City Sanctuary:

The BIPOC Edition

A weekend of writing for and by writers of colour

Hello Firefly community!

It’s Asifa, Kim, and Mari here, coaches at Firefly, very excited for this full-day retreat for Black, Indigenous and other people of colour (BIPOC) to come together, write, connect, be in one another's company, and witness each other’s stories unfolding.

As with all our BIPOC programming, our goal is to create space for and with people of colour to write what we want and need to write, whether that’s poems, personal essays, speculative fiction, blog posts, notes to ourselves, or rants about injustice. This is a place to sink into whatever our writing voices need.

We’ll guide you through a writing process that lets you connect to your own voice and material, and then we’ll give you space and silence to get to just… write.

Beginner and seasoned writers are very welcome!

Here’s how it works:

This is a hybrid online and in-person retreat. It will start with two evening sessions on Zoom to help us find our voices, build trust, and get to know each other before we connect in person. Then we’ll have two days of in-person connecting and writing together at a beautiful space in Toronto. We’ll start in with lots of fun, creativity-waking writing exercises and then move into the questions — what do I want to write right now? What’s next on my path?

For participants who arrive with writing projects on the go, we’ll be exploring how to move those projects forward. For participants who arrive with no idea what to write, we’ll be cozying up with the unknown, letting our voices tell us what comes next.

As the day progresses, we’ll move into longer stretches of writing time, and we’ll finish by sharing and celebrating what we’ve made. We’ll end with a new set of questions — what’s next for me? What has this day given me that I don’t want to lose track of?

    • Are excited by the idea of extended stretches of writing time, heart connection, and creative self-reflection.

    • Are motivated by the idea of sharing their writing in a small, supportive group with other people of colour.

    • Feel generous and open to witness other folks’ writing. 

    • Are longing for a writing sanctuary away from the news, buzzing phones, and worldly responsibilities.

    • Are looking for a break from racial battle fatigue.

    • Feel aligned with our fundamental beliefs.

    • Lots of unfinished first drafts, and one piece that feels more polished.

    • Nods of understanding, shared sighs, and the feeling of true writing community.

    • A new sense of your writing voice, and maybe a new project to work towards.

    • Connection, sanctuary, and creative momentum.

    • Are working on a writing project they’re not motivated by, like something for work. This experience is built on the love of words, and tapping into the heart of our writing processes.

    • Believe that their writing can only thrive in a critical writing environment. We believe that writing flourishes with heavy doses of kindness and support.

    • Don’t want to share their work with others. There will be lots of opportunities to share, and while it’s totally fine to pass from time to time, we’re looking for participants who are excited by sharing, even when it’s a little squirmy. 

Details:

Coming back Summer 2025! Registration opens on May 6th.

Join our early bird mailing list for early access to registration or sign up for our newsletter.

Cost:

The fee for this retreat is $720. If you prefer, you can pay in 4 monthly installments of $180. Tax will be added for Canadians in your local provincial rate. See our financial policies.

Two spots will be reduced to half-price, first come first served. Let us know before you sign up if you’d like one of those and we’ll let you know if they’re still available.

Four times a year, we give out bursaries for our programs to people with financial barriers. Check out our upcoming dates.

If you don’t have a credit card, let us know and we’ll gladly find a way to make it work.

Sign up here:

Join our early bird mailing list for early access to future registration or sign up for our newsletter.

What clients are saying…

  • Headshot of Sandhya

    I came home from this retreat feeling inspired and excited, with renewed energy. I really liked the structure and pacing; I never felt rushed. I enjoyed the long block of free writing time. The methodology is good — great prompts to stimulate creativity, positive feedback, skilled facilitation, and an opportunity to write in community. Having a BIPOC space means a lot to me.

    Sandhya Singh
    Writer in Training