Events
Please click below to be notified about Inkslingers in England, May 2025
We are still in negotiations with our tour company so we don’t have the exact date yet, but we are looking at May 2025 for our next Writing, Yoga and Exploration Experience in Europe.
If you would like to be put on the list to be notified when the LOCATION, COSTS & ITINERARY are posted, please click “Buy Ticket” below, and fill out the reservation form.
This does not constitute a commitment to come on the trip! It’s just an easy way for us to gather a list of those who might be interested.
Hoping to travel with you in the Spring of 2025!
Sue, James and Katie
What’s coming up from Inkslingers
What’s in this Post:
- An Update from the Pyjama Writing Front (sessions continue through May – free, as always)
- Write Around the World Workshops – throughout May(on a modest-donation basis)
- Sue is interviewed by Word on the Hills – Northumberland 89.7 FM – airs May 2
- Autumn Sanctuaries posted – Writing with Sue, Poetry with James
- Full year workshops for full length manuscripts this fall
Write Around the World
May is the month when Amherst Writers reaches out to writers everywhere by holding Write Around the World (WAW). This is their yearly fundraiser—Workshop leaders volunteer their time to lead AWA Method workshops. The sessions are offered on a donation basis because we want to make it accessible so people who have never experienced the method get a chance to try it out.
I will be donating my time to lead 3 WAW workshops and James will be leading one about poetry with Kate Marshall Flaherty.
Please go here to read more: Write Around the World with Inkslingers
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Spirit of the Hills – Word on the Hills – Sue’s interview
I was delighted when Word on the Hills, hosted by Gwynn Scheltema and Chris Cameron, asked to interview me a few weeks ago. The show is airing on Sunday May 2, at 1:00 pm on 89.7 FM, streamed at northumberland897.ca. If you can’t listen to it at that time, it will be archived by May 4, 2021 at wordonthehills.com.
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Registration is open for our Autumn Workshops:
Autumn Sanctuaries posted – Writing with Sue, Poetry with James
Dates and registration are up HERE for our Sanctuaries. This fall, while vaccination in Canada is still uncertain, sanctuaries will all still happen online. James is offering some Poetry-focussed Sanctuaries again at last now called “Write and Learn Poetry”.
We’ve also announced the dates of our year long workshops starting in September and registration is open for:
- A Novel Approach to Fiction with James
- A Novel Approach to Memoir with Sue, and
- 10 months/10 submissions with Sue.
In January of 2022 we’ll also be doing an online version of our 8 week intensive “Navigating the Publishing Marketplace with Confidence”.
Looking forward to mentoring your words and your pages!
Report from the Pyjama Front
“Though we live in a world that dreams
of ending that always seems about to give in,
something that will not acknowledge conclusion
insists that we forever begin.”
~ Brendan Kennelly
(from his poem “Begin”)
In the Aesop’s fable about the hare and the tortoise, I always felt sorry for the hare. That silken runner had everything necessary to win that race. The fable says that he was so sure that he had a winning head start on the tortoise that he thought he’d lie down and take a nap.
If the fable took place today, he’d have stopped to check his emails, or gone onto Facebook, and gotten fatally distracted.
When it comes to my writing I’ve always been a binger, never managing to fit it in steadily. I would hare away on a writing retreat and produce 70 pages in 12 days. And then nothing for months, as I returned to my paying work, my livelihood, my overcommitted life.
Thanks to Pyjama Writing, I have much more admiration for the tortoise. The steady accretion of pages on my big projects, one hour at a time, four steady hours a week, feels like a miracle. The putting first of my own artistic practice—at least for those four hours—is a revelation.
In the last month, as pressure with work has geared up, I have also used those dedicated hours to produce other writing that I would have delayed starting on. It’s not just my artistic projects that fill me with anxiety—any kind of commitment around writing that will be read and evaluated by others can trip the procrastination switch. So recently I’ve also allowed myself to use the pyjama writing time to force myself to sit still and put words on the page. Messy first draft words, clay that can be shaped into something more elegant.
