Groups & Events

500 Words or Less: Writing Workshops for Graduating Students

Writing support for the Online Show

This workshop gives an introduction to the Online Show and is supporting students to work on their writing for the public with generative writing exercises.

Join for any or all of the four sessions offered at the Writing Centre space during lunch hours:

Visual Arts – Artist Statements
Tuesday, April 1st from 11:30-12:15
DDM – Artist/Designer Statements
Wednesday, April 2nd from 11:30-12:15
Bios + Titles
Thursday, April 3rd from 11:30-12:15
Proposals: Writing After the Online Show + Other Opportunities
Friday, April 4th from 11:30-12:15

REGISTER HERE to attend.

This workshop is presented by the Writing Centre and Gallery + Exhibitions (The Show)

April 1-4, 2025 during lunch

Writing Centre

Love, the Writing Centre: Annual Open House

Treats and fun activities for students

Love, the Writing Centre Open House
Thursday, Feb. 13, 2025
11:30AM – 1PM
in the Writing Centre

Come to our annual open house event and get a treat, do some crafts, make or take a Valentine, and check out our photobooth!

Thursday, Feb. 13, 2025

Writing Centre

On Edge Reading Series: Spring 2025

Literary reading series, open to the public

The On Edge Reading Series showcases the work of writers who are doing the freshest, most interesting, and relevant work, writers who are also artists, volunteers, literary award winners, social justice organizers, prison abolitionists, literary organizers, dancers, managing editors, filmmakers, creative writing instructors, and scholars. On Edge programming serves to enrich literary and writing communities both inside and outside of the Emily Carr University Community. .

All readings are FREE and open to the public. ASL interpretation is provided for all readings.

On Edge is organized and hosted by Mercedes Eng and assisted by Joanna. Logo and posters by Sandy.

On Edge on social media: Follow On Edge on Instagram to stay up to date.
For any other inquiries: Please email onedge@ecuad.ca

The series is support by the Emily Carr Writing Centre with grateful acknowledgement to the Canada Council for the Arts and the Coast Salish First Nations whose traditional lands we are on.

FEATURING:

Alicia Elliott

Thursday, January 23, 2025 at 5:30PM PT in the Aboriginal Gathering Place

Livestream link: Register for Zoom Room here

Alicia Elliott is a Mohawk writer and editor living in Brantford, Ontario. She has written for The Globe and Mail, CBC, Hazlitt, and many others. She’s had numerous essays nominated for National Magazine Awards, winning gold in 2017 and an honorable mention in 2020. Her short fiction was selected for The Best American Short Stories 2018, Best Canadian Stories 2018, and The Journey Prize Stories 30. Alicia was chosen by Tanya Talaga as the 2018 recipient of the RBC Taylor Emerging Writer Award. Her first book, A Mind Spread Out on the Ground, was nominated for the Hilary Weston Writers’ Trust Prize for Nonfiction, won the Forest of Reading Evergreen Award, and was a national bestseller in Canada. Her debut novel, And Then She Fell, was named a Globe and Mail and CBC Best Book of the Year in 2023, longlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction, won the Indigenous Voices Award, the Amazon First Novel Award, the First Nations Communities READ Award, and is a national bestseller.

_{Photo: Alex Jacobs-Blum}

Selina Boan
Thursday, February 13, 2025 at 5:30PM PT in the Aboriginal Gathering Place
Livestream link: Register for the Zoom Room here

Selina Boan is a white settler-nehiyaw (Cree) writer and educator living on the traditional, unceded territories of thexʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), səl̓ilwətaɁɬ (Tsleil-waututh), and sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) peoples.

Her debut poetry collection, Undoing Hours won the 2022 Pat Lowther Memorial Award and the Indigenous Voices Award for Published Poetry in English. Her work has been published widely, including The Best Canadian Poetry 2018 and 2020. She is a poetry editor for CV2
_{Photo: Kayla MacInnis}

Steacy Easton
Thursday, March 6, 2025 at 5:30PM PT in the Writing Centre (ECUAD Library)
Livestream link: Register from Zoom Room here

Steacy Easton is a writer and visual artist, originally from Edmonton, who has lived in Hamilton for more than eight years. They are the author of three books, one on Tammy Wynette (Why Tammy Wynette Matters, University of Texas Press), one on Dolly Parton (Dolly Parton’s White Limozeen for Bloomsbury), and a memoir (Daddy Lessons, for Coachhouse). Their music writing has been published by Atlantic Online, Bluegrass Situation, CBC, Spin, NPR, Vulture and others. They have visual work shown in Toronto, Montreal, New York, and Halifax.

