The University of Guelph Creative Writing MFA

The University of Guelph Creative Writing MFA The University of Guelph Creative Writing MFA was established in 2006 and is based at Guelph-Humber in Toronto.

The University of Guelph Creative Writing MFA offers workshops in the following genres: creative nonfiction, drama, fiction, and poetry. Our stellar faculty includes Dionne Brand, Catherine Bush and Judith Thompson, and associated faculty Karen Connelly, Russell Smith and Michael Winter. We attract a diverse student body and are proud of the trail-blazing publication and production accomplishments of our growing number of alumni. Through the program, we aim to offer students stimulating, challenging, and engaging ways to shape a writing life. We are located in the University of Guelph-Humber building on the north campus of Humber College in Toronto.

Tomorrow, Saturday, September 26 at 2 p.m., Guelph MFA poetry instructor Damian Rogers will be in conversation with Jess...
09/26/2026

Tomorrow, Saturday, September 26 at 2 p.m., Guelph MFA poetry instructor Damian Rogers will be in conversation with Jess Gibson at the Picton Branch Library about Gibson’s new story collection, THE GOOD EYE. The event is presented by the County of Prince Edward Public Library & Archives, with copies of THE GOOD EYE available for purchase from Books & Company.

If you’re in Prince Edward County, come out for a wonderful afternoon of conversation. All are welcome! 📖✨

[Descriptive text: A promotional poster for an event featuring author Jess Gibson in conversation with Damian Rogers. The poster includes portraits of Gibson and Rogers alongside the cover of Gibson’s story collection, THE GOOD EYE. Event details read Saturday, September 26 at 2 p.m. at the Picton Branch Library, with copies of the book available for sale from Books & Company.]

For Gryphons Read 2026, we’re bringing together the Creative Writing Program faculty at the University of Guelph for a v...
09/23/2026

For Gryphons Read 2026, we’re bringing together the Creative Writing Program faculty at the University of Guelph for a very special evening of conversation and celebration.

Join acclaimed authors Catherine Bush, Lawrence Hill, Canisia Lubrin, Alicia Elliott, Blain Watters, and Carrianne Leung as they talk about writing, art, and language as forces for change, hope, and imagining better futures.

The evening will also mark the beginning of celebrations for the 20th anniversary of the University of Guelph’s nationally acclaimed MFA in Creative Writing.

Doors open at 6:30 p.m., with the program beginning at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, October 1, 2026, in Room 113 of the Arts Research Centre, in the performance wing of the MacKinnon Building. A reception will follow in the Arts Research Centre Atrium.

For accessibility concerns or accommodation requests, please contact [email protected]

[Descriptive text: A red event poster for “Gryphons Read 2026: A Creative Writing Event.” The poster features six circular author portraits arranged in two rows: Catherine Bush, Lawrence Hill, Canisia Lubrin, Alicia Elliott, Blain Watters, and Carrianne Leung. Event details at the bottom read Thursday, October 1 at 6:30 p.m., Arts Research Centre, University of Guelph, with a registration link.]

A wonderful afternoon at the Eden Mills Writers’ Festival celebrating some of our current University of Guelph Creative ...
09/22/2026

A wonderful afternoon at the Eden Mills Writers’ Festival celebrating some of our current University of Guelph Creative Writing MFA students. As part of Emerge! Writers to Watch, MFA students Charlie Greenbank, Tessa Fleming, Annabel Griffiths Fitzsimmons, Roukia Ali, Ariesha Mais, and Lois L.K. Chan shared their work with an audience gathered among the trees at Eden Mills. The reading brought together an exciting range of voices, forms, and styles, and we were so happy to see our students take the stage as part of this year’s festival.

Thank you to the Eden Mills Writers’ Festival, hosts Melanie Flake and Libby Johnstone, and everyone who came out to listen, support, and celebrate emerging writers. And congratulations to all of our readers! 💚

[Descriptive text: A series of photographs from an outdoor reading at the Eden Mills Writers’ Festival. Current University of Guelph Creative Writing MFA students take turns reading at a microphone beneath a white canopy surrounded by trees, while audience members listen from folding chairs on the grass. The photographs also show the participating writers smiling together for a group photo and sharing a group hug after the event.]

Our very own Canisia Lubrin has a new book on the way! 💚📖BRIGHT MACHINE will be published by McClelland & Stewart on Oct...
09/19/2026

Our very own Canisia Lubrin has a new book on the way! 💚📖

BRIGHT MACHINE will be published by McClelland & Stewart on October 13, 2026, and is now available for preorder.

“In BRIGHT MACHINE, Canisia Lubrin gives poetic scrutiny to the legacy of human intelligence put in service of ruin. Using the fragmented music of Morse code, this poem tussles with the evolution of warcraft and the possibility for cohabitation. The result is a book of chimeric monologues using an invented form Lubrin calls the tesseract—a poem of sixteen lines, shaped in the logic of the mathematical cube—four stanzas: 4 lines + 5 lines + 6 lines + 1 line.

Addressing the myth of the developed world and its heirs and casualties, the poet names key weapons that guarantee(d) the rise and successes of ancient and modern empires. Lubrin reckons with the saga of civilization as the story of weapons history and its emissaries’ expansive appetites for recasting conquest and mass killing. BRIGHT MACHINE is, all at once, heartening, urgent poetry for a turbulent world.”

-.-. — -. —. .-. .- - ..- .-.. .- - .. — -. ... —..— / -.-. .- -. .. ... .. .- -.-.—

[Descriptive text: Graphic in shades of deep olive green and gold announcing that BRIGHT MACHINE by Canisia Lubrin is available for preorder. The book cover appears in the centre, surrounded by repeated Morse code. Large text at the top reads “AVAILABLE FOR PREORDER,” and text near the bottom reads “OUT 13/10/26.”]

