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Creative Writing Day Camps

Creative Writing Day Camps, an offshoot of our Writers In The Schools (WITS) program, provide extracurricular creative writing learning for youth and teens. All day camps are instructed by professionally published authors who are members of WFNS's Writers' Council, valued participants in the WITS program, and experienced working with youth and teens.

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The Art of Writing (Ages 10 to 14)
July 7 to July 11 (instruction from 9am to 4pm each day)
NSCAD Port Campus (1107 Marginal Rd, Halifax)
Registration fee: $315.00

Register via NSCAD Extended Studies

This class will explore the written word using creative approaches, such as visual writing prompts, to discover and explore character development, build description through observation, expand the use of figurative language, and promote journal writing. Participants will delve into different genres and styles of writing, including poetry, fiction, non-fiction, picture books, and graphic novels. Camps will feature visits by professionally published authors who are valued participants in the Writers’ Federation of Nova Scotia WITS (Writers In The Schools) program, and have in-depth experience working with tweens and teens. Classes will be a mixture of classroom activities and outdoors adventures to promote physical activity and imaginative play.

Creative Writing for Kids (Ages 11 to 14)
July 14 to July 18 (instruction from 10am to 4pm each day)
Lunenburg School of the Arts (6 Prince St, Lunenburg)
Registration fee: $325.00

Register via Lunenburg School of the Arts

This workshop, for youth ages 11 – 14, will be an adventure into expanding the creative mind, and expressing it through images and the written word. Participants will discover and explore character development and place building, and playing with language. The classes will delve into different genres and styles of writing with a focus on fiction (mystery, fantasy, etc). We will have visits from professionally published authors in the morning, and will explore Lunenburg in the afternoons with the intention of writing outside. Registration includes a Lunenburg School of the Arts tote bag and notebook for each participant.

Writing Program with WFNS (Ages 12 to 19)
Aug 11 to Aug 15 (instruction from 10am to 3pm each day)
MacPhee Centre for Creative Learning (50 Queen St, Dartmouth)
Save the date: registration will be free but (as of Feb 25, 2025) is not yet open 

Register via MacPhee Centre

March Break Camp (Ages 8 – 12) (Mar 11 to Mar 15 on Zoom) — Instructors: Sherry D. Ramsey (science fiction & fantasy); Lynette Richards (graphic novels); Nicole Spence (creative nonfiction); Julian Mortimer Smith (science fiction & fantasy); Peter Counter (scary stories)

The Art of Writing (Ages 10 – 14) (July 8 to July 12 at NSCAD Port Campus)

Creative Writing for Kids (Ages 11 – 14) (July 15 to July 19 at Lunenburg School of the Arts)

Writing Program with WFNS (Ages 12 – 19) (Aug 12 to Aug 16 at MacPhee Centre for Creative Learning)

The Art of Writing (Ages 9 – 12) (July 10 to July 14 at NSCAD Port Campus) — Instructors: Chad Lucas, Andre Fenton, Danielle Metcalfe-Chenail, Jessica Scott Kerrin, Nancy Rose

Creative Writing for Kids with WFNS (Ages 11 – 13) (July 17 to July 21 at Lunenburg School of the Arts) — Instructors: Sylvia Gunnery, Jo Treggiari, Kate Inglis, Danielle Metcalfe-Chenail, Cooper Lee Bombardier

Jampolis Writing Camp (Ages 9 – 12) (Aug 8 to Aug 11 at Jampolis Cottage) — Instructors: Angela Reynolds, Holly Carr, Chad Lucas, Lauren Soloy

The Art of Writing (Ages 13+) (Aug 14 to Aug 18 at NSCAD Port Campus) — Instructors: Emma Fitzgerald, Holly Carr, Andre Fenton, Sal Sawler

March Break Camp (Ages 8 to 12) (March 14 to March 18, virtual) — Instructors: Sal Sawler, Deidre Dwyer, Julian Mortimer Smith, Chad Lucas, and Sherry D. Ramsey

Zines (Ages 8 – 12) (July 4 to July 8 at NSCAD Port Campus) — Instructor: Jeff Miller

The Art of Writing (Ages 8 – 12) (July 11 to July 15 at NSCAD Port Campus) — Instructors: Chad Lucas, Wade White, Holly Carr, Richard Levangie, Danielle Metcalfe-Chenail

Creative Writing for Kids (July 18 to July 22 at Lunenburg School of the Arts) — Instructors: Jo Treggiari, Kate Inglis, Emma Fitzgerald, Janet Barkhouse, Chad Lucas

The Art of Writing (Ages 13+) (August 8 to August 12 at NSCAD Port Campus) — Instructors: Chad Lucas, Carole Glasser Langille, John A. Read, Andre Fenton, Tiffany Morris

Creative Writing Camp (August 15 to August 19 at MacPhee Centre for Creative Learning, Dartmouth) — Instructors: Andre Fenton, Evelyn C. White, Rebecca Rose, Sal Sawler, Marijke Simons

March Break Camp (Ages 8 to 13) (March 15 to March 19, virtual) — Instructors: Andre Fenton, Emma FitzGerald, Theresa Meuse, Sal Sawler, Sherry D. Ramsey

The Art of Writing for Youth (Ages 11 to 13) (July 5 to July 9 at NSCAD Port Campus) — Instructors: Jessica Scott Kerrin, Theresa Meuse, Andre Fenton, Philip Moscovitch, Briana Corr Scott