_{Photo: Jesse Dirtfoot}

Cody Caetano is a writer and literary agent. His debut memoir, Half-Bads in White Regalia, was a national bestseller, won two Indigenous Voices Awards, was longlisted for Canada Reads, the Toronto Book Award, the Leacock Medal for Humour, and the Edna Staebler Award, and named one of the best books of the year by The Globe and Mail and CBC Books in 2023. Cody represents award-winning and bestselling authors of literary fiction and nonfiction. He joined CookeMcDermid in 2022 after starting his career at Transatlantic Agency. He holds an MA in English in the field of Creative Writing and a BA in English and Professional Writing & Communication from the University of Toronto. Cody is Anishinaabe, Portuguese, and an off-reserve member of Pinaymootang First Nation.

_{Photo: Kris Caetano}

Select Thursdays, Spring 2025

Aboriginal Gathering Place + Writing Centre

“Talks Around the World!”: An event for Multilingual Learners

International + multilingual students hangout!

International and multilingual students!

Come join us at the Writing Centre to take a break from the busy semester and meet with other multilingual learners for a small hangout with board games and music of your choice. Pizza, snacks and drinks provided.

When: Tuesday, November 5th, 2024, from 4-5PM

Where: in the Writing Centre in the Library

How: Please RSVP here.

Tuesday, Nov 5, 2024

In-person in the Writing Centre

On Edge Reading Series: Fall 2024

A reading series featuring the work of writers who are doing the freshest, most interesting, and relevant work

The On Edge Reading Series showcases the work of writers who are doing the freshest, most interesting, and relevant work, writers who are also artists, volunteers, literary award winners, social justice organizers, prison abolitionists, literary organizers, dancers, managing editors, filmmakers, creative writing instructors, and scholars. On Edge programming serves to enrich literary and writing communities both inside and outside of the Emily Carr University Community.

The series is support by the Emily Carr Writing Centre with grateful acknowledgement to the Canada Council for the Arts and the Coast Salish First Nations whose traditional lands we are on.

All readings are FREE and open to the public. ASL interpretation is provided for all readings.

On Edge is organized and hosted by Mercedes Eng and assisted by Joanna.
Logo and posters by Sandy.

On Edge on social media: Follow On Edge on Instagram to stay up to date.
For any other inquiries: Please email onedge@ecuad.ca

NOW ON THURSDAYS

Jenny Heijun Wills

Thursday, September 19, 2024 at 5:30PM PT in the Aboriginal Gathering Place

Livestream link: Register for Zoom Room here

Jenny Heijun Wills (she/her) is the author of Older Sister. Not Necessarily Related: A Memoir (McClelland and Stewart, 2019). It won the 2019 Hilary Weston Writers’ Trust Nonfiction Prize and the 2020 Manitoba Book Awards’ Best First Book Award. Everything and Nothing At All (Knopf Canada, 2024) is a collection of personal essays about race, gender, literature, adoption, and kinship. Wills was born in Korea and raised in Southern Ontario. She is professor of English at the University of Winnipeg.

For more information about Jenny: University of Winnipeg profile

_{Photo: courtesy of Jenny Heijun Wills}

Saeed Teebi + Vance Wright
Thursday, October 10, 2024 at 5:30PM PT
in the Aboriginal Gathering Place
Livestream link: Register for the Zoom Room here

Saeed Teebi is a writer and lawyer based in Toronto. His debut collection of short stories, Her First Palestinian, was a finalist for several awards, including the Atwood Gibson Writers’ Trust Prize and the Danuta Gleed Literary Award. The title story “Her First Palestinian” was shortlisted for the CBC Short Story Prize. He is currently at work on two projects, a book of non-fiction entitled You Will Not Kill Our Imagination, and a debut novel. For more information about Saeed: Saeed’s X

Vance Wright is a reconnecting two-spirit member of the Tl’azt’en Nation, and was raised on the unceded territories of the Sinixt Nation in what is colonially known as Nelson BC. Currently residing in the occupied and unceded territories of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh Nations in Vancouver, they are a writer, and emerging artist & curator. They hold a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Emily Carr University, with a major in Critical and Cultural Practices and a minor is Curatorial Studies.

_{Photos: courtesy of Saeed Teebi + Vance Wright}

Cassandra Blanchard + andrea bennett
Thursday, October 31, 2024 at 5:30PM PT
in the Aboriginal Gathering Place
Livestream link: Register from Zoom Room here

Cassandra Blanchard was born in Whitehorse, Yukon and is a part of the Selkirk First Nation. She is the author of Fresh Pack of Smokes which won the 2020 Relit Award. She currently lives on Vancouver Island.

