Our Stories, Our Voices: A 6-Week Generative Writing Program

Imagine having time each week to step deeper into your voice, your creativity and your stories with support and in community. "Our Stories, Our Voices" is a 6-week workshop designed to help you develop different techniques to find your flow and express your ideas. Whether you're hoping to develop a writing practice, generate new work to enhance your existing portfolio, or follow through on a resolution to strengthen your relationship to yourself and your creativity in 2026, this is the right place!

Our Stories, Our Voices is rooted in a belief that our stories matter, that our voices grow stronger in community and that writing can be a site of personal and collective liberation. The themes for each series shift, but this round will include sessions on writing from the body and imagining into new worlds. We’ll read poems and excerpts from a diverse range of writers whose work touches joy, grief, the sacred, pleasure, and more. (Themes shift depending on the needs and requests of the group.)

This online generative writing program is for writers of all levels and all are welcome, but there are only 10 spots! The last series sold out within 12 days so I'd recommend securing your spot sooner rather than later if you're interested!

As noted above, this workshop is designed to help you:

• generate new work
• develop and/or maintain a writing practice
• build community with other writers
• strengthen your relationship to your creativity
• step deeper into your voice
• honour your lived experiences
• enhance your sensory and critical lenses
• develop a toolkit of techniques that support your creative practice
• express your inner world, desires, needs and complexity
• uncover new ideas and exercise your imagination
• reduce stress and develop body awareness
• learn more about your stories and what you want to write
• reinvigorate a current writing practice by discovering new entry points, inspirations, or pathways through creative blocks

This workshop includes:

• 6 facilitated sessions, Sundays at 10am PST/1pm EST (2 hours) from January 11 to February 15, 2026.

• A 20 minute one-on-one with Preeti where you can review and edit a piece of writing or talk about craft (scheduled outside of class time during the week of February 1)

What to expect:

Each week, you will enter a facilitated space with community agreements, invitations to write and opportunities to share your work. Sessions will focus on creative writing, and also include experiential and mindfulness activities, as well as exercises that help you find your flow and step into the creative part of your brain. Participants will be invited to respond directly to a prompt during freewriting exercises. Later, we will read a a piece of writing together and draw inspiration from that source, alongside optional prompts.

At the end of each session, you will have a piece of writing that you can keep working on or choose to tuck away. While there is no "homework," you will be given optional prompts between each session as part of developing your writing practice. As a facilitator, Preeti strives to centre your agency (i.e. you are never required to follow the prompt, perform the exercise or share your work, but will always be invited to listen to your body and make a decision that’s best for you).

The final workshop will be an in-session reading. Prior to this reading, you will have the opportunity to meet with Preeti for a 20-minute 1-on-1 Zoom session to discuss a specific piece of writing, craft, next steps, or a selected reading.

Please note, this is not a weekly writing “class” where you edit and workshop pieces, but rather a place where you explore and express your experiences and feelings, or fictional stories, through writing. This is a generative writing series. The goal is not production and publication, but rather process, introspection and creation. Having said that, the 1-on-1 session can be used to discuss edits and publication! And many past participants have gone on to publish or keep working on their memoirs, poetry collections, children's books, etc. *For writers who want to work on editing, shaping, and craft, stay tuned forOur Stories, Our Voices — Level 2 (starting with Level 1 is ideal as it will give you a body of work that you can work with).

Cost, discounts, scholarships:

The tickets are "by donation" on a sliding scale from $325-500 USD. When you go to the ticket page, please enter an amount between $325 and 500 unless otherwise discussed with the organizer. $325 is a supported ticket. $450 is fair price. If you pay over $450, you will be supporting the scholarship fund for the course. If you enter less than $325, your registration will be refunded minus Eventbrite fees. If you're able to pay the fair/full price or a little extra, I would encourage you to do so as that allows Preeti to offer discounts and scholarships to those who need them! But if the supported ticket is what's affordable for you, please do that!

Special considerations: 1) If you prefer to pay in CAD, please contact the organizer (375-550 scale). 2) If a payment plan or saving $20-30 in Eventbrite fees would help you out financially, again, contact the organizer and see if you can arrange for an alternate payment method.

If you need financial support, I am able to offer one partial scholarship for this class (half off) if the class fills. As a settler who primarily resides on the unceded and occupied territories of the Musqueam, Tsleil-Waututh, Squamish, Semiahmoo, Katzie, Kwikwetlem, Kwantlen, Qayqayt and Tsawwassen Nations, I will be prioritizing participants from those communities. After that, I will prioritize based on equity-seeking groups, and draw names from a hat if need be. Sometimes the partial scholarship is split amongst a few participants to support the participation of a few people rather than just one. Please message Preeti using the "contact the organizer" option by December 21 if interested in this scholarship opportunity. Note: scholarships are only available to individuals once each in order to allow others the opportunity for this support. Thank you for your understanding.

Accessibility:

Live transcription is available on Zoom, however this is only 60-80% accurate. Unfortunately, ASL interpretation is not available for this series. Please make note of your accessibility needs in the space provided during registration.

If the facilitator falls sick during the six weeks and is unable to teach a Sunday session, she will find a substitute facilitator or the program will be extended by one week. Hopefully this won't happen!

