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Immerse yourself in a creative writing workshop this summer!
The 2025 workshop is scheduled to run from July 7-11, 2025
About the workshop:
Since 1992, the Humber School for Writers (HSW) has offered an immersive, focused workshop to jump start your creative writing. Mornings are spent in classes with one of Humber’s esteemed writing advisors, and afternoons are devoted to craft and industry talks by Canada’s top authors, poets, publishers, editors and agents. You’ll connect with peers and build your literary support network. Whether you’re a beginner or a more experienced writer, there’s something for you in our July writing workshop!
About the authors:
In recent years, attendees have been given insights into their work and the life of a writer by such celebrated authors as Jenny Offill, Kyo Maclear, Nita Prose, Sheila Heti, Michael Redhill, Naben Ruthnum, Noor Naga, and Saeed Teebi. The Summer 2025 faculty will be announced soon.
Content and Format
You should attend if
- you want to learn to write short stories, novels, poetry, memoir, creative non-fiction, Y/A (young adult) or children’s literature
- you’re already working on a book but would like to improve your writing with feedback from established writers and your peers
- you’d like to know how to find someone to publish your work
- you’d like to expand your own writing community by meeting like-minded aspiring writers
- you’d like to build your professional network through meeting top authors, agents, editors, publishers, and publishing professionals
The workshop runs from July 7 to 11, 2025, and consists of orientation programming, five three-hour workshop classes, numerous craft talks and industry lectures, and one one-on-one feedback session with your mentor.
David Bezmozgis in conversation with literary agents Jackie Kaiser and Bridgette Kam.
Antonio Michael Downing workshops student writing in 2023.
Editors Janie Yoon and Julia McDowell offer flash assessments of student work.
Saeed Teebi discusses his critically acclaimed short story collection, Her First Palestinian.
Fees
The deadline to register is June 21, 2024. Those who register and pay their fees by May 3, 2024, are eligible for an early bird discount.
The 2024 regular fee is $1,666.75. Students who register and pay by May 3, 2024, will pay $1,583.41. Humber School for Writers graduates from the last three years (2021 to 2024) will pay $1,550.08.
The fee displayed is the standard domestic tuition fee and should be used as a guideline only. Actual fees will be calculated when you complete your registration and may vary slightly.
Cancellation Policy: Humber reserves the right to cancel the workshop due to low enrollment. If the workshop is cancelled, registrants, will be notified by June 19, 2025, and a full refund of fees paid to Humber will be issued.
How to Apply
Students are encouraged to apply as soon as possible in order to improve their chance of being paired with their preferred mentor. To apply, please click on the link below and follow the steps to sign up for Slideroom and submit all the information requested.
For application inquiries, please contact Nathan Whitlock at 416 675 6622 ext. 4775 or Nathan.Whitlock@humber.ca.
Reputation
Over 330 of our alumni have published over 1000 books!
Notable alumni authors include
- Eva Stachniak (The Winter Palace)
- Roberta Rich (The Midwife of Venice)
- Cathy Marie Buchanan (The Painted Girls)
- Robert Rotenberg (The Guilty Plea)
- Shari Lapeña (The Couple Next Door)
A student listens to Alissa York during the 2022 workshop at Victoria College.
Olive Senior leads a workshop class.
Testimonials
“The structure was ideal with mornings in intimate groups working on our own writing projects and afternoons attending lectures about all aspects of editing and publishing. It provided me with a lovely community of fellow writers. I found it to extremely helpful and I learned a great deal from the week.”
– Jeannie Clark, 2023 Workshop Participant
“I attended the Summer Workshop in 2023, and it really changed how I think about writing fiction. It was energizing to be around a group of other writers, and I found it helpful getting (and receiving) feedback on our work. I think I got even more out of the in-class exercises and discussion with a great teacher (Sheila Heti). I'm still friends with people I met at the workshop, and we meet regularly to work on our writing.”
– Glen Bullock, 2023 Workshop Participant
“The whole class discussions by published authors and one-time Humber students, prior to breaking off into the subject sections, were exciting opportunities to pose questions of individuals who had found paths to success. Additionally, the smaller class sections created the intimacy needed to be expressive. Being in an easily accessible spot downtown Toronto was a bonus.”
– Jeremy Tompkins, 2023 Workshop Participant
“The Summer 2023 Creative Writing Workshop was a huge learning experience for me. The program packs a lot into one week… I came away with a much greater understanding of what to do when I'm ready to try to get my fiction published. The summer workshop offered so much that my head was exploding at the end of each day. I was inspired by top authors and bonded with aspiring writers like myself. The week was a powerful experience that renewed my enthusiasm for writing.”
– Paul McKeague, 2023 Workshop Participant
“The in-person summer workshop was incredibly inspiring. It provided an encouraging and safe space to talk about writing. All the guests and mentors were approachable and genuine. They all provided honest, practical advice on how to move forward in creative writing.”
– Sarah Cheng, 2023 Workshop Participant
Location
About Lakeshore Campus
Humber Polytechnic’s Lakeshore Campus combines beautiful lakefront parkland and historic buildings with high-tech classrooms and labs. Explore local shops, bike the trails and take in the Toronto skyline.
Where to Find Us
Situated in the west end of Toronto, on the shores of Lake Ontario.
3199 Lake Shore Blvd., West Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M8V 1K8
Opportunities for Further Study
The Creative Writing Graduate Certificate
The Humber Summer Workshop in Creative Writing is a complement to the online Creative Writing graduate certificate, the two together comprising a flexible and affordable alternative to a standard low-residency MFA.
Humber’s Creative Writing graduate certificate program helps you improve your writing from the comfort of home. You’ll work one-on-one with a professional writer-mentor to improve your book-length project, learning how to develop plot, character, dialogue, style and more through feedback on your own manuscript.
We've recently added a playwright and a screenwriter to our list of available mentors – giving you the opportunity to complete a large body of work which may be all or parts of a full-length novel, memoir, feature-length screenplay or multi-character play; or a collection of poetry, short fiction or creative nonfiction essays.
This is a project-based program in which you meet the learning outcomes by working through your own manuscript. As well, you will attend weekly online classes synchronously or asynchronously to discuss craft, readings and the writing process to support your development. Writers looking for an affordable alternative to a low-residency MFA program will find this program especially helpful following the Summer Workshop in Creative Writing.
