Level Up Your Word Game is a creative writing (poetry) workshop for advanced writers who are not primarily poets but who love poetry & word-play, and would like to spend time and space in the deep end of that form of creativity. It is designed to support experienced and professional writers working in all vocations and venues (grant-writers, song-writers, translators, creative writers in other genres, copy-editors, bloggers, etc.) to level-up their word game. Especially in this moment of AI, such workshops enable us humans to rediscover & refresh our creativity and bring new ideas and approaches back into our many writing worlds.
Throughout the 4-week program, through poetry writing, poetry reading, creative activities and group discussion thereof, we will explore strategies and approaches for raising our writing vibrancy and effectiveness. Participants must come prepared to step into spaces of vulnerability and be open to a range of tried-and-true techniques for opening up the apertures of creativity within us: sonic, somatic, play-based, individual, collective, drawing, etc. Participants should be prepared to attend all four sessions.
Facilitated by poet & writer Karen Houle, Level Up Your Word Game is a fantastic opportunity to reinvigorate your creative processes, approaches, and fire-up your imagination.
“I attended Karen’s poetry writing workshop in 2021. She deftly guided us through a number of exercises. The story I was writing, ‘Bones,’ has since been nominated for a Pushcart Prize.” – Jena Webb, Program Director of the Canadian Community of Practice in Ecosystem Approaches to Health (CoPEH-Canada).
Houle has published three award-winning collections of poetry (Ballast, During and The Grand River Watershed: A Folk Ecology). Houle has also taught Creative Writing in many formal and informal settings, to folks of all ages and aptitudes.
Workshop Details
This series includes four in-person workshops, each made up of 45 minutes of writing, a 10-minute break, and another 45 minutes of guided practice. Sessions take place at the Guelph Arts Council space in the Old Québec Street Mall and are fully accessible. Workshops run once a month on the first Saturday, from 1:00–2:30 PM, on: March 7, April 4, May 2, and June 6, 2026.
The series concludes with a public Open Mic event in Guelph in July 2026, featuring participant readings followed by an open mic for the wider community. Exact date, time, and venue to be confirmed.
Cost: Sliding scale $120–$150 for the full series (approximately $40 per session)
After completing the Expression of Interest form, selected participants will be contacted with payment details.
