u of guelph creative writing

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Creative Writing

New in 2022!

Explore the ways writing can drive social justice and environmental awareness. Create meaning through your writing and storytelling. You will take courses in speculative fiction, non-fiction, poetry, screenwriting and writing for the inclusive stage. You will develop a body of creative work that includes writing exercises, short creative pieces and a portfolio. 

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U of G Launches Certificate Program in Creative Writing

Have a story to tell but need help in writing it down? A new certificate program in creative writing at the University of Guelph might help you find your inner narrator.

Beginning this semester, the Creative Writing at Guelph program aims to attract would-be writers in the Guelph area – and not just university students. “One of the strong impulses behind this is to create continuing education courses in creative writing that are accessible to people in the community,” says Catherine Bush, associate co-ordinator of Guelph’s MFA program in creative writing.

The new certificate program will be offered jointly by the School of English and Theatre Studies through the existing MFA program and by U of G’s Centre for Open Learning and Educational Support.

Who should apply?

Says Bush: “Anybody who has an interest in putting words on the page, is interested in telling a story or making up a story, or has a life story they want to tell – almost everybody does. That need to express ourselves in song, poetry and stories is just elemental to being human.”

MFA graduates and students will teach the eight-week-long certificate courses. Almost 100 students have graduated from the MFA program since it began six years ago at the University of Guelph-Humber. “Many are really eager for teaching opportunities. This was a way to facilitate that,” says Bush.

This semester, novelist and poet Zoe Whittall will teach an introductory creative writing class, and Kilby Smith-McGregor will lead a short story course. Both Toronto-based instructors have won Writers’ Trust of Canada awards.

Those courses begin today and will run until mid-November. Classes are capped at 12 students, but there may still be an opening. If interested, contact Marjory Gaouette, manager of program development in the open learning centre, at [email protected] .

Courses planned for the winter semester will cover reading and writing, novel-writing and poetry. Other instructors this year will be poet Paul Vermeersch, writer and film director Andrew Kaufman, and author Ayelet Tsabari.

Other planned courses include creative non-fiction, mystery writing, writing for kids and screenwriting.

Students may take single courses or pursue a certificate by completing six of the program’s 10 offerings. Weekly classes will take place in the MacKinnon Building. Each course costs $549. Students need no previous writing experience.

Students working toward a certificate must take the introductory course as well as “Creative Writing Through Reading,” and must complete a capstone writing project.

Organizers have marketed the program through Toronto-based publications such as Quill and Quire magazine, contacts with writers’ groups and through events such as the Eden Mills Writers’ Festival.

Would-be writers often benefit from meeting “like minds” and from a sense of healthy competition, says Meaghan Strimas, the new program’s academic co-ordinator and longtime administrative assistant of the MFA program.

A creative writing graduate from Concordia University, Strimas is a published poet and editor, and is now writing a novel and a new poetry collection. Recalling her own early writing workshops, she says, “I would have butterflies in my stomach every class, I just was on edge, I was so excited. For me it was getting to share work I’d been working on quietly.”

Students might use this new program as a stepping-stone to other studies, including the U of G MFA program, adds Gaouette. “If you’re looking to get into post-grad programs, this program would provide an opportunity to develop a portfolio as well as an opportunity to write.”

Bush says students might also use narrative and storytelling skills in seemingly unrelated areas from business to therapy to medicine.

For information, contact [email protected] or [email protected] .

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• HELD: U of G’s Literary Journal for Traditionally Marginalized Communities

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Environmental Science Students to Explore Creative Writing in New U of G Course

Writing poetry or short stories might seem an unlikely way to tackle climate change or biodiversity loss. But addressing the world’s environmental problems starts with changing lives and minds, says one University of Guelph professor, whose new creative writing course for budding environmental scientists aims to do just that.

The new offering, called “Creative Writing for Environmental Science,” will encourage students to read and write short stories, poetry and essays on environmental science themes or topics.

The first-ever course planned for the 2022 winter semester will mesh science and arts, said course developer and inaugural instructor Dr. Madhur Anand , a professor in the Ontario Agricultural College (OAC) whose dual career as an award-winning ecologist and creative writer straddles the disciplines.