In fact I’m doing it right now with this blog post. The version of it you are reading (now for you, in the future for me), is nothing like the messy version I am typing right now. At least I’m hoping it isn’t/won’t be. 🙂
And many people who have come to Pyjama Writing over the last few months (and who are still coming) are also startled to find out how these hours of communal silence can add up to a significant word count. You can read their TESTIMONIALS here.
So this is a reminder and an invitation. I continued Pyjama Writing through April and will continue at least until the end of May. (That’s as far as I can see right now).
Except for May 10 (a Hakomi training event – the last one of the season and I’m getting very close to certification!) and May 31, when I will be leading an evening session for AWA’s Write Around the World on memoir with Stephanie Curry (which you’re invited to!) Click here to read when I am leading these sessions.
As Brendan Kennelly’s poem invites us, begin again. If you were coming before and have dropped away and if your dedication to your writing has suffered because of it, feel free to come back when and if it suits you. If you haven’t tried it yet, feel free to drop into a session and see if the quiet, dedicated companionship of other writers helps you keep your butt in the chair and your fingers on your pen or the keyboard.
As always, the sessions continue to be offered at no cost. All you have to do is register. (Although, if you want to make a donation to Amherst Writers social justice programs, all donations of any size are gratefully received. This year, in addition to building their program of writing workshops for Veterans and their families, they are offering scholarships to BIPOC and other individuals to make sure the AWA method reaches the populations whose unheard voices need to be in the world.)
You can see all the dates for the upcoming Pyjama Sessions till the end of May at this link.
Looking forward to writing with you soon in the way of the tortoise – slow and steady builds the manuscript!
Warmest,
Sue Reynolds
Having Trouble Finding Time to Work on Your Writing?
Mark your calendar for the evening of Monday, December 7th for INKSLINGERS once-a-month, NoCost poetry workshop evening at C’est What? in Toronto.
For December 2015 we’re revisiting our old model: 1 hour of creating poems through writing on the spot to prompts offered by an AWA certified facilitator (Sue Reynolds in December), 1 hour of workshopping pieces brought to the evening (please bring 15 to 20 copies – we have room for 8 pieces), and a final hour of workshopping your performance of your work “on stage”.
(We’re in the Library Room at the back of the pub!)
This event is designed to inspire poets at every skill level to develop their craft through writing, revising, and performing.
NEXT INKSLINGER’S FREE WORKSHOP:
MONDAY December 7th, 2015
NEW START TIME: 7:30 p.m.
NEW LOCATION: C’EST WHAT? (67 Front Street East)
PLEASE NOTE THAT C’EST WHAT? SERVES FOOD AND BEVERAGES in the performance lounge starting at 6:00 p.m. (and throughout the evening).
We are very grateful for the patronage of our hosts at C’est What? All participants in the evening’s workshop are encouraged to come early and share repast with Sue & James and the Guest Facilitator prior to the evening’s event.
Inkslingers’ new home is C’est What, 67 Front Street East, downstairs. C’est What is located in the cellar of a historic 19th century building in the St. Lawrence Market area. Casual, warm, and inviting, with great craft beers and a diverse and delicious menu. An easy 3 minute walk from Union Station.
Location: C’est What? 67 Front Street (at Church Street).
From Union Station: 5 minute walk or take the 72A Pape bus to Church Street and walk one block north.
From King Subway Station: 5 minute walk or take the 504 King streetcar east to Church Street and walk one block south.
WRITE-CRAFT-READ November 9th – FREE
INKSLINGERS offers a once-a-month poetry workshop evening on Mondays at C’est What? in Toronto.
(We’re in the Library Room at the back of the pub!)
This event is designed to inspire poets at every skill level to develop their craft through writing, revising, and performing.
In our new location we have also changed things up a bit. The first part of the evening will not only be writing on the spot, but will also include optional reading of the brand new work. In AWA-workshop fashion, the audience will offer immediate feedback on what’s working already in these just-written pieces.
