Clockwise left to right, starting with back row: Mike, Samantha, Kate, Marsha, Larry, Elizabyth, Kathryn, Shelby, Janis, Cati (workshop leader), Kelly, and Lauren.
Inlandia Creative Writers Workshops Feature – Ontario Nominated by workshop leader Cati Porter
Usually this space is reserved for a single author, a featured workshop participant nominated by their respective Inlandia workshop leader. However, this issue I am taking the liberty to nominate my whole group. I am very proud of each and every one of them.
This was the beginning of our very first season of workshops at the Ovitt Family Community Library in Ontario. For our first meeting, the room was a packed twenty-four. Over the next ten weeks the number of participants fluctuated but never dipped below twelve as we discussed craft topics designed to help strengthen the works-in-progress and applied strategies for getting around “writer’s block”. By the end of the Fall session, it was time for Inlandia’s annual Creative Writing Workshops Showcase, where each workshop participant from the preceding year has the opportunity to present their work in front of a live audience. It is also the event at which we launch the annual Writing for Inlandia anthology. But because our group was so new we were not eligible for inclusion in the anthology, or as readers for the showcase. While several members did choose to attend, in anticipation of being included next year, we decided that it would be fun to hold our own celebratory end-of-the-session reading. The photo at the top of this post is from that event.
Our new Winter session has now begun with several returning participants. Due to some administrative changes we are now meeting in the library’s very own Page One cafe, rather than in the meeting room; one “perk” to this is that workshop participants have access to a wide variety of coffee beverages and a dessert tray provided by the generosity of the Ovitt Library.
As Inlandia’s newest creative writing workshop leader, it has given me great joy to be able to share my love of literature with an energetic and talented group of like-minded individuals. While not everything went as planned (when does it ever?!) my Ontario workshop has gotten off to a great start and I look forward to continuing for years to come.
Inlandia: A Literary Journey 