Writing Wild

I reconnected with an old friend this past summer via Linked In. Janine lives in Waterloo and while staying with my mother I popped by a few times to catch up.

We were high school poets and won some awards and recognition in our senior year, however we've both gone on to different careers to earn our living. I still love words, but haven't been doing much creative writing over these last decades.

So when Janine suggested we attend the Wild Writers festival, I thought it would be the kick in the pants I needed to write a few pieces, and bring them to the festival as works in progress.

I creatively avoided doing any creative writing and although I didn't have any works in progress, I was still happy to attend the festival as a poser.

Janine's invitation included a weekend stay at her condo, just a short walk away from the festival location, the Centre for International Governance and Innovation. CIGI is a great venue space, with a fantastic stage and lots of boardrooms and lecture halls for discussion and exploration.

The opening showcase  featured Sharon Bala and Rawi Hage in a panel moderated by Jael Richardson. When it turned to practical advice for new writers, both authors declined, which was a bit disappointing. However, the two workshops I attended the next day had lots of great tips for those aspiring.

The Creative Nonfiction workshop was with Jael, and she confirmed the importance of calling to all the senses to lift scenes from the page. She also shared practical advice given to her from Helen Humphries, which is to write from beginning through to the end before you start perfecting drafts. Save each draft as a separate version. Focus on just one or two things when doing your draft (dialogue or character or senses or...). Very useful.


How Research Shapes a Story was a panel with Liz Harmer, David Huebert, Pamela Mulloy, Clare Tacon, and Brent van Staalduinen. Here it was evident that there is definitely no one approach, with each author having a different take on the topic.

Writing Raw: How to Explore Personal Material that is touchy, dark, intimate, tangled, problematic, risky, taboo or downright radioactive was delivered in a very methodical way, which surprised me. First we attacked the question of what subjects made us most uncomfortable, then we listed some of the root causes, and next we read from a handout writer Mike Barnes included with some super-practical writing process tips.  Confronting fears of rejection and separation weren't neglected topics. Although surprised by the methodical approach, I really did appreciate how straightforward and demystified the process could be when deconstructed. It's true the best writing has a magical quality but sometimes we humans have a way of making things more difficult than they need to be.

Janine had signed up for the Poetry Masterclass, Writing New Poems from the Wreckage of the Old.  Participants were to bring books of their favourite poetry along with recent works. During the afternoon they explored techniques such as erasure, cento, glosa and text collages.

The next morning there was a Literary Brunch with Katherine Ashenburg (publishing her first work of fiction in her seventies), Claire Cameron (finalist for Roger's Trust Fiction Prize), and Michael Redhill (winner of last year's Giller prize).  Delicious food, writers reading from their books, and great conversation.

As a result of attending the literary festival, my reading list is now much longer! And I have renewed my interest in creative writing, too... since I don't have to earn a living at it, why not explore it as a means of self expression? The New Quarterly runs an annual contest with the winners announced at the Writing Wild festival. I think I will set a goal for myself to enter a submission in a category (or two). God knows I have enough raw material in the way of life experience.

It was also fantastic catching up with Janine and having a weekend get-together. Next time, to be held in Toronto!