Modernity and technology distract and overwhelm at every turn. Many of us, once spontaneous and creative, are increasingly removed from the joy and relevance of inspired writing. Perhaps most troubling, we do not write because we can no longer recall what is buried deepest and matters most. But the world is not always as it seems. We can persist and find refuge from the splintering of technology, we can follow our creative urges and not be swallowed up by collective thinking. We can become rebels with a creative cause.

This writing workshop has three goals:
To overcome inertia, procrastination, and the collective ennui of our times in awakening or rekindling your passion for written expression.
To carve out a space, a mood, a discipline and invoke the power of habit to move from writing intention into the ongoing actions of a writer.
To create— however modestly at first and beginning with our workshop—a writing community.
Writers tend to be introverts, or at least adopt the habits of introverts in the interests of completing work. Still, we who write about the world, do so best while participating in it. We are social, writing is social, and creativity is best nurtured in the sweet spot of a supportive group.
Larry has six young adult novels in print. More recently, he has two non-fiction books published with Castle Quay Books. Lament for Spilt Porter and Inarticulate Speech of the Heart both won national Word Guild Awards. His novel, University of Lost Causes, won a Word Guild Award as Best Canadian Manuscript before its publication in 2024.
Larry taught English courses at Carleton University and Algonquin College, and has given many writing workshops for the City of Ottawa, the National Gallery of Canada, and MASC. He is passionate about creative writing, and would like it known that even in this age of distraction, writing remains alive and well. Or to paraphrase Mark Twain, “Reports of its death, have been greatly exaggerated.”
In addition to writing, Larry has a part-time psychotherapy practice. There are many interesting parallels between creative writing and psychological analysis. Our workshop mantra might find inspiration in this anonymous quote: “Half the solution to any problem is to write it down.”