For more information about Cassandra: ROOM Magazine interview

andrea bennett is a National Magazine Award-winning writer, a senior editor at The Tyee, and the author of six books. the berry takes the shape of the bloom (Talonbooks) was one of CBC’s picks for 30 Canadian books to read in Winter 2024. Points of Interest, co-edited with David Beers, has spent fifteen weeks on the BC Bestseller list. Their most recent book of essays, Hearty: On Cooking, Eating, and Growing Food for Pleasure and Subsistence, just came out with ECW Press.

For more information about andrea: Official Website
_{Photos: courtesy of Cassandra Blanchard + andrea bennett}

Jane Shi lives on the occupied, stolen, and unceded territories of the xʷməθkʷəýəm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) nations. Her writing has appeared in the Disability Visibility ProjectBlog, Briarpatch Magazine, The Offing, CV2 Magazine, ROOM Magazine, The Ex-Puritan, Canthius, and Queer Little Nightmares: An Anthology of Monstrous Fiction and Poetry (Arsenal Pulp Press), among others. She is the winner of The Capilano Review’s 2022 In(ter)ventions in the Archive Contest and author of the chapbook Leaving Chang’e on Read (Rahila’s Ghost Press, 2022). echolalia echolalia (Brick Books, 2024) is her debut poetry collection. She wants to live in a world where love is not a limited resource, land is not mined, hearts are not filched, and bodies are not violated.

For more information about Jane: Official website_{Jane’s photo: Joy Gyamfi}

This season’s poster (click thumbnail to enlarge):

The On Edge Reading Series showcases the work of writers who are doing the freshest, most interesting, and relevant work, writers who are also artists, volunteers, literary award winners, social justice organizers, prison abolitionists, literary organizers, dancers, managing editors, filmmakers, creative writing instructors, and scholars. On Edge programming serves to enrich literary and writing communities both inside and outside of the Emily Carr University Community.

The series is support by the Emily Carr Writing Centre with grateful acknowledgement to the Canada Council for the Arts and the Coast Salish First Nations whose traditional lands we are on.

All readings are FREE and open to the public. ASL interpretation is provided for all readings.

On Edge is organized and hosted by Mercedes Eng and assisted by Joanna.
Logo and posters by Sandy.

On Edge on social media: Follow On Edge on Instagram to stay up to date.
For any other inquiries: Please email onedge@ecuad.ca

NOW ON THURSDAYS

Jenny Heijun Wills

Thursday, September 19, 2024 at 5:30PM PT in the Aboriginal Gathering Place

Livestream link: Register for Zoom Room here

Jenny Heijun Wills (she/her) is the author of Older Sister. Not Necessarily Related: A Memoir (McClelland and Stewart, 2019). It won the 2019 Hilary Weston Writers’ Trust Nonfiction Prize and the 2020 Manitoba Book Awards’ Best First Book Award. Everything and Nothing At All (Knopf Canada, 2024) is a collection of personal essays about race, gender, literature, adoption, and kinship. Wills was born in Korea and raised in Southern Ontario. She is professor of English at the University of Winnipeg.

For more information about Jenny: University of Winnipeg profile

_{Photo: courtesy of Jenny Heijun Wills}

Saeed Teebi + Vance Wright
Thursday, October 10, 2024 at 5:30PM PT
in the Aboriginal Gathering Place
Livestream link: Register for the Zoom Room here

Saeed Teebi is a writer and lawyer based in Toronto. His debut collection of short stories, Her First Palestinian, was a finalist for several awards, including the Atwood Gibson Writers’ Trust Prize and the Danuta Gleed Literary Award. The title story “Her First Palestinian” was shortlisted for the CBC Short Story Prize. He is currently at work on two projects, a book of non-fiction entitled You Will Not Kill Our Imagination, and a debut novel. For more information about Saeed: Saeed’s X

Vance Wright is a reconnecting two-spirit member of the Tl’azt’en Nation, and was raised on the unceded territories of the Sinixt Nation in what is colonially known as Nelson BC. Currently residing in the occupied and unceded territories of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh Nations in Vancouver, they are a writer, and emerging artist & curator. They hold a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Emily Carr University, with a major in Critical and Cultural Practices and a minor is Curatorial Studies.

