School Features Acclaimed Writers Endicott, Rudy-Froese, Kostash, and Klassen 
The School of Writing at CMU welcomes acclaimed writers to its 2011 program being held May 9 – 13 at CMU’s Shaftesbury campus. Presenting this year’s writing workshops are Marina Endicott, teaching a course on fiction writing, Allan Rudy-Froese, leading a new course on writing sermons, Myrna Kostash, instructing a course on creative non-fiction writing, and Joanne Klassen, again leading her popular life writing course.
“We are very excited to offer our participants such high quality instruction from these very talented writers,” says Sue Sorensen, Director of the School and Associate Professor of English at CMU. “There is something about the shape of the intensive five-day writing workshop that works particularly well. There’s time to do some real work on manuscripts, and time to get to know fellow writers. And because our instructors are seasoned professionals, students benefit from hearing their stories of failure and achievement.”
The beautiful campus of Canadian Mennonite University, located at the edge of the Assiniboine Forest in Winnipeg provides an inspiring setting for writers. Small classes allow students a substantial amount of time with experienced writing instructors as well as interactions with peers.
One of the big advantages of attending the School is that it allows participants to connect with people who share a love of writing.
“Having such a small group was awesome,” says Rachel Barber, a former student at the School, “as we all got to know each other very well. Those friendships lasted well beyond The School of Writing.”
Brian Hay, a participant in the 2010 Life Writing class, particularly appreciated the opportunity to build a network with people of similar interest and motivation. “The School of Writing helped me big time in terms of meeting other amateur writers and forming a writers’ group,” comments Hay.
2011 School of Writing Instructors
Fiction instructor for 2011 is Marina Endicott, a writer from Edmonton, Alberta, winner of the Commonwealth Writers Prize and a finalist for the Giller Prize. She is the author of Good to a Fault (2008) and Open Arms (2001), and has taught creative writing at the University of Alberta.
Allan Rudy-Froese, a pastor from Kitchener, Ontario, will be teaching Writing Out Loud: The Art of the Sermon, a workshop on sermon writing for both lay and ordained preachers. He has been a preacher for over 25 years, and writes a regular column, “This Preacher has 22 Minutes,” in the Canadian Mennonite.
Myrna Kostash of Edmonton, Alberta, one of Canada’s most acclaimed writers, is instructing Creative Nonfiction. Kostash is the recipient of the 2010 Matt Cohen Award: In Celebration of the Writing Life from the Writers’ Trust of Canada, and author of Prodigal Daughter: Journey to Byzantium (2010) and The Frog Lake Reader (2009). She is also a founding member of the Creative Nonfiction Collective.
Joanne Klassen will teach Life Writing, which will introduce students to a process called Transformative Writing. Students will be encouraged to develop their natural voices and increase their confidence in putting words on the page. Klassen is the founder and director of Winnipeg’s Heartspace Writing School. (Joanne Klassen’s Life Writing course is filled and a waiting list has been started.)
The School of Writing at CMU is currently accepting applications. The application deadline is March 1. Tuition is $575, which includes five days of lunches, coffee breaks, and a Friday evening banquet.
Visit www.cmu.ca/schoolofwriting for more information and to download an application form.