The Dusty Owl Workshop Series - October-December 2008

Dusty Owl's Workshop Series is a grass-roots, skill-sharing initiative in which we bring talented and motivated moderators into contact with people who want to learn and develop their skills. All of these workshops are nurturing and supportive spaces for adults and kids to explore their creativity, get inspired, and learn some valuable skills for writing, creating, and making change.

The Dusty Owl Play Date

Date: Every Tuesday evening
Time: 8:00-10:00 PM
Location: Mother Tongue Books, 1067 Bank St (at Sunnyside) (map)
Instructor: Sean Zio
Course Description: Workshop begins with a creative writing exercise led by Sean Zio in which the group writes for forty to sixty minutes. In the second hour we read what we've written to each other and give feedback. Friendly and supportive, this workshop is a great way to keep the writing muscles flexed, get yourself writing again like you've been promising, or try your first workshop situation.
Cost: $5 suggested donation or pay-what-you-can. Attendance is on a drop-in basis, no registration necessary.
For information, contact: Sean Zio

Teen Write

Date: Wednesdays from September 24 to November 26 2008 (ten weeks)
Time: 7:00-9:00 PM
Location: Mother Tongue Books, 1067 Bank St (at Sunnyside) (map)
Instructor: Sean Zio
Course Description: Build confidence and explore your talent as a creative writer. Focus on basic elements of fiction learned through practice. Time set aside to read work to group.
Cost: $10/session, $80 on advance registration
Limited enrollment: 8 students, ages 14-19
To register, contact: Sean Zio

Poetry: Learning to Repeat Yourself Well

Date: Saturday, December 13, 2008
Time: 9am-noon
Location: Heartwood House: Au Coeur de la Vie (153 Chapel Street at Rideau Street)
Instructor: Pearl Pirie spent a decade teaching in adult education. Her articles on teaching and on poetry have been published in print and online since the mid-nineties. She currently is in the midst of three manuscripts.
Course Description:Learning to Repeat Yourself Well is a three hour poetry workshop that will help you explore new ideas and poetic forms including the sestina and the pantoum. Both forms show one can repeat without being redundant by placing phrases and lines inside new contexts. Examples and resources will be given. The workshop will include time to respond to prompts and do cooperative and shared writing with peers.
Cost: $30 for workshop, $50 if combined with afternoon fiction workshop with Richard Taylor
Tickets available at Mother Tongue Books, 1067 Bank St near Sunnyside St
For information, contact Sean Zio

Fiction: Get Comfortable With Creative Writing

Date: Saturday, December 13, 2008
Time: 1pm-4pm
Location: Heartwood House: Au Coeur de la Vie (153 Chapel Street at Rideau Street)
Instructor: Richard Taylor has published a collection of short stories, a novel, many feature articles in magazines, and a travel memoir, HOUSE INSIDE THE WAVES: Domesticity, Art and the Surfing Life. He has taught over 70 creative writing workshops in Ottawa, Hong Kong, Australia, Tuscany and an annual summer writers retreat in Quebec, Write By The Lake. Since 1995 when he was writer-in-residence at Carleton University, he has taught the Fiction Workshop and lectured in 20th Century Literature. At present he is working
on an unusual book about swimming with writers called Water and Desire.
Course Description: Get Comfortable with Creative Writing is a three hour workshop will jumpstart you into writing. Together with various literary triggers, prompts and writing exercises, Richard Taylor will share his extensive knowledge about how to balance inspiration and discipline, finding a personal voice, choosing a subject and developing a sense of structure. Many of Taylor's writing students have gone on to publish novels, books of short stories, poetry, travel and memoir writing, and innumerable magazine articles. Expect suggestions and advice about how to discover the hidden stories within the stories you think you are writing.
Cost: $30 for workshop, $50 if combined with morning poetry workshop with Pearl Pirie
Tickets available at Mother Tongue Books, 1067 Bank St near Sunnyside St
For information, contact Sean Zio

Health: Journaling as a Tool for Wellness with Group Hypnosis

Date: Saturday, November 22, 2008
Time: full day
Location: NAET Clinic of Ottawa, 536 Dovercourt Avenue
Instructors: Judy Spence and Sean Zio
Course Description: Sean's creative writing workshops are a must for anyone who wants to begin a path of self-study. Judy provides wellness visualization through hypnosis. Facilitators will help registrants to tune into their issues; to begin a path of self-study through journaling and; to visualize their path to personal wellness.
Cost: Register early. Limited registration assures an intimate group environment. $150 before October 20, $175 after. Workshop material provided. Snacks provided.
For more information, contact: NAET Clinic of Ottawa: 613-728-2579

Health: Journaling as a Tool for Wellness
with Meridian Tapping for Emotional Release

Date: Saturday, December 6, 2008
Time: full day
Location: NAET Clinic of Ottawa, 536 Dovercourt Avenue
Instructors: Judy Spence and Sean Zio
Course Description: Sean's creative writing workshops are a must for anyone who wants to begin a path of self-study. Judy provides meridian tapping for emotional release or time-line journey. Facilitators will help registrants to tune into their issues; to begin a path of self-study through journaling and; to visualize their path to personal wellness.
Cost: Register early. Limited registration assures an intimate group environment. $150 before October 20, $175 after. Workshop material provided. Snacks provided.
For more information, contact: NAET Clinic of Ottawa: 613-728-2579

Got skills you want to share? Interested in leading a workshop with Dusty Owl? Contact Sean Zio and let us know what you got!