Events & Workshops

What happens when two (or more!) distinct genres work on each other? Working with the triangle of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry, this workshop is designed to experience the spilling of one genre into another and track the bacterial kick that livens the combination. To practice leaping over genre fences, participants will work with examples by writers like Laurie D. Graham, Erín Moure, Lisa Robertson, Maggie Nelson, Carmen Maria Machado, Ali Smith, and Billy-Ray Belcourt. Mixing fact, fiction, confession, lyricism, romance, argument, and speculation may have serious genre-busting consequences. Participants should come prepared to mash and get strange.

Since the SWG publishes Grain Magazine, we can’t resist telling you about this opportunity. This workshop could inspire work that you’ll want to submit to the Hybrid Grain Contest (deadline November 1). Consider submitting your hybrid work: https://grainmagazine.ca/contests/kloppenburg-hybrid

Important registration notes:

Members pay less for workshops! Are you trying to register and you’re being charged the full workshop fee when you’re a current SWG member? To access the reduced member rate for this workshop, please make sure you are logged into this website with your member profile to access the member rate for the session. (The member login link is on the top right of this page (computer) or at the top centre (mobile/tablet).)

If this workshop is sold out, please email swgevents@skwriter.com to be placed on the waitlist.

Please note all times listed are Saskatchewan time. Find your time zone here: https://dateful.com/time-zone-converter

This event will not be livestreamed or recorded.

If this workshop isn’t a fit, we are pleased to offer other paid opportunities and many free workshops, festivals, talks, and industry webinars in partnership with fine organizations throughout our programming year that are listed regularly on our website: https://skwriter.com/events-and-workshops

We hope to see you there!

Accessibility Measures in this workshop

• Live auto-captions through Zoom
• Presenter self-descriptions
• Limited Zoom technical support provided by SWG staff to assist participants while they’re in the Zoom meeting.

To help you prepare, here are the expectations for participants in this workshop:

• Camera optional but greatly appreciated. (Participants may have cameras on or off.)
• Participant discussion is not required but is appreciated. (Either through the chat box or verbally.)
• There will be no participant sharing opportunity in this session—writing will be kept private.
• Participants are expected to participate in activities/prompts/exercises throughout the workshop. (In session only, no homework required.)
• Pre-reading package will be distributed prior to the workshop. Not essential to read, but assistive.

Workshop registration refund policy:

Please be certain you will be able to attend before you register. Registered participants must promptly email the SWG staff person responsible for the event (Cat Abenstein, Program Manager, swgevents@skwriter.com) to cancel their registration. Otherwise, no refunds will be issued.

• A full refund is available if you cancel your registration one week prior to the start of the workshop (by 11:59 p.m. on September 23, 2026)
• A 50% refund is available if you cancel your registration less than one week and more than 48 hours before the workshop. (For cancellations between September 24 and 29, 2026, at 11:59 p.m. SK time)
• There is no refund for registrations cancelled within 48 hours of the workshop or no-shows. (Beginning at 12:00 a.m. on September 30, 2026)
• If you would like to donate your registration fee to the SWG’s Andrew Suknaski Writers’ Assistance Fund in support of accessibility so others can attend events like this in the future, please let us know in your email.

Workshop Facilitator

Tanis MacDonald (she/they) is the author of eight books, including the forthcoming Tall, Grass, Girl: poems, and the essay collection Straggle: Adventures in Walking While Female. She has twice won The Malahat Review’s Open Seasons Award for Nonfiction: in 2021 for her essay “Mondegreen Girls” on female friendship and fandom, and in 2026 for “Singularity Packet” on adoption and ancestry. Tanis is Professor Emeritus at Wilfrid Laurier University and is originally from Treaty One territory in Manitoba, now living as a grateful guest on the traditional territories of the Anishnaabe and Haudenosaunee peoples in the O:se Kenhionhata:tie /Willow River watershed region.     

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In proud partnership with: