I just spent the last 8 weeks leading a writing workshop with 11-15 of the most inspiring, generous, dedicated writers at Parkdale Library. We met each week and wrote about our city, and Parkdale, sharing paragraphs and pages of our lives. It was a once in a lifetime group of people. Truly.

We began each week with a freewrite and used the neighbourhood for our inspiration, creating haikus and fake sestinas (faux-stinas), created maps out of words, wrote from long ago photos and from recent photos, and personified Parkdale. We used lines from inspiring books set in Parkdale and created new characters. It was so much fun. (The links are to the brilliant Angelica LeMinh’s blog!)

On the final night we ate chocolate cupcakes and shared our work and lingered, not wanting the 8-week-long bubble to burst…

I am so grateful to the Ontario Arts Council for funding and Parkdale Library Toronto Public Library for support. And for the brave, inspiring writers who showed up week after week. Thank you.