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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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)

Writing Program with WFNS (Ages 12 – 19)
Aug 12 to Aug 16 (10am to 3pm each day)
MacPhee Centre for Creative Learning (50 Queen St, Lunenburg)
Registration is free

This camp 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 world 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.

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.

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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