SWEETWATER
WRITERS WORKSHOP
About Us
Created by the acclaimed and international best-selling author of Three Day Road, The Orenda, and Through Black Spruce, Joseph Boyden and Laura Vukson, Sweetwater Writers Workshop offers one-on-one mentorships, editing, workshops and retreats.
Joseph uses concrete methods and processes developed over 25 years of teaching. The focus is on your craft. Joseph’s mentorship style is intensely thoughtful and thorough, utilizing constructive criticism as he helps you develop your voice, define your style, layer your characters, and fashion your narrative.
One-on-One Mentoring
Are you working on a manuscript: A novel? A memoir? A collection of stories? Here’s the opportunity to work one-on-one with a bestselling and Giller Prize-winning author. Joseph’s one-on-one mentoring is designed specifically for the individual writer, focusing on your needs and publishing goals. From the first steps of writing a short piece to fine-tuning a novel you’re readying for publication, Joseph’s insight and experience are aimed at making your work the best it can be. Work with Joseph on fulfilling your dream of finally completing that book you’ve been carrying inside your head.
Full-day Retreat in Midland, Ontario
Join critically acclaimed and international bestselling author Joseph Boyden for a full-day writer’s retreat located at a stunning country estate near Midland, Ontario on Saturday, June 7, 2025 from 10 am – 4 pm.
Working on a short story, a memoir, a novel? Or are you simply interested in trying your hand at creative writing for the first time? Regardless of your writing experience, this daylong retreat offers a rare insider’s journey geared to bringing your craft to the next level. It also promises a wonderful chance to socialize with other like-minded attendees.
Boyden, who’s won the Giller Prize, Canada Reads, The Rogers Writers Trust Fiction Prize, and many others, is a seasoned teacher of writing with decades of experience. He’ll open up his writer’s toolbox and, through discussion and short writing prompts, show you how to create unforgettable characters and narratives while balancing the important trinity of scene, summary, and dialogue. The goal is to send each writer home with a clear vision of where to go next. Joseph will also read and comment on up to two pages (double-space) of your work. He’ll end the day’s retreat with a short reading from a new book.
The cost is $225 plus HST. Lunch is provided.
Limited spots available.
To register for the workshop, please email [email protected]
Sweetwater Writers Workshops
Beginner’s Guide to Writing Fiction
- Currently, this workshop is online via Zoom.
- It’s two three-hour classes, including a short break.
- No writing sample is necessary for admission.
Tuition: $200 plus 13% HST
Aspiring Writers Workshop
- Currently, this workshop is online via Zoom.
- Minimal enrolment is four writers with a cap of six writers.
- Four weeks of classes, meeting once weekly for two hours.
- You will receive a 30-minute one-on-one discussion with Joseph.
- Admission is based on a short writing sample.
Tuition: $450 plus 13% HST
A Three-Month Longform Workshop
Class A: April 22, May 6, May 20, June 3 and June 17 and 24, from 12 – 3 PM EST (Tuesdays)
Class B: April 12, 26, May 10, 24, June 14, 28 from 1 – 4 PM EST (Saturdays)
Currently, this workshop is online via Zoom.
- Minimal enrolment is four writers with a cap of six writers.
- Six classes, meeting twice a month for three hours.
- You will receive two one-on-one discussions with Joseph.
- Admission is based on a short writing sample.
Tuition: $900 plus 13% HST
Retreat Workshop
May 28 – June 1, 2025
Retreats will be held at our century-old farmhouse near the southern
shores of Georgian Bay.
- Four nights, five days
- Two submissions each | four writers | workshop style
- Cozy places to write indoors and out
- Two one-on-one writing meetings with Joseph Boyden (per writer)
- Meals provided.
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Where to find us
Sweet Water Writers Workshop
Durham/West Grey, Ontario