Grants, Funding and Education Opportunities
A great way to hone your craft is to hear other writers, so head out to readings sponsored by Bryan Prince Bookseller or McMaster University or the Hamilton Poetry Centre, or catch Lit Live at the Sky Dragon Centre, and don't forget the annual gritLIT Festival. You should also make a habit of participating in workshops at the Poetry Centre, Tower Poetry Society, and LitChat. Get some support at the next Hamilton Writers meeting. Check out the Writing Groups, Associations & Organizations section of this website.
But if you feel you need a bit more structure, or want to further your formal education, here are a number of options.
Writing for Publication (The Writer's Portfolio Certificate) at Mohawk College is ideal for beginner and established writers alike who are interested in creating or enhancing their portfolio of written work. Refresh and refine your skills in the fundamentals of plot, prose and character or take specialized courses in a writing form that appeals to you. Whether you're a would-be novelist, filmmaker, poet, or writer of creative non-fiction, this program will help you jump-start your creativity, improve your technique, and get you writing. Some courses are also offered through Distance Education.
The Department of English and Cultural Studies at McMaster University offers courses in creative writing and hosts a professional writer-in-residence, with whom students and community members are encouraged to discuss their current creative works and manuscripts.
Grants for Writers
The purpose of the Ontario Arts Council Writers' Reserve program is to assist writers in the creation of new work. This program is administered by third-party recommenders from the literary community and is open to published Ontario-based professional writers working on projects in fiction, poetry, literary criticism, commentary on the arts, graphic novels, history, biography, political or social issues, science or travel.
Word of Mouth is an OAC grant to assist literary and storytelling artists to create new work for public performance or to record or tour their own repertoire. This program is open to Ontario-based professional artists, ad hoc groups and collectives who have a history of public performance in dub, sound or performance poetry, storytelling or other oral literature forms.
Writers' Works in Progress is an OAC program to assist professional writers to complete book-length works of literary merit in poetry or prose, including graphic novels. Joint applications from a writer and illustrator working on a graphic project are now eligible to apply to this program.
The Canada Council for the Arts offers a range of grants for professional Canadian writers, collectives and publishers. In addition to providing support for the creation, translation, publication and promotion of Canadian literature, the Writing and Publishing Section funds author residencies, literary readings and festivals, as well as new areas of activity such as rap poetry, storytelling and electronic literature.
Canada Council Grants for Professional Writers: Creative Writing
Canada Council Travel Grants for Professional Writers
Canada Council Grants to Aboriginal Writers, Storytellers and Publishers
Canada Council Aboriginal Emerging Writers Residencies
Canada Council Spoken Word and Storytelling Program
Other Education Resources
The Banff Centre - inspiring creativity - offers a wide range of workshops, programs and retreats for both new and established writers.
University of British Columbia blazed the trail for studies in writing when Earl Birney championed a single course in 1946, followed by the creation of a department in 1965. Now offers an MFA and a BA in creative writing as well as an optional-residency MFA program allowing distance education.
The English Department at the University of Calgary, in addition to offering creative writing courses as part of the Bachelor's degree, grants the MA and PhD in English with a creative thesis option. Theses in these programs are original manuscripts, normally poetry or fiction. Calgary offers the only creative writing PhD in Canada.
Concordia University offers both a BA and MA in creative writing.Concordia students benefit from the lively cultural and literary life of Montreal, including a variety of international literary festivals such as Blue Metropolis and Voix d'Ameriques.
The University of Guelph Creative Writing MFA program, located in Guelph's Toronto campus, is the only Creative Writing MFA east of the Rockies.
The University of Toronto offers a two year MA in Creative Writing culminating in a book-length writing project.The program draws on the expertise of faculty at U of T and on the extraordinary vitality of Toronto’s writing community.
York University offers a BA in creative writing.The Creative Writing Program is not a direct entry program. Application is made after 2 years of university level study. The primary objective is to give students who have the talent and the ambition for a writing career the opportunity to develop that talent significantly and to make it the focus of a program of university study.
Simon Fraser Writing and Publishing Program. Welcome to the most diverse and comprehensive writing and publishing program in Canada with over 100 courses offered each year.
Humber School for Writers offers a correspondence program, part time studies, and summer workshops in creative writing.
Perhaps your talent lies not in writing books, but in bringing them into existence. Perhaps you were meant to be a publisher.
Ryerson Certificate in Publishing. Over our 17-year history we have established ourselves as one of the foremost publishing education and training programs in Canada.
Centennial College Certificate in Book and Magazine Publishing. You’ll be an integral part of the team that helps to shape the evolution of Canada’s cultural and literary landscape. You’ll help to build the careers of the next generation of writers in the publishing industry.
Humber Creative Book Publishing. Publishing is undergoing an exciting transformation. As the industry changes, it requires new employees with skill sets that incorporate creativity, technology strategies and a strong business sense.
NewPages provides a good list of Creative Writing Graduate Programs : MFA, PhD, MA in the United States. Utne Reader describes NewPages as: "One of the 15 websites that could shake the world..."