About the Facilitator

Preeti Kaur Dhaliwal (she/her) is a critical race feminist, writer, (former) lawyer, college prof and facilitator who grew up on the traditional territories of the Semiahmoo, Katzie, Kwikwetlem, Kwantlen, Qayqayt, Tsawwassen and Musqueam First Nations (also known as Surrey and North Delta, British Columbia). With over 20 years of facilitation and teaching experience, Preeti is committed to arts-based methodologies as a source of personal and collective empowerment, transformation and community-building. She has taught creative writing at Guelph-Humber College, led arts-based workshops across Canada and the US in various institutions (including universities, law faculties, women's spaces and youth centres), and firmly believes that stories change the world by altering our ways of seeing, feeling and being with one another and the planet.

Preeti holds an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Guelph and her poetry collection will be released in 2027. Her work has appeared in various publications, including PRISM International, The New Quarterly, The Fiddlehead, Canadian Notes & Queries, The Humber Literary Review, Theatre Research in Canada, Looseleaf, Held Magazine and Arc Poetry, amongst others. Her writing tends to examine themes of touch, grief, power, diasporic Punjabi life, magic, prayer, love and sexuality.

Through and through, Preeti has always held community-building and social justice at the heart of her work. She has received over two dozen awards for community service and academic excellence (BA, LLB, BCL, LLM, MFA), as well as artistic support from Canada Council for the Arts, Ontario Arts Council and BC Arts Council. She has also had the honour of serving as a poetry judge for the League of Poets and being a two-time writer in residence at Voices of Our Nation (VONA), a Deer Lake alumna and a Banff alumna. Prior to leaving her legal career, Preeti articled at a boutique litigation firm and clerked at the Federal Court of Canada. After that but before her MFA, she completed a Master of Laws at UVic where she used theatre and performance art to investigate how law lives in the body with a focus on race.

Preeti holds deep gratitude for organizations and individuals who support the arts, as well as those who tell stories from the margins with love and integrity. If you want to learn more about her and/or her workshops (as if this bio isn’t long enough!), you can find her on IG @jadooberry / @write.with.preeti or at https://linktr.ee/Jadooberry.

[Photo taken by Ella Cooper]

TESTIMONIALS FROM PREVIOUS PARTICIPANTS

“Working with Preeti is opening yourself up to compassion, kindness, a sense of belonging and deepening a relationship with yourself and your voice. What a gift to be in community with her and to be guided by her warm and generous spirit. She helped me see myself and others with kinder eyes, with a wider smile and to approach the page with courage. I especially loved having a one-on-one session during this course and have such gratitude for how deeply encouraged I felt by our meeting. Also, she plays great music and I'm opening myself up to healing my relationship with dance and my body because of her joy in dancing.” - Our Stories, Our Voices writer-participant

“Preeti concisely provided the set-up, jumped into the heart of the workshop, and created many opportunities for all voices to be heard. The exercises were meaningful and accessible.” - Workshop Participant

"I looked forward to the workshop (Our Stories, Our Voices) each week. Preeti did such an amazing job of creating a sense of community that naturally deepened its connection each week. I found myself looking for familiar faces each week and wanting to hear everyone's writing. The activities and writing practices/excerpts Preeti prepared each session really resonated with me. I found my voice evolving with each passing week. This was the first time I shared work and I know that it was made possible through this workshop." -Our Stories, Our Voices writer-participant

“Preeti's prompts were intriguing and created the opportunity to explore new thoughts through writing.” - Workshop Participant

"My writing has been limited to academic and expository formats for decades. I don't offer myself the time or permission to express emotions, be vulnerable, share lived and felt experiences or be creative in my writing. Preeti skillfully and thoughtfully creates a safe, respectful and inclusive space that honours my hesitant, cautious and self-edited voice and provides opportunities for deep reflection, exploration, curiosity and forgiveness. Preeti holds space gently and generously through meaningful community agreements, nourishing breathing exercises, melodious music and reflective and impactful writing prompts. I leave the sessions feeling uplifted, valued, seen and heard and with a strong desire to share my unedited voice. These sessions have been a profound part of my self-care and soul care." - Angela, Anti-Racist Educator, Workshop Participant

"I really enjoyed the sessions. The prompts and free writes really worked well for me. I think that listening to others share what they had written pushed me to re-examine my own literary voice in a way I had not really done before. I also found the grounding exercises rewarding as well. For me writing has always been a solitary thing. It felt good to be a part of a community." - Our Stories, Our Voices writer-participant

“These workshops are such a gift to me. They lessen the loneliness and isolation I experience. I feel part of a community for which I’m so grateful. I honestly couldn’t recommend them more.” - Workshop Participant

"My biggest take away is that writing is a passionate necessity rather than a coping mechanism for me." - Joan Green, Workshop writer-participant

“I couldn't think of a better way to kick-start my day than writing with Preeti. She brings care and love to everything she touches. I left the workshop feeling energized and grateful for the opportunity to connect with my writing practice (and other writers!) in such a supportive space.” - Kai Taddei, Our Stories, Our Voices writer-participant

"I was surprised by how much I learned from my fellow workshop participants." - Navneet Kaur, Workshop writer-participant

"I really enjoyed the sessions. The prompts and free writes really worked well for me. I think that listening to others share what they had written pushed me to re-examine my own literary voice in a way I had not really done before. I also found the grounding exercises rewarding as well. For me writing has always been a solitary thing. It felt good to be a part of a community." - Andrew Burton,Our Stories, Our Voices writer-participant

“​​It taught me that non-judgmental, free writing is possible for me, and it feels good.” - McGill Law Student, Workshop writer-participant

People who identify as misfits, neurodivergent, queer, trans, BIPOC, etc. Elders wanting to share stories before they forget them. Chronically ill and disabled folks who benefit from online programming. Parents who need protected time. Writers in the middle of a book who need community or alternate inspiration. People who used to journal but stopped, and more!