By Zandra Juarez1
In May 2023, the WHO declared an end to the public health emergency of international concern. The next chapters were up to us at individual and collective 2 levels to reweave the social fabric, as the frenzied cycle of distancing, connection, reconnection, and isolation that characterized the past three years had left its mark.
As a nonprofit, Vocamus Writers Community has a mandate to promote literacy and writers in the Guelph/Wellington County area. Despite having a successful return of its marquee literary event, The Book Bash Festival, in Fall 2022, there were just a few other occasions in which the writers community at large was actively together. The writing groups were pretty much uninterrupted by the remoteness of the pandemic years, but they didn’t grow substantially. When social distancing allowed, the twice-a-month meetups resumed and seemed to be going well, but the venues where writers met were getting busier and louder, not really inviting to exchange any writing.
It was February 2023 at the Vocamus AGM that our board of directors discussed the aftermath of the pandemic and its effects on the organization. Even though there had been evident signs of reactivation -as shown in the AGM reports-, there was something missing: ‘whatever else new’ we were doing -or writing- (or not) together as community. Amidst the thirst for connection, there was also a need for integration, to put pen to paper -or scribble or type-, in a designated space, together as community.
The idea for the writing workshops, which began to take shape at the 2023 AGM and fully materialized in Spring 2024 with the launch of the Vocamus Writers Community Writing Workshops Series, has successfully expanded to encompass a wide range of literary genres. This year-round-writing series adapts to the community’s interests, ensuring it remains relevant and engaging. The first workshop series (2024) ran from April to October with six offerings. The second and third series (2025 & 2026) had eight monthly writing workshops from March to November.
Our wonderful and generous instructors are volunteers from diverse backgrounds who range from academics to filmmakers, from editors to literary critics and multidisciplinary artists, who also are published authors or working towards the publication of their own writing projects. Wherever they come from, there is a common thread among them: the desire to actively participate and engage with their readership (current or future), share their expertise, understand what others are writing, learn from peers, revisit and recognize other genres, regroup, and exchange.
Since 2024, the Vocamus Writers Community Writing Workshops Series has welcomed the following instructors:
Nikki Everts, Peter Szabo, Marian Thorpe, Jeremy Luke Hill, Zandra Juarez, Judy Wearing, Bill Hulet, James Nowak, Zane Koss, Greg Rhyno, Judith Nasby, Sue Williams, Anthony Carnovale, Sharon B. Moore, Maggie Morris, Allison Bothley, Denisha Naindoo, and Brent Klassen
Inspired by community and provided by local artists for all writers at any stage of their craft, these workshops were pitched to VWC’s director of communications and program curator. After meaningful conversations with their instructors, the workshop series was curated, and each workshop idea developed or expanded.
Interested in submitting a writing workshop proposal?
Send it to: [email protected]
Workshop registration details: Send an email to [email protected] to register to the specific workshop that you ‘d like to attend, before the workshop’s registration deadline (48 hrs prior to). That’s all! All the Vocamus Writers Community Writing Workshops are at Vocamus Press: 255 Woolwich St, Guelph, ON. https://vocamuswriterscommunity.com/pages/events
Zandra Juarez is a Guelph-based writer, literary critic, and cultural community program curator. 1
https://www.who.int/news/item/05-05-2023-statement-on-the-fifteenth-meeting-of-the-international-health- 2 regulations-(2005)-emergency-committee-regarding-the-coronavirus-disease-(covid-19)-pandemic/May 22nd, 2026.