Conferences and Workshops
The Writers’ Union of Canada is a not-for-profit organization established in 1973 to support and advocate on behalf of Canada’s book published authors. Professional development workshops are posted on the Writers Union website.
The Ontario Writers’ Conference blossomed from its Writers’ Circle of Durham Region (WCDR) roots under the tender care of honorary patron, Wayson Choy. The OWC board believes it is important to provide open access to events and programs to anyone interested in writing, without the need for membership or a “publishing pedigree.”
Tightrope Books’ monthly writing workshop series connects published authors with people interested in receiving advice and instruction in the idiosyncratic art of creative writing. Kind of hip. Kind of in Toronto.
Theatre Ontario has an online publication called Workshops You Want and all kinds of fantastic Theatre links. Find out about becoming a dramatist or writing reviews of plays.
Screenwriting
Algonquin College of Applied Arts and Technology for: animation; broadcasting - television; interactive multimedia; scriptwriting; professional writing. www.algonquincollege.com/media
Canadian Film Centre for: Film Resident Programme (directors, writers, editors, producers lab), Prime Time Television Resident Programme, Universal Studios Short Dramatic Film Programme, TELUS Interactive Art & Entertainment Programme, Habitat Interactive Project Lab.
Concordia University, Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema for: film animation, film production, film studies.
http://cinema.concordia.ca/index.php/Production/#28
Humber Institute, School of Media Studies for: film and television production; multimedia; 3D design for broadcast; post-production; television writing and producing; independent documentary production; summer screenwriters workshop production, and multimedia; post-diploma certificate in television producing and writing, digital media, multimedia, post-production, independent documentary production, 3D design for broadcast.
http://programs.mediastudies.humber.ca/humberschoolforscreenwriting
INIS for: cinema (directors, writers, producers), television (directors, writers, producers), interactive media (writers and project managers).
www.inis.qc.ca
National Screen Institute - Canada for: NSI provides training for emerging and mid-career Canadian writers, producers and directors working in film and television through the following core programs: Drama Prize, Features First, Global Marketing, Totally Television, Storytellers, Aboriginal Youth Pilot Project.
http://www.nsi-canada.ca/
NSCAD University for: film production, film studies, video and intermedia art.
http://nscad.ca/en/home/academicprograms/extendedstudies/adultprograms/wintercourses/media_arts.aspx
Praxis Centre for Screenwriters for: intensive script development workshops for screenwriters; script readings; story editing internships; script analysis; various short courses, seminars and lectures on screenwriting and filmmaking.
http://www.praxisfilm.com/en/default.aspx
Red Deer College Motion Picture Arts for: post-diploma dual-stream (acting and production) applied degree starting at year three (incoming students must have at least two years of previous training or experience) - motion picture production, screenwriting, directing, film and television business, and pitching, producing, acting, auditioning, motion picture technology; fourth-year practicum can include a mix of industry experience and/or mentored independent project work with 24/7 access to equipment and facilities.
http://www.rdc.ab.ca/about_rdc/academic_departments/performing_arts/motion_picture_arts/courses/Pages/default.aspx
Ryerson University for: radio and television arts and image arts, including courses in producing, directing, cinematography, editing, writing, new media, media management and regulation, visual studies, film history and theory, children's TV, documentary production.
www.ryerson.ca
SAIT Polytechnic for: film and video production - research, writing, performing, production and post-production of films and videos; new media production and design - graphic design, digital audio and video, web design, interactive computer design, 2D and 3D animation, projects and portfolios; radio, television and broadcast news - research, writing, performing, production and post-production of radio and TV projects, operation of web radio station, news, sports and weather reporting.
www.sait.ca
Sheridan Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning for: bachelor of applied arts/animation, advanced television and film, media arts, journalism, computer animation, digital visual effects, digital character animation.
Simon Fraser University School for the Contemporary Arts for: film and video production; film sound; history and esthetics of cinema; cinematography and lighting; studies in documentary film and video; directing and acting for film and video.
www.sfu.ca/sca
Toronto Film College for: film arts and production; dramatic arts; scriptwriting; film promotion and distribution; digital post-production.
http://www.torontomediafilmcollege.com/web/index.php
University of British Columbia Department of Theatre, Film & Creative Writing for: 16mm film production, film studies.
www.film.ubc.ca
Vancouver Film School for: foundation visual art and design; acting essentials; acting for film and television; 3D animation and visual effects; classical animation; digital character animation; digital design; entertainment business management; film production; game design; makeup design for film and television; sound design for visual media; writing for film, TV and interactive media.
www.vfs.com
York University Department of Film & Video for: studies in film history, theory and criticism; hands-on studio training in film and video production (directing, cinematography, editing, sound), and screenwriting.
Other universities offer film studies, but they may not offer screenwriting. Check their calendars to be sure.
Film Funding
For a selected listing of Canadian development funds offering monies for screenplay development, visit the Writers Guild of Canada website.
What do writers get paid?
That amount can vary widely, but www.writers.ca provides professional fee guidelines for everything from advertising material to editing to ghost writing.
The Writer's Market provides over 3,500 listings for book publishers, magazines and literary agents, in addition to a freelance rate chart. This 1100 page book is available from the Hamilton Public Library.
