One-Off Workshops

Here are some of the one-off now hear)) this! workshops available to your school, community group or other organization. Please feel free to contact program staff about costs and other details. We are also willing to tailor workshops specifically to your needs. Fancy your students writing sonnets about how amazing armadillos are, but don't see anything like that below? No worries. Consider it done.

Choose from:

LIFE WRITING: THE PERSONAL MYTH, THE MEMOIR & THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY

“Go into yourself.” —Rainer Maria Rilke, Letters to a Young Poet

Every writer is born with a set of givens: their childhood, family history, cultural heritage, second language, and personal traits that form a unique and valuable literary resource. In this workshop, students will begin by recognizing the particularity of their background and from there consider the ethical questions that writing about one's own life entails. Students will become familiar with critical distinctions such as Autobiography, Memoir, and Mythology. Through either poetry or short fiction, students will work towards the creation of a personal mythology where their unique “givens” are implicated, shaped into a narrative, and valued.

THE FANTASTIC AND THE MAGICALLY REAL
What is the purpose of imagination in literature? And what advantages does the imaginative possess over the real? In this workshop, students will explore the role of the writer's imagination in rendering the world. Students will become acquainted with critical terms such as Fantasy, Magical Realism and Enchantment. By deploying their imaginative skills, students will be encouraged to write a poem, fable or fairy tale in a strange, original and evocative way.

SATIRE AND “FAKE NEWS” WRITING
“Radical Islamic Extremists Snowboard Into US Embassy.” Really? No. This is a headline from The Onion , a satirical news magazine that lampoons current events for often biting effect. In the spirit of The Onion , The Daily Show and This Hour Has 22 Minutes , this workshop tackles concepts of irony, hyperbole, satire and parody, encouraging critical thinking while teaching the basics of journalistic reportage. Students choose a story from the day's news and tackle it creatively, going behind the headlines to expose issues that mainstream media sources are failing to address. But in, you know, a funny way.

MAKING TEEN MEDIA
If teen magazines are supposed to reflect what teens are interested in, why aren't they written and produced by teenagers? In this workshop you'll learn how to review, critique and report on pop culture and how to make the media and magazines yourself. Looking at samples of both DIY zines and professionally produced magazines, students will examine what they do and don't like about the magazines and messages that are meant for them, and learn how to create their own report on the world as they see it.

THE SONG IS A POEM (Poetry Eclectic)
Covering the works of songwriters from the past thirty years to today and their poetic influences, this workshop is intended to bring into the classroom what students usually keep to themselves in their circles outside of school. Students are encouraged to bring in and discuss their own musical preferences, and then think about the relationship that song lyrics have to writing and poetry. Songwriting and techniques in both forms will be explored and students will be given the opportunity to create their own material individually or collectively and develop a deeper appreciation for the music they listen to, and a greater understanding of how their favourite musicians create it.

IF YOU CAN TALK, YOU CAN WRITE
Every writer has a singular voice and some can take years to hit the right tone or style that best relays their thoughts, intention and personality. Using popular texts ( Catcher In The Rye , Lemony Snickett, 13 ) as samples of first, second and third person, the students will read and discuss the different qualities of these points of view. They will then be assigned short exercises in each of the styles, which wil then be read aloud to further discussion about differences between the voices. What does third have that first doesn't? Do you feel compelled to write in a more colloquial or formal manner? Is your prose clean like Hemingway, or flowery and descriptive like Ondaatje? Then the students will be instructed to choose the style they like best and write a full paragraph, on a subject to be decided in class.

GRAPHIC NOVELS: THE GREAT LITERACY DEMOCRACY
From Egyptian hieroglyphs to the modern-day comic book, graphic storytelling has long been the simplest and most effective way of connecting with a great number of people of all classes. Considering this, and our increasing reliance on imagery as a form of communication in our daily lives, the graphic novel might well be the next great democracy (and rebirth) of books and literature. This workshop will be two-fold: we'll talk about the importance of graphic novels in an imagery-dominated world and their similarities to film, and survey some of the lesser-known works of the genre. We will also look at how to translate stories into imagery and vice-versa. Students will have the opportunity to discuss their own writing/illustration, and how best to fuse these media into one finished project, using techniques of sequential narrative, layout, illustration and design.

…more coming soon!