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2024 Emerging Writers’ Courses
Facilitated by D.A. Lockhart and Lisa Richter
Location: Online
Dates: July 3 – 12, 2024
The 2024 Emerging Writers’ Course will be divided into two groups of writers to provide a smaller learning context.
- Emerging Writers’ Course A
Focus on Prose
with D.A. Lockhart - Emerging Writers’ Course B
Focus on Poetry
with Lisa Richter
Emerging Writers’ Course A
Focus on Prose
with D.A. Lockhart
This online 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
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.
Tuition
Application Fee: $25
Online Program Tuition: $745
What is covered?
- 10-day 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 online meeting spaces for 1-on-1 instruction and workshops
- Access to programmed online readings and events
- Invitation to online social activities with other writers
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.
Online schedule elements
- Classes usually meet for 1 to 2 hours each day.
- Sessions will likely take place in the late morning / early afternoon, to accommodate the various time zones of the writers taking each course.
- Each writer will have 1-on-1 sessions scheduled with their instructor throughout the program.
- With online retreats, we understand that writers may continue to have responsibilities at home. We’ve found that the more time writers put into the program, including time set aside for personal writing and working with feedback received on their writing, the more they get out of the experience!
Lisa Richter
Lisa Richter (she/her) is an award-winning poet, writer and educator from Tkaronto/Toronto. She is the author of two books of poetry, Closer to Where We Began (Tightrope Books, 2017) and Nautilus and Bone (Frontenac House, 2020), winner of the Canadian Jewish Literary Award for Poetry, the National Jewish Book Award for Poetry (US), the Robert Kroetsch Award for Poetry, and longlisted for the Raymond Souster Award. Her work has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize, a National Magazine Award, and the Best of the Net. Her poetry and creative nonfiction have appeared in many literary journals and anthologies, including Best Canadian Poetry 2024, CAROUSEL, Plenitude, The Fiddlehead, Literary Review of Canada, and The New Quarterly. She is a mentor and workshop facilitator with the Writers Collective of Canada, Poetry in Voice, and the Writers Union of Canada. She holds a Bachelor of Education in Adult Education and is currently an MFA candidate at the University of Guelph.
D.A. Lockhart is the author of multiple collections of poetry and short fiction. His most recent work includes North of Middle Island (Kegedonce Press, 2023), Bearmen Descend Upon Gimli (Frontenac House, 2021), and Breaking Right: Stories (Porcupine’s Quill, 2021). Bearmen Descend Upon Gimli was shortlisted for the Raymond Souster Award. Breaking Right was a finalist for the ReLit Award for Short Fiction and shortlisted for the 2022 Indiana Author’s Awards in Fiction. His work has appeared widely throughout Turtle Island including the Malahat Review, Augur, Grain, CV2,TriQuarterly, The Capilano Review, Event 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.
D.A. Lockhart