_{Photos: courtesy of Saeed Teebi + Vance Wright}

Cassandra Blanchard + andrea bennett
Thursday, October 31, 2024 at 5:30PM PT
in the Aboriginal Gathering Place
Livestream link: Register from Zoom Room here

Cassandra Blanchard was born in Whitehorse, Yukon and is a part of the Selkirk First Nation. She is the author of Fresh Pack of Smokes which won the 2020 Relit Award. She currently lives on Vancouver Island.

For more information about Cassandra: ROOM Magazine interview

andrea bennett is a National Magazine Award-winning writer, a senior editor at The Tyee, and the author of six books. the berry takes the shape of the bloom (Talonbooks) was one of CBC’s picks for 30 Canadian books to read in Winter 2024. Points of Interest, co-edited with David Beers, has spent fifteen weeks on the BC Bestseller list. Their most recent book of essays, Hearty: On Cooking, Eating, and Growing Food for Pleasure and Subsistence, just came out with ECW Press.

For more information about andrea: Official Website
_{Photos: courtesy of Cassandra Blanchard + andrea bennett}

Jane Shi lives on the occupied, stolen, and unceded territories of the xʷməθkʷəýəm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) nations. Her writing has appeared in the Disability Visibility ProjectBlog, Briarpatch Magazine, The Offing, CV2 Magazine, ROOM Magazine, The Ex-Puritan, Canthius, and Queer Little Nightmares: An Anthology of Monstrous Fiction and Poetry (Arsenal Pulp Press), among others. She is the winner of The Capilano Review’s 2022 In(ter)ventions in the Archive Contest and author of the chapbook Leaving Chang’e on Read (Rahila’s Ghost Press, 2022). echolalia echolalia (Brick Books, 2024) is her debut poetry collection. She wants to live in a world where love is not a limited resource, land is not mined, hearts are not filched, and bodies are not violated.

For more information about Jane: Official website_{Jane’s photo: Joy Gyamfi}

This season’s poster (click thumbnail to enlarge):

Select Thursdays

Aboriginal Gathering Place

Crit Club

Improve your practice with feedback!

Facilitated by tutor Eliza, this club gathers weekly in the Writing Centre and offers students in various programs the opportunity to gain valuable feedback on their work in a safe, fun and friendly environment (make friends and have fun!)

Who: Students interested in receiving peer feedback in a relaxed environment
When: Tuesdays, 11:20 – 12:20 (SPRING 2025)
Where: ECSU Multi-purpose Room

Join the Discord group for all communications related to the group. Crit Club is also on Instagram!

Crit Club art from Eliza

Tuesdays, 11:20 – 12:20

ECSU Multi-purpose Room

Wordsmiths Creative Writing Club

Creative writers unite!

Come write, share work such as poetry and fiction, read and chat in this fun and casual group! All levels of writers are welcome.

HOW TO JOIN:

What: A club for creative writers–experienced or aspiring
Who: All students, regardless of experience.
How: Join the Discord group to stay up to date.

Please e-mail writingcentre@ecuad.ca if you have any questions.

Wordsmiths art from Anoushka and Fatima

TBA

Discord

Letter Writing Club

Local and international penpal exchange

Join our Discord server for chats with fellow LWC members and to exchange letters with each other and international students.

HOW TO JOIN:

What: A club for letter writers from all backgrounds
Who: All students, regardless of experience.
How: Join the Discord server to join the club and participate in LWC penpal and partner school penpals exchange programs. More information to come in Fall 2024.

Please e-mail writingcentre@ecuad.ca if you have any questions.

Letterwriting illustration by Cherry

Asychronous

Discord

Faculty + Staff Writing Group

Get some writing done!

The Faculty + Staff Writing Group has been one of the Writing Centre’s most beloved programs. Every week, staff and faculty colleagues gather to talk (a little) about their writing projects and goals; we then set timers and write, getting done in 90 minutes what can take hours without the accountability of a writing community.

We look forward to having you join our writing community!

- What: Weekly writing group
- Who: ECUAD faculty and staff
- When: Fridays on Zoom from 10-11:30AM. HOWEVER, the first Friday of each month will be IN PERSON and longer sessions.
- How: Please register for the Zoom room here

Please e-mail writingcentre@ecuad.ca if you have any questions.

Fridays

Online + some in-person

Writing support for the Online Show

Treats and fun activities for students

Literary reading series, open to the public

International + multilingual students hangout!

A reading series featuring the work of writers who are doing the freshest, most interesting, and relevant work

*NOW ON THURSDAYS*

*NOW ON THURSDAYS*

Improve your practice with feedback!

Creative writers unite!

Local and international penpal exchange

Get some writing done!

Upcoming events

NOW ON THURSDAYS

NOW ON THURSDAYS