This Sunday, members of the University of Guelph Creative Writing MFA community will be taking part in the Eden Mills Wr...
09/19/2026

This Sunday, members of the University of Guelph Creative Writing MFA community will be taking part in the Eden Mills Writers’ Festival! 📚🌿

Current MFA students Charlie Greenbank, Tessa Fleming, Annabel Griffiths Fitzsimmons, Roukia Ali, Ariesha Mais, and Lois L.K. Chan will appear as part of Emerge! Writers to Watch, reading alongside this year’s “Read at the Fringe” winners from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m.

Later in the afternoon, MFA faculty member Catherine Bush will moderate The Art of the Short, featuring Alison Gadsby, Nadja Lubiw-Hazard, and Chanel Sutherland, from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. MFA alumna Zoe Whittall, appearing as Frankie Scott, joins Vikki VanSickle and Uzma Jalaluddin for Hearts and Homicides from 2:00 to 3:00 p.m., while MFA alumnus Greg Rhyno will be in conversation with Linwood Barclay from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m.

We’re delighted to see so many writers from the Guelph MFA community represented at this year’s festival. If you’re heading to Eden Mills on Sunday, September 20, be sure to catch them!

[Descriptive text: Four promotional graphics for the 2026 Eden Mills Writers’ Festival. The first features portraits of writers participating in the “Emerge! Writers to Watch” event, including several current University of Guelph Creative Writing MFA students. The second promotes “The Art of the Short,” featuring three books and author portraits, with MFA faculty member Catherine Bush listed as moderator. The third promotes “Hearts and Homicides,” featuring books by Frankie Scott, Vikki VanSickle, and Uzma Jalaluddin; Frankie Scott is the pen name of Guelph MFA alumna Zoe Whittall. The fourth promotes bestselling author Linwood Barclay in conversation with Guelph MFA alumnus Greg Rhyno.]

Two of our current Creative Writing MFA candidates will be participating in the next Brockton Writers Series event!Maria...
09/08/2026

Two of our current Creative Writing MFA candidates will be participating in the next Brockton Writers Series event!

Maria Giesbrecht will be joining the evening’s lineup of guest readers, alongside Alyssa Jane O’Dell, Tyson Stewart, and Emily Weedon. Selena Mercuri will be the evening’s guest speaker, presenting “How Book Publicity Works in 2026.”

Join them tomorrow, Wednesday, September 9 at 6:30 p.m., at Glad Day Lit, 32 Lisgar Street, Toronto.

[Image description: Three promotional graphics for the Brockton Writers Series. The first shows bookshelves above event details for a literary reading on Wednesday, September 9 at 6:30 p.m. at Glad Day Lit, 32 Lisgar Street. The second features portraits of guest readers Alyssa Jane O’Dell, Maria Giesbrecht, Tyson Stewart, and Emily Weedon. The third features a portrait of Selena Mercuri and identifies her as the guest speaker presenting “How Book Publicity Works in 2026.”]

A huge congratulations to University of Guelph Creative Writing MFA alumna Hollay Ghadery, whose novel THE UNRAVELLING O...
09/08/2026

A huge congratulations to University of Guelph Creative Writing MFA alumna Hollay Ghadery, whose novel THE UNRAVELLING OF OU has been longlisted for the 2026 Giller Prize! 🎉📚

We are thrilled to celebrate Hollay and this remarkable recognition for her debut novel. Congratulations to Hollay, Palimpsest Press, and everyone involved in bringing THE UNRAVELLING OF OU into the world!

[Image description: A promotional graphic for Hollay Ghadery’s novel The Unravelling of Ou. The book cover, featuring an illustrated blue sock puppet with green button eyes and yellow yarn hair, appears against an enlarged version of the same artwork. Across the top, large script reads “Congratulations!” A gold banner at the bottom reads “Longlisted for the Giller Prize.”]

We’re back! This year, the University of Guelph Creative Writing MFA is celebrating its 20th anniversary. 🎉We’re excited...
09/08/2026

We’re back! This year, the University of Guelph Creative Writing MFA is celebrating its 20th anniversary. 🎉

We’re excited to welcome our students, faculty, and wider writing community back for this milestone year. Here’s to two decades of remarkable writing. We can’t wait to share what’s ahead!

[Image description: A light grey graphic featuring the University of Guelph MFA Creative Writing logo above the words “WE’RE BACK!” in large, bold black lettering.]

That’s a wrap for the season! We’ll be offline for the summer, but we’re already looking ahead to September. Thank you f...
04/24/2026

That’s a wrap for the season! We’ll be offline for the summer, but we’re already looking ahead to September. Thank you for following along. ✨

[Descriptive text: A clean, minimal graphic with the University of Guelph MFA in Creative Writing logo at the top reads “SEE YOU IN SEPTEMBER!” in large bold text. A red banner across the middle states “We’ll be offline for the summer.” The background is softly blurred, showing stationary.]

BECALMING launches in Toronto! Join Aga Maksimowska, a graduate of the program, in conversation with fellow MFA alum Jae...
04/22/2026

BECALMING launches in Toronto! Join Aga Maksimowska, a graduate of the program, in conversation with fellow MFA alum Jael Richardson for an evening celebrating this thoughtful and searching novel. Thursday, April 23, 6:30–8:30pm at Queen Books, 914 Queen St E.

[Descriptive text: A blue-toned event poster with a soft cloud background announces the launch of Becalming by Aga Maksimowska. The book cover appears on the left, featuring a cloud motif. Circular headshots of Aga Maksimowska and Jael Richardson are placed above the book. Text on the right lists the event details, including the date, time, and location at Queen Books in Toronto.]

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207 Humber College Boulevard
Toronto, ON
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