Immersive creative environments.
Distinguished faculty • Process-oriented approach • Vibrant community
Every spring and summer, Sage Hill Writing welcomes cohorts of talented writers from across genres and writing backgrounds. Whether you are an established or emerging writer, we have a program to support you in your creative process.
Our writing retreats offer challenging but supportive environments where you can take your literary projects to the next level, mentored by distinguished faculty and as part of a welcoming community of writers. Our alumni form life-long community bonds, and often return to Sage Hill when working on new projects.
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Applications are open to writers in Canada and abroad.
Have a question about our writing retreats? Contact us.
I worked on my first novel, The Bone Cage, [at Sage Hill]. It went on to be a Canada Reads finalist and has taken me on so many adventures.
Angie Abdou, Alumna
Spring Colloquium
Focusing on your writing doesn’t have to be a solitary action. In the Spring Colloquium, you can delve into your manuscript in a small-group retreat environment that facilitates deep-immersion into the writing process. With individual manuscript consultations and stimulating seminar discussions, you will have the tools you need to bring new energy to your project.
A Poetry Colloquium is offered on rotation with a Fiction Colloquium.
The 2023 Poetry Colloquium will be offered in person. The next Fiction Colloquium is planned for 2024.
Application guidelines: The Spring Colloquium is a facilitated retreat designed for writers who have a publication record of at least one book, or the equivalent in periodicals, and are working towards manuscript completion.
Though the Poetry Colloquium Application Deadline has passed, you may still apply if the program remains available on the application form.
Learn More and Apply:
It was an honour and a privilege to have Louise with us. She made us all feel welcome and offered herself in an exceptionally open and generous way. I love coming to Sage Hill. The monastery provides an excellent situation for a writing retreat.
Susan Wismer, 2021 Poetry Colloquium
During the summer months, the Poetry Course is excellent alternative to the colloquium.
Spring Fiction Course
Sage Hill’s 2023 Fiction Course will be offered in person in May 2023. This change will keep gathering sizes small in both the spring and summer months.
The Fiction Course is a forum for fiction writers to focus on developing their skills, exchanging ideas, and learning from both mentors and peers. Bring your new or ongoing writing project to this small-group, facilitated retreat, where you will take the next step in your process supported by a vibrant community of writers.
Spring Fiction Application Deadline: Applications Now Closed
Learn More and Apply:
My time at the Sage Hill Fiction Summer Course was life-changing… Our fearless instructor, Yasuko, changed my relationship with writing for the better. She created a simultaneously generative, open, and kind environment, and I have implemented her tools into my daily writing practice.
Kristina Stocks, 2022 Fiction Course
Summer Courses
The craft of writing is a lifelong exercise in learning. That’s why Sage Hill’s Summer Courses (Nonfiction, Poetry, Playwriting and Emerging Writers’) are designed as a forum for writers at all stages of their careers to focus on developing their skills, exchanging ideas and learning from both mentors and peers. Bring your new or ongoing writing project to these small-group facilitated retreats, where you will take the next step in your process supported by a vibrant community of writers.
The 2023 Summer Emerging and Playwriting Courses will be offered in person. The Nonfiction and Poetry Courses will be offered online.
Application guidelines: You do not need to be published to apply to the Emerging Writers’ Course. The Summer Courses each have their own guidelines. Visit the page you are interested in for further details.
Though the Summer Courses Application Deadline has passed, you may still apply to any of the programs that remain available on the application form.
Learn More and Apply:
Guillermo was AMAZING. He engaged my script with generosity and rigour. He asked questions that opened up my script, which deepened my knowledge of my own work and motivated me to keep working. His group discussions were lovely combinations of instruction and interrogation into playwriting as a craft and discipline.
2022 Playwriting Course Participant
If you have any questions about these programs, you can always contact us!
Many thanks to our partners & sponsors for the writing retreats:
