How to find the right English language arts writing workshop in Quebec

English writers in Quebec? Oh yes, you’re not alone. There’s more than one would think:)

It’s hard to know where to start when looking for a creative writing workshop.

• Will it suit me?

• Will it feel safe and welcoming?

I mean, it’s our souls that we bare when we write!!

I want to introduce you to my style of workshop:

Conversational

I believe the stories people need to tell are there; they just need support, confidence and some creative experimentation to realize them.

Community-building is key

In slugging through the long haul of writing consistently. I enjoy drawing on humour and the exchange of stories to build connections between members. 

Due to Long Covid my creative methodology has transformed from uninterrupted to alternating creative time with regenerative breaks in order to prevent crashing.

This illness has taught me to try to separate my worth from my productivity and enjoy creating my current poetry manuscript as a practice of cultivating micro-joys. One Good Thing flows directly from my experience relearning and developing a creative practice that works with, not against, my body.

• no homework

• no pressure

• no comparison

I believe that no one can tell your story like you can.

<3<3<3

Click here for info about my upcoming writing workshop. Let me know what you think

Where to do a poetry and creative writing workshop in British Columbia (BC)

It’s hard to know where to start when looking for a creative writing workshop.

• Will it suit me?

• Will it feel safe and welcoming?

I mean, it’s our souls that we bare when we write!!

I want to introduce you to my style of workshop:

Conversational

I believe the stories people need to tell are there; they just need support, confidence and some creative experimentation to realize them.

Community-building is key

In slugging through the long haul of writing consistently. I enjoy drawing on humour and the exchange of stories to build connections between members. 

Due to Long Covid my creative methodology has transformed from uninterrupted to alternating creative time with regenerative breaks in order to prevent crashing.

This illness has taught me to try to separate my worth from my productivity and enjoy creating my current poetry manuscript as a practice of cultivating micro-joys. One Good Thing flows directly from my experience relearning and developing a creative practice that works with, not against, my body.

• no homework

• no pressure

• no comparison

I believe that no one can tell your story like you can.

<3<3<3

Click here for info about my upcoming writing workshop. Let me know what you think

How telling my story helps me heal with chronic illness

Resistance against the narrative flattening of me to a collection of diagnoses and tests

Remembering that I’m also made up of joys curiosity pleasure rage

That I’m physical

That I move that I’m squishy cold hot sweaty

That I can change my mindset and mood just by

Descending into a bath or lake

By wheeling to the river and putting my or my dog’s feet in it 

That sometimes I can’t because I’m too dizzy and fatigued to enjoy hot water or movement respectively

That I don’t enjoy feeling stuck 

But

You don’t have to be perfect to show progress 

I persist anyway and self preservation on those days

Has dirty hair

And wears last night’s t-shirt 

And that’s also part of my current story 

And a part of me wants this— all of it

To be witnessed

This too is Long Covid, it resembles so many illnesses and disabilities

Life is not just injections and rehab

Doctors’ notes and indirect communication with

Insurance agents trying to trap you

In some sort of lie of capability or incapacity 

The trap of needing to prove you’re trying

But that it’s your body that’s failing

To show you’re perpetually failing your own tests 

Of could I go back?

At what percent am I of my former self?

Living with grief and joy

Except the last two years are not a black hole

Life is not absence

Like I’ve learned how to rest

How to say no and disappoint people

I’ve learned to bounce back and back and back

I’ve learned what upsets me

And I’ve practiced noticing water, wetness 

Bringing me into my aliveness

Every few days or so 

Thank goodness

I hope it can help you come into your aliveness too

<3<3<3

Do you crave a space to retell your authentic story in a supportive community?

Click here for info about my upcoming writing workshop. Let me know what you think