If you’ve ever had a notion to write a novel, been meaning to scribe your memoirs, or pride yourself on your poetry then a rare opportunity to enhance your writing skills begins January 5 in Nelson.
Selkirk College will offer its university-transferable Creative Writing 100 course Thursday evenings from January 5, to April 5, at Nelson’s Kootenay School of the Arts (KSA) on Victoria Street.
Classes run from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at a cost of $246.05 for the entire course. Prospective students can register online at Selkirk.ca/apply, or can call 1-888-953-1133 for details.
The Creative Writing 100 course is the first credit offering in its field available in Nelson for a decade. University-transferable courses in creative writing were offered by the writing department at KSA until 2002, when the writing and mixed media departments were terminated in a cutback. Since then, writing courses and workshops have been available in the city only on a non-credit basis, sponsored by the Oxygen Art Centre and the Kootenay School of Writing.
Instructor for the Selkirk course is Almeda Glenn Miller from the college’s English department. Miller’s publications include the novel Tiger Dreams, and she has published non-fiction in such journals as Event and the Nelson Public Library’s 2010 fundraiser Seasonings. Among her other publications are book reviews for the Globe and Mail and poetry for CBC Kelowna’s A Verse to Summer program.
“The credit course in Nelson is a marvelous chance for anybody with a yen to write,” said Verna Relkoff, former head of KSA’s writing department. “Whether you’re a beginner, need to crank up your inspiration and imagination, or are looking to connect with other people interested in writing, this is a lucky development well worth taking advantage of.”