Creative non-fiction tells factual stories in a literary style. If you’re writing a memoir, biography, or personal essay, this course is the first step. We will cover the basics of literary technique, including structure, narrative arcs, leads, endings, comedy, and suspense. You’ll emerge with completed work samples. Explore what you want and need to say, and find an immediate, noteworthy, compelling and provocative way to express it. The course will also introduce you to a community of writers working in your genre.
Winter
11 Feb 2020- 31 March 2020
Tuesday
6:30PM – 9:00PM
Tuesday
6:30PM – 9:00PM
Alexandra Shimo, BA, MSc
Alexandra Shimo is an avid motorcyclist-cum-sword fighter who plans to become Inigo Montoya before she dies. In the meantime, she has worked as a producer for CBC and editor at Maclean’s magazine, and now writes books and articles for publications around the world, including The Guardian, The Independent, Maclean’s, Toronto Life, and the Globe and Mail. She is the author of Invisible North: The Search for Answers on a Troubled Reserve, finalist for the BC National Award for Creative Non-Fiction, and co-author of Up Ghost River: A Chief’s Journey Through the Turbulent Waters of Native History (Knopf, 2014, published in Canada, UK, and US), a Globe and Mail bestseller and finalist for the Governor General’s award in nonfiction and Trillium Book award, and winner of the CBC Bookie, Donald Grant Creighton historical prize, and Speaker’s Book Awards.