Certificate Information
The Writer's Studio:
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The Writer’s Studio is a part-time, one-year
program. Our unique program includes
a dynamic blend of one-on-one consults
with your mentor, biweekly workshops in
your mentor’s group, courses, readings,
mentor salons, learning an aspect of book
production via our anthology, and ongoing
alumni activities.
The Writer’s Studio has one of the highest
ratios of instructional contact hours
per tuition dollar of any creative writing
program in North America.
A distinguishing feature of The
Writer’s Studio is our emphasis on learning
in community. With this goal in mind,
diversity is welcomed in our community
— diversity of age, cultural and racial
backgrounds, writing and lived experience.
All TWS courses, mentor groups, and
activities are scheduled on weeknights and
some Saturdays. If you are ready to develop
or finish a draft of a manuscript in fiction,
poetry, lyric prose or creative non-fiction,
you are an excellent candidate for The
Writer’s Studio.
The Unique Aspects of The Writer's Studio
- a balance of craft and professional training
- one-on-one mentorship relationship
- student production of their own anthology
- ongoing alumni activities
Betsy Warland, Director
Betsy Warland has authored 10 books of non-fiction and poetry. Her most recent book of poetry being Only This Blue. She has been teaching creative writing across Canada for 25 years, and has been a manuscript consultant for over a decade.
Wayde Compton, narrative and non-fiction mentor TWS 2009
Wayde Compton’s 49th Parallel Psalm, a history in verse, was shortlisted for the Dorothy Livesay Prize. He also edited Bluesprint: Black British Columbian Literature and Orature, and wrote Performance Bond. He and Jason de Couto perform turntable-based sound poetry as a duo called The Contact Zone Crew. Compton is also one of the publishers of Commodore books, the first and only black literary press in western Canada.
Ivan Coyote, narrative and creative non-fiction mentor TWS 2010
Ivan Coyote was born and raised in Whitehorse, Yukon Territory. An award-winning author of five collections of short stories, one novel, two CD’s, and four short films. A renowned performer, Ivan’s first love is live storytelling, and over the last thirteen years she has become an audience favourite at music, poetry, spoken word and writer's festivals from Anchorage to Amsterdam. Ivan’s column, "Loose End" has appeared monthly in Xtra West magazine since 2001. Her first novel, Bow Grip, was released in the fall of 2006, and was awarded the Relit award for best fiction and named by the American Library Association as a Stonewall honor book in literature. Ivan recently completed an eight-month writer in residence at Carleton University in Ottawa, and is hard at work on her second novel. Her fifth collection of stories, The Slow Fix, was released in September, and has been nominated for a Lambda award.
Rachel Rose, poetry and lyric prose mentor TWS 2009 and 2010
Rachel Rose’s first book, Giving My Body to Science, was a finalist for The Gerald Lampert Award, The Pat Lowther Award, and the Grand Prix du Livre de Montreal, and won the Quebec Writer’s Federation A.M. Klein Award. Her second book, Notes on Arrival and Departure, was published by McClelland & Stewart in 2005. She holds a MFA in Creative Writing from the University of British Columbia.
Anne Stone, fiction mentor TWS 2009 and 2010
Anne Stone, a Vancouver-based teacher and novelist, is senior editor at Matrix Magazine and, as of fall 2007, holds a fiction imprint at Insomniac Press. She is the author of three novels: jacks: a gothic gospel, Hush, and, most recently, Delible. Chosen as one of thirty-five “Books of the Year” for the Globe and Mail, Delible tells the story of Melora Sprague, a 15-year-old girl whose sister is missing. The novel offers a glimpse into a sustained experience of uncertainty and, in so doing, explores how our identities exist in those traces we leave behind.
For more details on The Writers Studio, visit the studio website.
Ready to apply?
Please see our Certificate Application Information page for information on application deadlines and the application process.
Advisory Committee Kate Braid Colin Browne Stephen Collis Kirsten Masse Katherine McManus John Mavin Stephen Osborne Miranda Pearson Aileen Penner Hal Wake Betsy Warland |