Events & Workshops

 

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

 

This event will not be live-streamed or recorded.

 

Accessibility Measures in this workshop

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

 

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 March 12, 2025)
• 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 March 13 and 18 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 March 19)
• If you would like to donate your registration fee to the SWG’s accessibility fund so others can attend events like this in the future, please let us know in your email.

 

On Being a Neurodivergent Writer

 

Designed for neurodivergent writers, and also those with mental illness, this workshop will provide practical and artistic advice to those interested in writing about this aspect of their lives. We will discuss the process that leads to the decision to write about one’s mental illness and/or neurodivergence, the implications and repercussions of publishing such material; the various techniques one can use to write about one’s experience (fiction, poetry, memoir, blog). Attendees will be offered a detailed critique of a single piece of writing. The central take-away of the workshop will be that publishing material about one’s mental illness or neurodivergence can be intensely anxiety-provoking, but also liberating.

 

Participants will be asked to submit a one-page writing sample in advance that will be reviewed by Michael and the other participants before the workshop. More information is below.

 

This workshop is being offered during Neurodiversity Celebration Week 2025 which is between March 17-23, 2025. More information can be found here: https://www.neurodiversityweek.com/

 

 

Deadlines

 

• Shortly after registration: The SWG will send participants a short pre-session survey to help Michael personalize the session. This should be completed shortly after receiving it.

 

• By March 5 (two weeks in advance of the workshop, or earlier): Participants will submit their one-page writing sample to the SWG. This work will be sent to Michael, as well as put in a private Google Drive folder for the six workshop participants to review prior to the workshop.

 

The Google Drive link will be shared with participants shortly after the 5th. It will be helpful if participants are familiar with each other’s work to participate in group workshopping at the online session on the 20^th.

 

• The online workshop occurs on March 20 from 6:30-8:30 p.m. SK time. We ask that all participants attend if they’re able, and have read the other participants' work.

 

The format of the session:

• First hour
  • Brief introduction by SWG (5 minutes)
  • Approximately 50-minute presentation and/or discussion of the material. This presentation is informed by a participant survey that the SWG will send out upon registration.
• Short break
• Second hour
  • Group workshopping of previously submitted material
• After the workshop
  • The SWG will email Michael’s written feedback of their one-page work to participants.

 

• (Optional, but encouraged) By 3:00 p.m. on March 21, Participants will have the opportunity to send a longer writing sample (up to 10 pages) to the SWG for written feedback from Michael. This written feedback will be sent back to participants in the weeks following the workshop.

 

Workshop Facilitator

 

Michael Trussler is a neurodivergent writer who works primarily in poetry and creative non-fiction. His writing has been anthologized both domestically and internationally. He has received Saskatchewan Book Awards for poetry, non-fiction and short stories. His memoir concerning mental illness, The Sunday Book, was published by Palimpsest Press in 2022. His most recent poetry collections are Realia (Radiant Press, 2024) and 10:10 (Goose Lane Press, 2024). He teaches English at the University of Regina.

 

https://michaeltrussler.com/

 

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Funding by:

               

 

In partnership with: