas my dad’s would have more of a “you’re smart, don’t quit” theme.

Either way I was tickled and always wrote back to them – not to just to reassure them that I was still taking classes and studying hard, also to keep our relationship flowing.

During this time, I also wrote to my grandmother and great aunt. That was a challenge! Not only did my handwriting need to be legible, but there was no room for any error in my grammar or spelling, or their next letter would include a lesson!

They enjoyed hearing of the goings-on in my young life, so I was happy to describe my university adventures – sticking mainly to academics and only cautiously mentioning “social outings” (a.k.a. pub crawls).

Their letters gave me insight into in their lives. Like when “a young rascal” took grandma’s favorite seat on a bus and when the priest in Aunt Charlotte’s church mispronounced a word during a sermon. I always got a chuckle out of their descriptions of these “serious” moments.

Set in a conversation these stories may have been forgotten, but with a handwritten letter, they can be revisited numerous times. And for that reason, many people keep the letters, as my grandmother did. After her passing, we found all the letters I had sent her neatly organized in a drawer.

I am also reluctant to part with the ones I’ve kept. I don’t want to lose the chance to reread them and to hold something that was written just for me. My father’s pointed handwriting and my mom’s gardening instructions still speak to me.

Once when I expressed my dismay at the lost art of letter writing, someone called me an old-school boomer and said I needed to get with the times and just send emails.

And I do. The boring simplicity and trivial effort of sending emails is my usual form of communication.

But on occasion I still rise to the challenge of getting my thoughts in order and executing flawless handwriting on some finely decorated stationery.

Perhaps others will join my crusade and revive this lost art so people can have an “I got a letter!” moment. So much better than “another email to open” task.

Leslie Steves is a retired teacher. She enjoys having the time to continue the tradition of hand writing letters to loved ones. Her other writing endeavors include short stories, children’s stories and the occasional poem - often inspired during quiet time in the garden or daily walks with her dog.

For more short stories, poetry, and essays by you fellow writers see here (and scroll down).

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

“An abundance of raw talent” by Paul Dias

Every Tuesday for nine weeks, fifteen or more aspiring writers gather at the feet of Brian Henry, with the hope of becoming more proficient in writing stories. To this end, Le Chef D’Orchestre – a man with tremendous experience in the science and the art of skillfully delivering a compelling story in a captivating manner, holds court.

There is an abundance of raw talent in the group. To unleash their creativity, Brian has deliberately maintained a playful yet informative atmosphere. This has disarmed the participants and put them at ease. With their inhibitions suppressed, the participants allow themselves to write stories from the depths of their souls. It is a thing of beauty and truly magical to behold.

Over the weeks of class, common errors and practices that ruin a good story are discussed. Various technical aspects of styles of writing and the dos and don’ts of creating a good story are also showcased. Brian’s natural aptitude for teaching and motivating his pupils quickly results in their writing skills improving dramatically. His protégés begin to regularly deliver praiseworthy pieces.

This gathering of minds and their cumulative wealth of experience soon reveals the presence of several good writers. More importantly, the classes have served to help each participant discover their own unique ability to write a good story.

Paul Dias is a Jamaican by birth, who now calls Canada home. He’s a gifted painter and a natural story-teller who dreams of writing his first best-seller. Check out Paul’s Instagram page here.

Note: This fall, I’ll be offering an online “Welcome to Creative Writing” class on Monday evenings. Details here.

“This class is a treasure” by Vera Ninos

The first time I came across Brian Henry’s name I was at a writing workshop sponsored by the Hamilton Public Library. Two women were discussing an upcoming one-day workshop of his which they would be attending. I wrote down his name and promptly tucked it in a drawer with my writing journal where it was forgotten.

Months later, still dabbling and skirting the edges of my desire, I attended another library workshop, where I was again intrigued by conversation about this Brian Henry. Who was he and why was he so popular?

Though I googled him when I returned home and my level of intrigue spiked, I still did nothing until weeks later when I sat at my computer registering my kids for fall activities. What the heck, I decided, and registered myself for an activity, too, one of Brian’s weekly courses: “Welcome to Creative Writing.”

That’s how I came to find myself spending two hours every Tuesday morning with other aspiring writers.

Each week, while humorously dispensing his vast knowledge of writing and writing culture, Brian is encouraging, inspiring and supportive.

Class begins with a harmonizing review of everyone’s weekly writing challenges and accomplishments, then proceeds with a couple of students presenting a show and share piece. As in the primary years of school, a tangible article is shown. Unlike kindergarten, the article is accompanied by a short written piece.

In the safety of this warm and intimate setting, the writers often delve deep within their psyche to share personal stories of sorrow and victory, which are often both revealing and deeply moving.

From there, a weekly lesson or focus is introduced such as Showing versus Telling what your characters are thinking, First Person Narratives and how to write a book review – or other kinds of reviews (hence this piece).

As class continues, students are given an opportunity to apply the lesson by beginning a written piece in class which they then share with a small group of other students.

Each week, a handful of writers bring in longer written pieces, and Brian critiques them and gives helpful suggestions.

As each week rolls into the next, I find my body of writing expanding, my ability to access the writer in me easing, and my desire to share what I have written increasing.

I would highly recommend this class to anyone interested in tapping into their creative potential or even if you’re just wondering if you have creative potential. Regardless, this class is a treasure.

Vera Ninos is Hamilton based mother of four. You can read more of her writing here.

See more pieces about or inspired by Brian’s retreats, workshops and classes here (and scroll down).

For more essays, short stories, and poetry by you fellow writers see here (and scroll down).

See Brian’s upcoming weekly writing classes (including a “Welcome to Creative Writing,” afternoon workshops, and writing retreats here.

Writing Personal Stories

Online: Tuesday afternoons, 1 – 3 p.m.
Sept 29 – Nov 17 (or to Nov 24 if the class fills up). No class Oct 20
Offered on Zoom and accessible from anywhere there’s internet

Note: We also have a in-person “Intensive Creative Writing” class on Thursday afternoons in Burlington, online Intensive classes on Tuesday evenings and Wednesday afternoons, “Welcome to Creative Writing” on Monday evenings. See everything coming up here.

If you’ve ever considered writing your personal stories, this course is for you. We’ll look at memoirs, travel writing, personal essays – 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.

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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, taught creative writing at Ryerson University (now Toronto Metropolitan University) and has led workshops everywhere from Boston to Buffalo and from Saskatoon to Toronto to Saint John. But his proudest boast is that he has helped many of his students get published.

Read reviews and other pieces about or inspired by Brian’s writing courses, workshops, and retreats here (and scroll down).

Fee: $257.52 plus 13% hst = $291

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

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

Hi, Brian.

I’d like to announce the release of my latest novel, a YA portal fantasy called The Withered King.

When Colin Cameron’s dying father entrusted him with the protection of his baby sister Effie, neither anticipated that Colin and Effie would one day stumble through a portal into the kingdom of the Green King. There, the king’s winsome daughter’s first words to Colin are a proposal of marriage and the entire kingdom mistakes Effie for their long-promised savior, the Spotless Maiden.

The ancient scrolls say that only the Spotless Maiden can defeat their great enemy, the Withered King. Colin is not about to let his little sister ride to war against a demon king, but not everyone in the Green King’s kingdom is willing to take no for an answer. And saying no to the Green King’s daughter’s proposal is not as easy as it seems.

Mark Baker

https://gmbaker.net/

The Withered King is available through Amazon here.

I haven’t read The Withered King yet, but I just finished Mark’s historical novel, The Wreckers Daughter and enjoyed it immensely (here). ~Brian

Hi, Brian.

Thank you for the great workshops. I am pleased to announce that I’ve self-published my historical fiction novel Tangled Threads of War. It tells the story of Cecilia Ulrich and her family in a small village in Alsace France when war is declared and how they navigate through the war years.

It’s available through Indigo here and also through Friesen Press, Amazon and Barnes and Noble in paperback, hardcover or Ebook.

Maureen Murphy

Hi, Brian.

I hope this email reaches you one way or another. I still follow all your announcements, though I now live in the Okanagan Valley in BC. I should let you know that even in this far-flung part of Canada, I do meet up with fellow writers originally from southern Ontario who took courses with you. So your influence has spread far and wide.

I wanted to let you know that I have published a second novel, Dreams of the Alhambra, the early stages of which I was working on when I attended your writing programs.

Here’s the announcement:

Following the success of her debut novel, Palmyra, a historical suspense novel that won the Whistler Independent Book Award for Fiction in 2024 and was shortlisted for several other international awards, Karen Barrow has published her second historical fiction novel, Dreams of the Alhambra. Weaving together history, mystery, romance, and magical realism, the novel follows two women connected across centuries as buried memories and ancient secrets converge beneath the shadow of the legendary Alhambra palace in Granada, Spain.

Available in paperback and e-book through major online retailers, including Indigo, Amazon, Kindle, and Kobo. Details of her books can be found through her website www.karenbarrowbooks.com

Thanks, Brian, and enjoy the writing retreats this year!

Karen MacDougall

Award-winning Historical Fiction Writer Karen Barrow

Dreams of the Alhambra is available through Amazon here.

See more new books by your fellow writers here (and scroll down).

If you’ve had a story (or a book!) published, if you’ve won or placed in a writing contest, if you’ve gotten yourself an agent, or if you have any other news, send me an email so I can share your success. As writers, we’re all in this together, and your good news gives us all a boost. Email me at: brain.henry123@gmail.com

See all my upcoming weekly writing classes, one-day workshops, and four-day retreats here. ~Brian