The first part of the evening will now be facilitated every month by an AWA-certified writing instructor. For the next evening – November 9th, 2015 – our guest facilitator will be:
Kate Marshall Flaherty
AWA facilitator and host of the Stillpoint Writer’s Workshops
Kate Marshall Flaherty published her most recent book, Stone Soup with Quattro Books, the same year as Reaching V, with Guernica Editions. She has been published in Canadian journals such as CV2, Descant, Grain, Malahat Review and Vallum, International Anthologies such as Not A Muse, and American Journals such as Saranac Review. She was Shortlisted for Descant’s Best Canadian Poem, the Pablo Neruda Poetry Prize, the Robert Frost Poetry Prize and Thomas Merton Poetry of the Sacred Award.
She is honoured to have written with both mentors Pat Schneider and Sue Reynolds as she became certified in the AWA Method of writing, and now guides her own StillPoint writing workshops in the AWA method. She guides Golden Rule Leadership Retreats, Writing as a Spiritual Practice Workshops and yoga classes.
She is now the Toronto Rep. for the League of Canadian Poets. Poetry is her lifeline.
Bolster your poetry practice with a night of prompts, production, feedback and community!
Join Sue Reynolds, James Dewar and Kate Marshall Flaherty on Monday, November 9th at 7:30!
NEXT INKSLINGER’S FREE WORKSHOP:
MONDAY November 9th, 2015
NEW START TIME: 7:30 p.m.
NEW LOCATION: C’EST WHAT? (67 Front Street East)PLEASE NOTE THAT C’EST WHAT? SERVES FOOD AND BEVERAGES in the performance lounge starting at 6:00 p.m. (and throughout the evening).
We are very grateful for the patronage of our hosts at C’est What? All participants in the evening’s workshop are encouraged to come early and share repast with Sue & James and the Guest Facilitator prior to the evening’s event.
Inkslingers’ new home is C’est What, 67 Front Street East, downstairs. C’est What is located in the cellar of a historic 19th century building in the St. Lawrence Market area. Casual, warm, and inviting, with great craft beers and a diverse and delicious menu. An easy 3 minute walk from Union Station.
Location: C’est What? 67 Front Street (at Church Street).
From Union Station: 5 minute walk or take the 72A Pape bus to Church Street and walk one block north.
From King Subway Station: 5 minute walk or take the 504 King streetcar east to Church Street and walk one block south.
WRITE-CRAFT-READ Poetry Workshop Night – October 5th
INKSLINGERS offers a once-a-month poetry workshop evening on Mondays at C’est What? in Toronto.
(We’re in the Library Room at the back of the pub!)
This event is designed to inspire poets at every skill level to develop their craft through writing, revising, and performing.
In our new location we have also changed things up a bit. The first part of the evening will not only be writing on the spot, but will also include optional reading of the brand new work. In AWA-workshop fashion, the audience will offer immediate feedback on what’s working already in these just-written pieces.
The first part of the evening will now be facilitated every month by an AWA-certified writing instructor. For the next evening – October 5th, 2015 – our guest facilitator will be:
Susie Whelehan
AWA facilitator and host of the Writers’ Oasis monthly retreats
Susie Whelehan reads and writes in Toronto’s West End. Her work has been produced on television and published in The Globe and Mail, The Toronto Star, The Windsor Review, and various anthologies. She was a finalist in CBC’s Canada Writes and won first place in poetry at the Canada Church Press Awards. With Rebecca Cunningham, Susie co-wrote Meditating Mamas: a Spiritual Resource for New Mothers, published by Novalis, and with Anne Laurel Carter she co-edited and contributed to an anthology published by Knopf Canada, My Wedding Dress: True-life Tales of Lace, Laughter, Tears and Tulle.
Bolster your poetry practice with a night of prompts, production, feedback and community!
Join Sue Reynolds, James Dewar and Susie Whelehan on Monday, October 5th at 7:30!
