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2023 Emerging Writers’ Courses
Facilitated by D.A. Lockhart and Lisa Richter
Location: St. Peter’s College, Muenster, SK, Canada
Dates: July 5 – 14, 2023
The 2023 Emerging Writers’ Course will be divided into two groups of six writers to provide a smaller learning context.
- Emerging Writers’ Course A
Focus on Prose: Fiction & Nonfiction
with D.A. Lockhart - Emerging Writers’ Course B
Focus on Poetry & Mixed-Genre
with Lisa Richter
Emerging Writers’ Course A
Focus on Prose: Fiction & Nonfiction
with D.A. Lockhart
This in-person course is designed for writers in any genre who need a nudge or to take the leap of faith that will lift their manuscript to new levels. Part workshop, part discussion group and part assignment writing, participants will learn the tools and techniques for mastering the mechanics of rewriting, rethinking, and revising. A practical, hands-on course for those who want to develop better writing, editing and self-editing skills. This course is meant to enhance your work, and strengthen your writing towards a publishable state.
Emerging Writers’ Course B
Focus on Poetry & Mixed-Genre
with Lisa Richter
“Poetry,” writes Dionne Brand, is “wrestling with how we live…something dangerous, something honest.” How can we push ourselves to write poems that are dangerously honest, surprising, risky, imaginative, memorable, and evocative? What does it mean to be a “poet in the world” and live the writing life? In this ten-day generative workshop, we will explore these and other questions, read a broad range of poems and mixed-genre writing that open up new possibilities and try our hand at writing our own. Through daily craft talks, group discussions, curated readings, writing experiments and/or assignments, one-to-one mentoring, and compassionate, constructive feedback in a supportive setting, participants will hone their writing, editing and revising skills. By the end of the workshop, participants will walk away with a stack of new drafts, an expanded toolkit for generating new work, and be part of a vibrant artistic community.
Application
Applicants will need to provide:
- Applicant information
- Emergency contact information
- $25 Application Fee (payable by e-Transfer, Visa / MasterCard, or cheque)
- Optional: A letter of intent towards a bursary or scholarship
- A one-page letter including:
- Statement of interest
- Current projects
- Goals for the workshop
- Any other pertinent information
- Five-page sample of your writing. Note: You do not need to be published in order to apply for the Emerging Writers’ Workshop.
Note:
- Writing samples up to the page requirement will be reviewed by the jury. Pages in excess will not be reviewed.
- Please combine all documents into one file to upload with the online application form.
- PDF and Microsoft Word documents are accepted.
- If you have trouble when attaching your application materials to the online form, please contact us.
Adjudication process:
All applications go through a competitive, independent peer jury process to maintain a high level of artistic merit in programs. Jury members weigh applications against a rubric of set criteria to assess the quality of writing and readiness for the experience.
Acceptance is determined by:
- Quality of work submitted
- Project description
- Experience and ability to carry out the proposed project
- Literary CV and publication history
- Which applicants would most benefit from attending Sage Hill at this point in their development
This adjudication process is usually completed about four weeks after the application deadline. You will be contacted with results after the jury has come forward with its decision.
In Person Schedule Elements
- Classes usually meet for 1 to 2 hours each day or every second day.
- Each writer will have 1-on-1 sessions scheduled with their instructor throughout the program.
- Each writer will also have plenty of personal writing time.
Tuition
Application Fee: $25
In Person Program Tuition: $1895 (includes accommodations, meals, and snacks)
What is covered?
- 9 nights of accommodation at St. Peter’s College in Muenster, SK
- Three meals per day, and snacks
- Writing retreat as part of a small group, led by program faculty
- 1-on-1 conferences and course time with your instructor
- Critical feedback on writing submissions
- Courses and discussions on the craft of writing
- Private meeting spaces for 1-on-1 instruction and workshops
- Printer and office equipment
- Wi-Fi access
- Writing desk and chair in your room
- Access to full college library on-site
- Comfortable lounge areas
- Coffee and tea station available all hours
- Access to kitchenette with fridge
- Free laundry facilities
- Games room
- Access to fitness centre with the latest professional quality equipment
- Book table to sell your works and buy the works of others
- Arranged trips to nearby towns and other programmed events
- Additional amenities as listed on the Accomodations section
When and how to make a payment:
After the jury has reviewed applications, you will be notified via email to let you know whether or not you have been accepted. You can make a payment once you have received your acceptance email.
