So on the left we see the image that accompanies my all-time, second-most- popular blog posting: The night Leonard Cohen taught me that Magic Is Alive. And you know how some people can’t get over their own jokes? I still find this one pretty funny: ‘Obscure’ Canadian writer declines to don kilt for CTV appearance. My all-time greatest hit? That would be this puppy: Let’s invite Scotland to join Canada. 

All this is by way of announcing my intensive, week-long, narrative nonfiction workshop at the University of Toronto. Hey, best to have some idea of what you’re up against. So here we are again, all good to go starting July 10 as part of the Summer Writing School.  I do ask for submissions (up to 1,500 words) so we can hit the ground running. Below, we find a nutshell description and an image of the official “me.” Dr. Jekyll. We do have a good time. And I do believe that this workshop can move you forward. Click here for an official rendition. And come on down! 

Meanwhile, here’s that nutshell description: Anyone looking for today’s most exciting writing should check out Narrative Non-Fiction, an emerging genre in which writers apply literary techniques to factual narrative. This course will orient writers within the genre, which includes both personal streams (memoir, autobiography, travelogue) and impersonal ones (true-crime writing, biography, historical narrative, immersion reporting). The workshop focuses on craft, and will include lectures, discussions, exercises, and workshopping student writing.

You have to register before submitting material.  Please submit a story–maximum 1,500 words. 

Note:  these pieces will be uploaded so that students can read each other’s work before the start of the course.

Required Textbook: The Art of Fact: A Historical Anthology of Literary Journalism by Kevin Kerrane and Ben Yagoda, ISBN-13: 978-0684846309–available at the U of T Bookstore.