Fireside Community for Writers

FIRST MONDAY OF EVERY MONTH

Every month, we get together to clock our wins, set intentions for the month ahead, and do some writing in good company.

We hold “greenhouse'“ space for folks interested in guided writing and a little sharing, and a “studio” space for anyone who’d like some quiet, ‘heads-dwon’ co-working time .

SAT, JAN 16 (12 - 1:30 PM) | THU, APR 15 (7 - 8:30 PM)

Writing isn’t just about writing. These sessions are designed to let us explore all the other things — reading, doodling, puzzling, napping — that hold our creative lives together.

We gather to share our hopes or intentions for the time, and then step into that lovely quiet-but-together feeling while we travel down our own creative paths.

WED, JAN 20, FEB 24 & MAR 31 (1 - 2 PM)

These three sessions will help us experiment with — and possibly build — new writing habits, routines and rituals that may bring new joy and meaning to our writing practice.

We’ll explore the difference between routine, habit and ritual, and each person will create small personalized experiments to try out.

FRI, JAN 22 - SUN, JAN 24

PUSH Weekend is a 3-day carnival of forward motion, centring momentum, support, and ease in our writing process.

Writers can arrive with any project and are free to choose their own adventure. All of the sessions are optional, so come to what you can, let go of what you can’t, and let the momentum weave creativity through the weekend.

WED, JAN 27 (7 - 8:30 PM)

Creating activities for writers is one of the most fun, strange, and creative things we get to do behind the scenes here. This session will let you share in that process and have a say in our evolving curriculum.  

SUN, JAN 31, FEB 28 & MAR 28 (11:30 AM - 12:30 PM)

Ramadan is a time for conversations with the soul. It invites followers to dance with new movements, new expressions of our inner lives, and new questions.

These three sessions welcome writers of all backgrounds to dance with the themes of Ramadan, bringing them alive through freewriting, poetry and personal exploration.

WED, FEB 10 (7 - 8:30 PM)

K.J. Aiello (they/she) has never shied away from difficult topics. They have written for big publications like The Walrus, Chatelaine and The Globe and Mail about their lived experiences of mental health, disability, family trauma, and more.

In 2024 they published the acclaimed book The Monster in the Mirror, which blends memoir and cultural critique, exploring how reading and writing fantasy can challenge dominant norms about mental illness. 

In this talk, KJ will be joined by beloved former Firefly coach Ailsa Bristow to talk about what they’ve learned and experienced through opening up about their lives in very public forums, the impact on relationships, the balm of writing and community, how they have taken care of themselves along the way.

THU, FEB 18 (10:30 AM - 12 PM)

One of the wonders of writing is the ability to create something out of nothing but words. And of all the things we can make, a person is a truly incredible one.

In this session, we’ll add mess, complexity and contradictions to raise our characters off the page and make them more real… And more ready to step into their stories.

TUE, MAR 2 (7 - 8:30 PM)

Caregiving is one of the most essential things we do as humans, and yet it is so often overlooked. Our stories of caregiving get tangled up in the labour of it, and are sidelined by the stories of the ones we are caring for.

This is a workshop for anyone who has given care – full time, part time, temporarily, professionally, casually, in the past or present, to humans or pets – and wants some generous space to explore their own stories. 

MON, MAR 8 (7 - 9 PM)

Sometimes we have the urge to write, but no starting point. Luckily, there are words and pictures all around us. 

Check your recycling bin, your junk mail, those old magazines you never threw out. In this session, we’ll follow our intuitions, cut, slash, paste, adorn and explore what happens.

TUE, APR 6 (7 - 8:30 PM)

The “Gayla” is a space for Fireside's LGBTQIA+ community members to connect, share stories unique to our lived experiences, and lift each other up.

This round, our focus will be on sensuality and the body — first kisses, self-love, body autonomy and deep pleasure. We’ll bring our imperfect, unpolished pieces to share, or come ready to listen and cheer others on.

MON, APR 19 (7 - 8:30 PM)

Our lives are full of stories, and language is always there to help us move them out into the world. But how much language do we need?

In this workshop we’ll explore the art of “less” while writing about our pasts. We’ll love up our delete key and explore how radical brevity can give to big life moments.