2021 Call for Applications from PEN Canada Writers-in-Exile

Humber School for Writers

Humber School for Writers Creative Writing (Correspondence) Program 

The Humber School for Writers is seeking applications from PEN Canada’s Writers-in-Exile for its 28-week graduate certificate program commencing in September 2021. A full scholarship is available to writers who:

  • are working on a book-length project – creative non-fiction, memoir, novel, book of short stories or volume of poetry
  • have a post-secondary degree
  • are Ontario residents
  • can write with sufficient English proficiency.

Humber’s Creative Writing – Fiction, Creative Non-Fiction, Poetry graduate certificate program helps you improve your writing from the comfort of your own home. You’ll work one-on-one with a professional writer-mentor to improve your short stories, poems, memoir, or novel-in-progress, learning how to develop plot, story, character, dialogue, pace and style through feedback on your own manuscript. The program is intended for students working on book-length projects, and graduates have the satisfaction of completing a large body of work which may include all or parts of a novel, a volume of short stories, or a book of poetry. For more experienced writers, the dialogue is one of peer-to-peer. The term runs for 28 weeks from September 2021-April 2022.

Humber is noted for its exceptional creative writing mentors including authors of world stature. Past mentors include Martin Amis, Peter Carey, Miriam Toews, David Mitchell, Esi Edugyan, Nino Ricci, Margaret Atwood, Lawrence Hill, Anne Michaels, Edward Albee, Ha Jin and Alistair MacLeod. Recent international authors have included Jenny Offill, Nell Freudenberger, and Ben Fountain.

A virtual café exists through Blackboard, Humber’s online learning system, to encourage writing students to interact and build a sense of community.

To apply, please forward the following documents to PEN Canada at queries@pencanada.ca

  • A 15-page writing sample
    • preferably an excerpt from the writing project you wish to pursue
  • Proof of having acquired a post-secondary degree
    • for example: a copy of your university or college degree, or a transcript

The application deadline is Tuesday, August 3, 2021.

If you have questions or difficulties providing the documentation, please indicate this in your application.