Tuition payments can be made by:
- E-transfer to sage.hill@sasktel.net (preferred)
- Cheque mailed to: Sage Hill Writing, 324 – 1831 College Ave., Regina, SK, S4P 4V5
- Visa or Mastercard (no Amex) by calling 306-537-7243. Please note that credit card payments are subject to a 2.4% processing fee.
Cancellation Policy:
- There will be a $100 cancellation fee if you withdraw after payment is made.
- If you cancel 14 days or more prior to start date: 50% of funds returned.
- If you cancel 7 days prior to retreat start date: 25% of funds returned.
- Cancellations within one week of program start dates are non-refundable. However, if it is possible to fill the spot in time, some refund may be available.
- Please note that credit card processing fees are non-refundable.
Refunds for COVID-related cancellations will be considered on a case-by-case basis.
Sage Hill reserves the right to cancel upcoming or in-process programs due to COVID-related health and safety issues or mandates. If a program must be cancelled, payment will be refunded accordingly.
Accommodations
St. Peter’s College is an off-campus, affiliated college of the University of Saskatchewan. The venue is located on 500 acres of mixed forest and farmlands in East Central Saskatchewan, on Highway 5 in the quiet village of Muenster, SK.
Muenster is 120km east of Saskatoon and 230km north of Regina, and only 9 km from the City of Humboldt. Humboldt offers a fair number of restaurants and shops, from liquor stores to pharmacies. Should you want a brief reprieve from writing, Sage Hill staff can drive those without vehicles into Humboldt for supplies.
For directions to St. Peter’s, visit their website. You can find a campus map here.
The facility has the following amenities:
- Writing desk and chair in your room
- Space for 1-on-1 instruction and workshops
- Comfortable lounge areas
- Access to kitchenette with fridge
- Coffee and tea station available at all hours
- Laundry facilities
- Games Room
- Book table provides the opportunity to sell your works and to buy the works of others
- Library on site
- Wi-Fi access
- Treed grounds, walking trails, gardens
- Access to fitness centre with the latest professional quality equipment
- Outdoor soccer pitch
Lisa Richter
Lisa Richter (she/her) is a Toronto-based poet and educator. She is the author of two books of poetry, Closer to Where We Began (Tightrope Books, 2017) and Nautilus and Bone (Frontenac House, 2020), which won the Canadian Jewish Literary Award for Poetry, the National Jewish Book Award for Poetry (US), the Robert Kroestch Award for Poetry, and was longlisted for the Raymond Souster Award. Her poetry and creative nonfiction have appeared in numerous journals and anthologies, including Grain, The Malahat Review, the Literary Review of Canada, The New Quarterly, and Locations of Grief: An Emotional Geography (Wolsak and Wynn, 2020). In addition to teaching English as a second language, Lisa mentors emerging writers from under-represented communities with the Writers Collective of Canada.
D.A. Lockhart is the author of multiple collections of poetry and short fiction. His most recent work includes Bearmen Descend Upon Gimli (Frontenac House, 2021), Go Down Odawa Way (Kegedonce Press Press, 2021), and Breaking Right: Stories (Porcupine’s Quill, 2021). His work has appeared widely throughout Turtle Island including Best Canadian Poetry 2019, the Malahat Review, Grain, CV2, TriQuarterly, The Fiddlehead, ARC Poetry Magazine, and Belt. Along the way his work has garnered numerous Pushcart Prize nominations, National Magazine Award nominations, and Best of the Net nominations. He is a graduate of the Indiana University – Bloomington MFA in Creative Writing program where he held a Neal-Marshall Graduate Fellowship in Creative Writing. He is pùkuwànkoamimëns of the Moravian of the Thames First Nation. Lockhart currently resides at Waawiiyaatanong and Pelee Island where he is the publisher at Urban Farmhouse Press and poetry editor at the Windsor Review.
D.A. Lockhart