The Art of Writing for Teens (Ages 14+) (July 12 to July 16 at NSCAD Port Campus) — Instructors: Genevieve Graham, Cooper Lee Bombardier, Alice Burdick, Briana Corr Scott, Sylvia Gunnery

Creative Writing for Kids (July 19 to July 23 at Lunenburg School of the Arts) — Instructors: Chad Lucas, Alec Bruce, Lindsay Ruck, Shandi Mitchell, Alice Burdick

The Art of Writing a Newspaper (August 9 to August 13 at NSCAD Port Campus) — Co-instructors: Chris Benjamin and Richard Levangie

Writing Camp (August 16 to August 20 at MacPhee Centre for Creative Learning, Dartmouth) — Instructors: Emma FitzGerald, Jo Treggiari, Theresa Meuse, Rebecca Rose, Evelyn C. White

The Art of Writing for Youth (Ages 11 to 13) (July 15 to July 19, virtual) — Instructors: Alice Walsh, Wade White, Deirdre Dwyer, Phil Moscovitch, Jan Coates

The Art of Writing for Teens (Ages 14+) (July 22 to July 26, virtual) — Instructors: Valerie Compton, Sal Sawler, Andre Fenton, Emma FitzGerald, Cooper Lee Bombardier

March Break Camp (Ages 11 to 13) (March 16 to March 20, 2024, virtual) — Instructors: Wade White, Pauline Dakin, Kanaar Bell, Theresa Meuse, Emma FitzGerald

Summer Writing Camp for Teens (Ages 14+) (June 16 to July 7, 2020, weekly, virtual) — Instructors: Sherry D. Ramsey, Suzannah Showler, Andre Fenton, Cooper Lee Bombardier

Partners

The Writers’ Federation of Nova Scotia is grateful to NSCAD University’s School of Extended Studies, Lunenburg School of the Arts, and MacPhee Centre for Creative Learning for their recurring partnership in delivering Creative Writing Day Camps.

MacPhee Centre logo

1113 Marginal Road

Halifax, NS B3H 4P7

902 423 8116

contact@writers.ns.ca

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Operational Investors

The Writers’ Federation of Nova Scotia is based in Kjipuktuk, in Mi’kma’ki, the ancestral and unceded territory of the Mi’kmaq People. This territory is covered by the “Treaties of Peace and Friendship,” which Mi’kmaq and Wolastoqiyik (Maliseet) Peoples first signed with the British Crown in 1725. The treaties do not deal with surrender of lands and resources but in fact recognize Mi’kmaq and Wolastoqiyik (Maliseet) title and establish the rules for an ongoing relationship between nations.

© Writers’ Federation of Nova Scotia, 2025. All rights reserved.

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Simultaneous Submissions

The Writers’ Federation of Nova Scotia (WFNS) administers some programs (and special projects) that involve print and/or digital publication of ‘selected’ or ‘winning’ entries. In most cases, writing submitted to these programs and projects must not be previously published and must not be simultaneously under consideration for publication by another organization. Why? Because our assessment and selection processes depends on all submitted writing being available for first publication. If writing selected for publication by WFNS has already been published or is published by another organization first, copyright issues will likely make it impossible for WFNS to (re-)publish that writing.

When simultaneous submissions to a WFNS program are not permitted, it means the following:

  • You may not submit writing that has been accepted for future publication by another organization.
  • You may not submit writing that is currently being considered for publication by another organization—or for another prize that includes publication.
  • The writing submitted to WFNS may not be submitted for publication to another organization until the WFNS program results are communicated. Results will be communicated directly to you by email and often also through the public announcement of a shortlist or list of winners. Once your writing is no longer being considered for the WFNS program, you are free to submit it elsewhere.
    • If you wish to submit your entry elsewhere before WFNS program results have been announced, you must first contact WFNS to withdraw your entry. Any entry fee cannot be refunded.

Prohibitions on simultaneous submission do not apply to multiple WFNS programs. You are always permitted to submit the same unpublished writing to multiple WFNS programs (and special projects) at the same time, such as the Alistair MacLeod Mentorship Program, the Emerging Writers Prizes, the Jampolis Cottage Residency Program, the Message on a Bottle contest, the Nova Writes Competition, and any WFNS projects involving one-time or recurring special publications.

Recommended Experience Levels

The Writers’ Federation of Nova Scotia (WFNS) recommends that participants in any given workshop have similar levels of creative writing and / or publication experience. This ensures that each participant gets value from the workshop⁠ and is presented with information, strategies, and skills that suit their career stage. The “Recommended experience level” section of each workshop description refers to the following definitions used by WFNS.

  • New writers: those with less than two years’ creative writing experience and/or no short-form publications (e.g., short stories, personal essays, or poems in literary magazines, journals, anthologies, or chapbooks).
  • Emerging writers: those with more than two years’ creative writing experience and/or numerous short-form publications.
  • Early-career authors: those with 1 or 2 book-length publications or the equivalent in book-length and short-form publications.
  • Established authors: those with 3 or 4 book-length publications.
  • Professional authors: those with 5 or more book-length publications.

Please keep in mind that each form of creative writing (fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and writing for children and young adults) provides you with a unique set of experiences and skills, so you might consider yourself an ‘established author’ in one form but a ‘new writer’ in another.

For “intensive” and “masterclass” creative writing workshops, which provide more opportunities for peer-to-peer feedback, the recommended experience level should be followed closely.

For all other workshops, the recommended experience level is just that—a recommendation—and we encourage potential participants to follow their own judgment when registering.

If you’re uncertain of your experience level with regard to any particular workshop, please feel free to contact us at communications@writers.ns.ca