NEXT INKSLINGER’S FREE WORKSHOP:
MONDAY OCTOBER 5, 2014
NEW START TIME: 7:30 p.m.
NEW LOCATION: C’EST WHAT? (67 Front Street East)PLEASE NOTE THAT C’EST WHAT? SERVES FOOD AND BEVERAGES in the performance lounge starting at 6:00 p.m. (and throughout the evening).
We are very grateful for the patronage of our hosts at C’est What? All participants in the evening’s workshop are encouraged to come early and share repast with Sue & James and the Guest Facilitator prior to the evening’s event.
Inkslingers’ new home is C’est What, 67 Front Street East, downstairs. C’est What is located in the cellar of a historic 19th century building in the St. Lawrence Market area. Casual, warm, and inviting, with great craft beers and a diverse and delicious menu. An easy 3 minute walk from Union Station.
Location: C’est What? 67 Front Street (at Church Street).
From Union Station: 5 minute walk or take the 72A Pape bus to Church Street and walk one block north.
From King Subway Station: 5 minute walk or take the 504 King streetcar east to Church Street and walk one block south.
Inkslingers Poetry Nights – Next one: October 5th, 2015
INKSLINGERS offers a once-a-month poetry workshop evening on Mondays at C’est What? in Toronto.
(We’re in the Library Room at the back of the pub!)
This event is designed to inspire poets at every skill level to develop their craft through writing, revising, and performing.
In our new location we have also changed things up a bit. The first part of the evening will not only be writing on the spot, but will also include optional reading of the brand new work. In AWA-workshop fashion, the audience will offer immediate feedback on what’s working already in these just-written pieces.
The first part of the evening will now be facilitated every month by an AWA-certified writing instructor. For the next evening – October 5th, 2015 – our guest facilitator will be:
Susie Whelehan
AWA facilitator and host of the Writers’ Oasis monthly retreats
Susie Whelehan reads and writes in Toronto’s West End. Her work has been produced on television and published in The Globe and Mail, The Toronto Star, The Windsor Review, and various anthologies. She was a finalist in CBC’s Canada Writes and won first place in poetry at the Canada Church Press Awards. With Rebecca Cunningham, Susie co-wrote Meditating Mamas: a Spiritual Resource for New Mothers, published by Novalis, and with Anne Laurel Carter she co-edited and contributed to an anthology published by Knopf Canada, My Wedding Dress: True-life Tales of Lace, Laughter, Tears and Tulle.
Bolster your poetry practice with a night of prompts, production, feedback and community!
Join Sue Reynolds, James Dewar and Susie Whelehan on Monday, October 5th at 7:30!
NEXT INKSLINGER’S FREE WORKSHOP:
MONDAY OCTOBER 5, 2014
NEW START TIME: 7:30 p.m.
NEW LOCATION: C’EST WHAT? (67 Front Street East)PLEASE NOTE THAT C’EST WHAT? SERVES FOOD AND BEVERAGES in the performance lounge starting at 6:00 p.m. (and throughout the evening).
We are very grateful for the patronage of our hosts at C’est What? All participants in the evening’s workshop are encouraged to come early and share repast with Sue & James and the Guest Facilitator prior to the evening’s event.
Inkslingers’ new home is C’est What, 67 Front Street East, downstairs. C’est What is located in the cellar of a historic 19th century building in the St. Lawrence Market area. Casual, warm, and inviting, with great craft beers and a diverse and delicious menu. An easy 3 minute walk from Union Station.
Payment for Residential Summer Sanctuaries
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Please click the appropriate PayPal link
Or pay the full amount at time of booking if desired
Please note that HST is applicable to all payments and will be calculated at checkout. HST #85309 9455
| Private Room – $480 + HST | $480 + HST |
| Shared Room/Shared Bed – $750 + HST for two people ($375 each) (this option must be signed up for together – we will not impose double sleeping arrangments) |
$750 + HST for two people ($375 each) |
| Your Own Tent – $350 + HST | $350 + HST |
| Day Rate for Locals – $325 + HST | $325 + HST |
Follow up Payments and Cancellation Policy:
If you cancel with less than 30 days remaining until the retreat begins, refunds are not possible, although you may apply 75% of this retreat fee to a later retreat. Registration fees are fully transferable to another writer if you can find someone to take your place.
