Writing Resources From Home

Looking to improve your writing or learn more about the writing process during this time of physical distancing? The Edmonton Public Library has you covered!  

Online Classes through EPL 

EPL gives you access to a wealth of eBooks and eAudiobooks on the writing process through databases such as Hoopla and Overdrive. Search using keyword “writing” and check out books straight to your computer, eReader, or smart device. Don’t have a library cardRegister for a card online 

Attend up to three classes a year through Gale Courses, with new six-week courses starting the third Wednesday of every monthCreative writing classes cover a variety of genres and topics including travel, mystery, and romance, as well as covering editing, publishing, and marketing your work.  

There is no limit to the number of courses you can take through LinkedIn Learning and video tutorials on writing include everything from grammar and editing to conquering writers block and pitching your novel to a major publisher. 

EPL’s Writer in Residence is available for one-on-one writing consultations and runs workshops and classes every month. And our Featured Writers, local writers we shine a spotlight on quarterly, provide a range of writing workshops and resources for your edification and illumination. 

Submit Your Work 

Share your work with the world through these open calls for submission and literary prizes. 

Northside Anthology is looking to display, celebrate, amplify, prove and disprove common and uncommon understandings of life on North Side to both Northsiders and Edmontonians at large, while examining how geography impacts the human condition. Submissions are being accepted until July 31, 2020.  

Coming this summer, The Alexandra Writers’ Centre Society are challenging Alberta writers to Write Your Way Out of Isolation. The challenge will be open July 1-August 31, 2020, but you can go online and register now. The first-place prize will be $1000, with $750 and $500 to the second and third-place winners. 

Writing Societies 

Writing societies and associations active in the Metro Edmonton area, and across Alberta, have moved online to continue to support you in your writing endeavours during the COVID 19 crisis. Whether you’re looking to find a mentor, have your manuscript read, or take a workshop to hone your skills, there is a group out there that can help you: 

Writers Guild of Alberta 

Alberta Playwrights’ Network 

Young Alberta Book Society 

The Film and Video Arts Society Alberta: FAVA 

Edmonton Poetry Festival 

This list of resources is being updated regularly and we’ll share new courses, calls for submission, and writing groups on an ongoing basis. If you know of a resource that you think should be on this list, we’d love to hear from you. Email your suggestions to capitalcitypress@epl.ca