Initially, the third-year course will involve up to 10 students in environmental sciences undergraduate majors in hands-on writing and reading of literary works as well as reading scientific research in U of G’s School of Environmental Sciences .

“I don’t know of any Canadian university with a similar course in an environmental science program,” said Anand.

She added that many such offerings are part of environmental studies and environmental humanities programs elsewhere.

Students will have the opportunity to hear from visiting writers from across Canada and visit labs on campus.

Interdisciplinary work, science communication increasingly important

From climate change to the COVID-19 pandemic to threatened biodiversity, Anand said, “numerous science topics are increasingly important to examine through many lenses.”

“This is an opportunity to have our scientific curriculum reflect evolving interests of students and the evolving needs of society. Interdisciplinary work, science communication, knowledge mobilization, holistic understanding – these are all increasingly important as our world becomes more polarized.”

Noting that she lacked access to such a course during her undergrad in ecology and evolution, she said, “I think reading literature and poems, stories and novels can help us with gaining empathy and humility. We read literature to see the world and particularly other perspectives in a new way. I think science students have a lot to gain by reading and writing creatively.”

Anand said straddling arts and science is not unprecedented at U of G, home to a longstanding arts and sciences undergrad program. In the early 1900s, Dr. Joseph Reynolds, a long-time instructor in OAC and, ultimately, OAC president, established a Canadian literature course on campus as head of English.

“Reynolds was a fascinating character,” said Anand. “He had wildly different, passionate interests in mathematics, physics, biology, English. This is very much part of our history.”

Anand also hopes the course will help break down silos between the arts and the sciences. Students may find their scientific understanding increases from reading literary works and vice-versa, she added.

“Hopefully, students will love having read from a diverse set of works that they wouldn’t normally encounter in their undergrad training,” she said.

“My brain has been forever changed by every single literary work I’ve read, perhaps just as much as every scientific paper I’ve read. Both change how we think and behave and what we think is possible.”

Dr. Madhur Anand [email protected]

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• U of G Prof Wins Governor General’s Literary Award
• Language Matters When the Earth Is in the Midst of a Climate Crisis
• U of G Grad and Acclaimed Writer Brings Love of Teaching to Faculty Post
• Director of U of G’s Guelph Institute for Environmental Research Reappointed

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The school has on its faculty the following creative writers:

Catherine Bush

Elaine Chang

Lawrence Hill

Karen Houle

Judith Thompson

The undergraduate program also draws regularly from a roster of other exciting writers who teach creative writing courses from time to time.

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MFA CREATIVE WRITING FALL 2021

Anyone got into the MFA CREATIVE WRITING program for fall 21? How difficult is it to get in? I am an international student. I got rejected from other universities and waiting to hear from Guelph now.

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7000019 - Writing Creative Non-Fiction

Course Description

We all have a story to tell: your story might be the tale of how two young lovers tragically parted ways, or it might be the narrative of how your family first came to live in Canada. Ordinary – or extraordinary – it is time to learn how to discover, and tell, the story of your life.

Join this intensive writing workshop in which you will consider the various forms of creative nonfiction: memoir and life-writing, the personal essay and the lyric essay. An experienced writer will help you unearth the story you most need and want to tell. In this class you will also consider some of the ethical issues of writing from life: for example, how does a writer respectfully approach the telling of another individual’s story? As a group we will consider the particular challenges of shaping a story from life material: what to keep in, what to leave out and what we can embellish or change. Together we will read published examples of creative nonfiction and you will also create and workshop your own writing.

Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of this course, you will be able to:

• Read and respond to a variety of readings from published authors in the non-fiction genre examining some of its forms including short memoirs, humour, personal, lyric, and braided essays.
• Identify the implicit challenges in writing true stories and the ethics of creative nonfiction
• Apply various techniques and styles to frame a story
• Use interviews to develop your story
• Determine the difference between truth and fact
• Appropriately choose what to reveal and what to avoid when writing about the lives of real people
• Identify print and online publications for submitting creative nonfiction writing
• Give and receive effective writing feedback
• Expand your writing portfolio

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Additional requirements.

Please note that the course assessment is subject to change.

Sponsoring Partner

• School of English and Theatre Studies, College of Arts

Applies Towards the Following Certificates

• Creative Writing Certificate : Electives

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