Dispatches from the World: A Creative Writing Workshop

Four Thursdays: September 14, 28 and October 12, 26.

6:00 PM - 8:30 PM

https://bookeo.com/mcnallyrobi...

Wild turkeys roaming the back alleys of Wolseley. Coyotes running down Portage Avenue. Kingfishers divebombing Bunn’s Creek. What does it mean to slow down and pay attention to the urban ecosystem? What lives there? In this four-part workshop, we will be focusing on close observation of urban nature. Participants will work on a two-week cycle, where the first week sees them go for a walk/ride the bus/look out their windows/sit on a bench and write about what they see/hear/smell/taste. From those notes, participants will create a 1-2 page piece of writing, which they will send to Ariel for feedback. In the second week, participants will do a second draft of their piece, which will be workshopped in class with the group. This workshop is applicable for writers of all levels and genres.

Ariel Gordon (she/her) is a Winnipeg/Treaty 1 territory-based writer, editor, and enthusiast. She is the ringleader of Writes of Spring, a National Poetry Month project with the Winnipeg International Writers Festival that appears in the Winnipeg Free Press. In 2022, her writing appeared in Canadian Notes and Queries, Canthius, periodicities, and The Quarantine Review and she had residencies at the University of Manitoba’s Centre for Creative Writing and Oral Culture, the Winnipeg Folk Festival’s Prairie Outdoor Exhibition, and the Al Purdy A-Frame. In addition, Gordon’s essay “Red River Mudlark” was 2nd place winner of the Kloppenberg Hybrid Grain Contest in Grain Magazine. In fall 2023, Gordon's fourth collection of poetry, Siteseeing: Writing nature & climate across the prairies, written in collaboration with Saskatchewan poet Brenda Schmidt, will be published by At Bay Press, followed by her second book of CNF, Fungal, which will appear with Wolsak & Wynn in spring 2024.