Write at the McMichael Gallery, Sunday, October 4th, 2015
Join us on Sunday, October 4th at the McMichael Canadian Art Collection in Kleinberg, Ontario.
This full day workshop shares the same approach as our popular Write at the ROM workshops, but with an emphasis on the ekphrastic approach to writing.
Ekphrasis is a literary description of, an engagement with, or a commentary on, a visual work of art.
There are many art galleries to choose from, but in October the McMichael Canadian Art Collection in Kleinberg provides inspiration through the autumn colours that surround it, and the impressive collection of Canadian art, particularly The Group of Seven and Inuit art.
Participants are free to write in any format they choose: poetry, nonfiction, memoir or fiction.
Date: Saturday, October 4th, 2015
Time: 10:30 to 4:30
Registration: $89.00 (Covers entrance to the McMichael Gallery and all workshop activities and HST.)
CLICK HERE TO REGISTER
CANCELLATION POLICY
Refunds are available until September 27th, minus a $25 administration fee.
After June 27th, registrations may be transferred to another writer, but we cannot issue refunds due to our commitment to the Gallery. Please contact us for more clarification if you wish to transfer your registration to someone else should the need arise.
2015 INKSLINGER Retreat and Workshop Dates
We’ve just finalized the dates and locations for most of our Retreats and Workshops in 2015.
Click HERE to go to the registration page!
Unless specified, all retreats and workshops are at The Uplands Retreat and are on Saturday or Sunday.
January 11 – Sanctuary with Sue Reynolds
January 17 – Sanctuary with Sue Reynolds
January 24 – Poetry Sanctuary with James Dewar
February 7 – Sanctuary with Sue Reynolds
February 8 – Sanctuary with Sue Reynolds
February 21 – Soul Collage with Sue Reynolds
February 22 – Poetry Sanctuary with James Dewar
March 7 – Sanctuary with Sue Reynolds
March 8 – Sanctuary with Sue Reynolds
March 21 – Poetry Sanctuary with James Dewar
March 22 – Sanctuary with Sue Reynolds
April 11th to 21st – Radical restoration Retreat in Umbria Italy
(That’s right, it was so beautiful and inspirational that we’rre going back to Le Torrace!)
Visit http://radicalrestoration.ca/for more information.
May 16th – RHYMES AT THE ROM Toronto workshop (Back by popular demand) (Facilitated by both Sue Reynolds and James Dewar)
May 17 – Poetry Sanctuary with James Dewar
May 23 – Sanctuary with Sue Reynolds
May 24 – Sanctuary with Sue Reynolds
May 30 & 31 – Soul Collage near Parry Sound
June 14 – Soul Collage with Sue Reynolds
June 20 – Poetry Sanctuary with James Dewar
June 27 – Sanctuary with Sue Reynolds
June 28 – Sanctuary with Sue Reynolds
July 12 – Sanctuary with Sue Reynolds
July 16 to 19 – Residential Retreat at Uplands (Facilitated by both Sue Reynolds and James Dewar)
July 25 – Poetry Sanctuary with James Dewar
August 8 – Sanctuary with Sue Reynolds
August 20 to 23 – Residential Retreat at Uplands (Facilitated by both Sue Reynolds and James Dewar)
September 19 – Sanctuary with Sue Reynolds
September 20 – Sanctuary with Sue Reynolds
September 26 – Soul Collage with Sue Reynolds
September 27 – Poetry Sanctuary with James Dewar
October 4th – Autumn Ekphrastic Poetry Workshop – at the McMichael Gallery (Facilitated by both Sue Reynolds and James Dewar)
October 17 – Poetry Sanctuary with James Dewar
October 18 – Sanctuary with Sue Reynolds
October 24-25 – Ellen Bass Weekend Workshop in Toronto
(One of America’s most loved and respected poets brings her exceptional 2 day workshop to Canada)
November 21 – Sanctuary with Sue Reynolds
November 22 – Sanctuary with Sue Reynolds
November 28 – Poetry Sanctuary with James Dewar
November 29 – Soul Collage with Sue Reynolds
December 5 – Sanctuary with Sue Reynolds
December 6 – Sanctuary with Sue Reynolds
Nov. 13th, 2014 – Cathy Petch is our Performance Feedback Host!
