Sister Writes offers three sessions per year: fall, winter, and spring. Each session runs for 12 weeks and takes place on Zoom (for Covid-19) or at the Gladstone branch of The Toronto Public Library. We meet on a weekday morning, for two hours, and provide all the supplies you’ll need – notebooks, our readings booklet, pens, and pencils – as well as snacks to keep energy high. We open registration six weeks before the start of each session on a first-come first served basis.
Our workshops are designed to be accessible to all, from beginners to those with a bit more writing experience. Through guided lessons, creative exercises, readings, group activities, and heaps of hands-on practice, you’ll learn fundamentals of fiction and memoir writing, including voice, style, character, plot, and setting. Overall, in the session you can expect to:
- Practice writing in a variety of styles
- Explore and discover your personal writing style
- Increase your writerly confidence by developing a regular writing practice
- Write poems, stories, articles, personal essays, memoir and much more
- Meet and work with professional authors, poets, and journalists
- Give and receive feedback within a supportive workshop setting
- Read and discuss writing by established and emerging authors
- Produce and publish a professional literary magazine Sister Writes
- Organize a public magazine launch
By the end of the session, you’ll have completed one short story, lots of short, short stories (flash fiction) and have given and received feedback in a supportive and constructive workshop setting.
To see if we’d be a good fit for you, read through our Programs page. Then, if you’d like to register, drop us a note at info@sisterwrites.com. Sessions begin in September, January, and May.
Here’s what a few participants have said about Sister Writes:
“Sister Writes was the opportunity I’ve been waiting for all my life. This might sound like a cliché, but I honestly feel it. It’s a blessing having a safe environment with people whose aims are the same as yours.” -Maria
“I doubt that I would have been able to explore and learn more about writing if I didn’t have the opportunity at Sister Writes. This experience has helped me grow on a personal level as well as professionally.” -Erin
“Sister Writes has been an amazing program, and the highlight of my week. The readings, advice and encouragement have helped me grow as a writer and as a woman.” -Margot
“At Sister Writes I gained the confidence I needed to put into practice what I’d always known I could do — write.” -Cindy
“Being in a group that is all women that has a feminist perspective is very helpful for me…I feel that I have been given a secret gift that everyone would want if they knew how good Sister Writes is.” –Cynthia
