Writing Home: a workshop

Writing Home. That's the theme I look forward to exploring with fellow writer and writing instructor Judith Williams at our workshop on Saturday October 1.

It will literally be a case of writing bringing me back home - to Red Deer, the home town that I moved out of just this August. Judith and I will be talking about the role of place in contemporary creative writing. As writers, we imprint ourselves on the places we inhabit and write about. Those places, in turn, speak back to us and tell about ourselves.

Judith Williams was born in Quebec, but has lived more than half of her life in Alberta. With several international awards in children’s non-fiction, she has ten books in print, three of which are translated into Spanish. Besides writing, Judith mentors and teaches creative writing to youth and adults in Southern Alberta.

Many writers have explored the linked themes of home, houses, home towns, and the psychology of place. I look forward to sharing some of my favourites at the workshop. I'll read from and talk about the work of Scott Russell Sanders, Yi-Fu Tuan, Winnifred Gallagher, Rick Bass, Don Gayton and Julian Hoffman.

I'll also read a few place-related pieces from my forthcoming Selected Poems, Drawing Back to Take a Running Jump, which is being published in October. I may even throw in some bits from my ever-evolving (that's writer code for unmanageable and likely unpublishable) manuscript about the oil country of west central Alberta.

So join us if you can. The workshop is free, thanks to sponsorship by the Writers Guild of Alberta, as part of Alberta Arts Days. All you need to do is RSVP with an email to mail@writersguild.ab.ca, or give them a call at (780) 422-8174.

Judith and I hope to see you there.