WRITE ● CRAFT ● READ
NEXT INKSLINGERS NIGHT: THURSDAY November 13th, 2014
This month we’re trying something a little different; instead of having a guest host for the poetry workshopping session, Inkslingers has invited a guest host to do the PERFORMANCE session.
We are delighted to announce that this month’s guest host for our performance segment will be Cathy Petch one of the most popular and gifted poets on the Spoken Word scene.
INKSLINGERS offers a poetry evening (2nd Thursday every month) at the Black Swan Tavern – 3rd floor. This evening is designed to get poets and aspiring poets all writing, revising, and performing..
WRITE
The first hour (beginning at 7:00) will consist of writing exercises facilitated by Sue Reynolds designed to give you an hour to write poetry then-and-there. Bum in chair. Engaged and present and productive. This event is open to anyone as long as they have come to write. Bring a pen and paper.
Sue Reynolds has been leading writing workshops in Canada and internationally for 15 years. Many poems and short stories written in exercises with Sue have gone on to literary publication and to win prizes in competitions. (Recently, a short story begun by a participant in Sue’s Sanctuary won the $1000 Amprosia prize and one of the participants in the Novel Approach course she taught with James just signed a 2 book deal with Simon and Schuster for the project she wrote in that course). The costs of Sue’s workshops run between $80 to $300 per day, but she is leading these exercises gratis because she believes that much of the best poetry happens in that energy of writing community.
CRAFT
The second hour (from 8:10 to 9:10) consists of workshopping poems that writers have revised to the place where they now want input from fresh eyes.
Bring at least 20 copies of a poem (no more than 30 lines) that you want to present for feedback. Each participant will have a maximum of 7 minutes to both read the poem and receive feedback on their work from those in attendance who wish to make constructive comments. (Further feedback may be offered in writing on the submitted copies).
We are normally able to review 7 or 8 poems during this hour.
This portion of the evening will be facilitated by Creative James Dewar, host of Hot-Sauced Words Poetry Performances, Now in it’s sixth year (Third Thursday every month!) at the Black Swan Tavern.
READ
The final hour (from 9:20 to 10:20) is an open mic. Writers may read a poem they created in the first hour of the night, or may read something they bring with them for this purpose. Each writer will have 3 minutes to perform a poem. After each poem is read, the audience is asked to support each reader with kudos for aspects well handled, and any suggestions for ways to make reading the poem more effective. It’s all about learning the entire craft!
This month the Performance portion of the evening will be facilitated by a guest facilitator. We’re delighted to announce that Cathy Petch will be our guest host for this portion.
Cathy Petch is a playwright, spoken word artist, haiku deathmaster and musical saw player for The Silverhearts. She has several handsome chapbooks and published her poetry book Late Night Knife Fights with LyricalMyrical Press. She has been published by Descant, The Toronto Quarterly and Joypuke journals.
She is a member of The League of Canadian Poets and “The Dildettes” a queer spoken word/comedy troupe along with Regie Cabico and David Bateman.
Petch was a member of both the 2011 and 2012 Toronto Poetry Slam Teams.
She is happiest onstage.
Find her at www.cathypetch.com
In the event that we have more poets signed up than we have time available, the Craft and Open Mic slots will be allotted by draw.
154 Danforth Ave. (3rd floor) just east of Broadview)
