“I want to thank you for giving an excellent workshop. It certainly got all our antennae twitching. Your enthusiasm was infectious and all your students left the class with ideas swirling.”
I am an enthusiastic and engaging workshop leader. I have offered hundreds of writing workshops for students across Nova Scotia. As a trained facilitator, I also lead non-writing related workshops for adults, using a collaborative approach that emphasizes mutual learning and discovery.
WORKSHOPS
These are the workshops I offer most frequently. I am also happy to tailor new ones to your needs. And I'm available to facilitate courses and training other than my own workshops.
Writing Comics
My comics-writing workshops have inspired hundreds of students. I offer the perspective of a passionate comics reader and writer, sharing the process of writing comics, including how artists and writers work together, and providing fun exercises to help kick-start students' own creative efforts. I share real-life examples from my 14 years writing the popular “Daisy Dreamer” comic for Chickadee magazine, answer lots of questions, and work closely with the students on their own ideas.
“I completely loved your presentation and I want to do a comic”
““It was an absolute pleasure to host Philip at our school. He targeted each session to meet the interests and grades of the students, and combined a unique perspective on both story and illustration development. Our students went away inspired, and have been avidly writing since his visit. I highly recommend inviting this talented author to your school.” ”
“I have never been so inspired before. ”
Fiction and Personal Stories
In these sessions – offered individually or as a set – we explore ideas and storytelling. How do we turn ideas into great stories? What are the key elements of successful fiction and creative non-fiction? How do we negotiate the line between fact and storytelling?
These workshops feature lots of discussion, exercises, and unique writing prompts, and also allow students the space to do some creative work during the sessions.
Interviewing Skills
My work involves talking to people. Lots and lots of people – about nearly every imaginable subject.
Whether you are trying to get the real story from a politician, encourage scientists to speak about their work in terms anyone can understand, or assuring a reluctant senior that you really would like them to share their experience, I can help provide techniques that allow you to get the story you need, while respecting the people you interview.
In this workshop, I share the principles of effective interviewing – allowing you to get the information you need in a way that’s respectful to the people sharing their stories with you – and give participants an opportunity to put these ideas into practice with hands-on exercises.
This workshop can be tailored both to professionals and to non-professional writers with an interest in oral history, or students working on oral history projects.
Media Training
Does your organization have a critical message to communicate? Are you ready to respond if a crisis strikes? I offer training to help you understand how to avoid common pitfalls and how to speak to journalists working in a variety of media, using an approach that stresses clarity and honesty.
Facilitation
I am a graduate of the Canadian Labour College’s intensive facilitator training program. This program emphasizes a grassroots approach to adult education and training: building on the skills of participants, recognizing our own perceptions and biases (and how they shape our views), and encouraging learning from each other.
I am happy to discuss leading one-day or multi-day training sessions for you. I am also an experienced course designer, having created the Together Fairness Works sessions offered to union members across Canada.