Literary arts

Banff Centre’s Spring Writers Residency provides participants with the time and space for creative exploration away from the constraints of everyday life. Writers will be able to delve deep into their creative project, meet with a community of artistic peers, and take advantage of workshops and mentorship opportunities with faculty Eden Robinson, Nicole Sealey, Vidyan Ravinthiran, and professional guest Stephen Motika (Nightboat Books). 

This flexible program with optional program elements allows writers to choose the amount of support they are looking for. 

This two-week self-directed residency provides writers with individual accommodation and a small private studio for them to focus, reconnect, and re-energize their writing practice. In addition, participants will be able to engage with other writers on the program as well as specialist faculty. 

Since all program elements are optional, participants can customize the residency according to the writing support needed.

Optional elements include:

• talks from faculty Eden Robinson, Nicole Sealey, Vidyan Ravinthiran, and professional guest Stephen Motika.
• one-on-one mentoring sessions with faculty to discuss ideas, experiences, and obstacles.
• Q & A sessions.
• workshops to discuss useful techniques, devices, and aspects.
• public readings.

The program is designed to cater to emerging and established writers with a proven publication record seeking a period of dedicated time to work on a project in any genre.

Participants will benefit most if they are comfortable working autonomously in an unstructured environment. The program suits those focused on:

• working on a specific project.
• creating new works.

Participants are provided with individual accommodation and a small private studio to focus on their writing practice.

This program is run in English and only accepts projects that are being written in English. English is the language of Banff Centre correspondence.

Application Deadline: October 15, 2025
Program Dates: Mar 16, 2026 - Mar 27, 2026

For more information and to apply: https://bit.ly/41zo3vE

This 19-day self-directed residency offers the opportunity to work away from the constraints of everyday life, delve deep into a creative project and take advantage of a community of artisic peers. 

Deep Winter Writers provides opportunities for consultations with exceptional mentors Holly Pester, Divya Victor, and Nasser Hussain and professional guest Joshua Rothes (Sublunary Editions), and optional group sessions that allow writers to explore useful literary tools, aspects, and devices. 

Faculty are on-campus for the first two weeks of the residency. The third week allows residents to dive deeper into their writing and apply the learning from the first two weeks.

This three-week residency has a flexible format that allows participants to choose the amount of programming and support they are looking for. 

Optional elements include:

• thematic talks from specialist faculty and guests.
• one-on-one mentoring sessions with faculty to discuss ideas, experiences and obstacles they may be encountering in their writing across genres.
• Q & A sessions.
• workshops to explore techniques, aspects, and devices writers may find useful in their practice.
• public reading opportunities.

Participants are provided with individual accommodation and a small private studio to focus on their writing practice.

The program is designed to cater to writers in all creative genres. The program is designed for emerging and established writers with a proven publication record seeking a period of dedicated time to work on a project.

Participants will benefit most if they are comfortable working autonomously in an unstructured environment. The program suits those focused on:

• working on a specific project.
• creating new works.

This program is run in English and only accepts projects that are being written in English. English is the language of Banff Centre correspondence.

Application Deadline: August 20, 2025
Program Dates: Jan 12, 2026 - Jan 30, 2026

For more information and to apply: https://bit.ly/43hwfSx

Mountain Writers Intensive is a three-week residency for eight writers working on mountain narratives, environmental journalism, stories of adventure, or projects with an environmental theme. Writers can work in any genre (fiction, nonfiction, journalism, or poetry), and will enjoy dedicated, uninterrupted writing time in a spectacular mountain setting, the communality of a small group of artistic peers and support from renowned faculty.

This program overlaps with the Banff Centre Mountain Film and Book Festival where visiting authors, editors, and publishers will offer inspiration.

In the niche genre of mountain literature, the journey of self-exploration and the psychology of extreme endeavours is as much a focus as the physical accomplishments involved. This program will emphasize literary quality and the development of narrative. Writers will be encouraged to meet regularly with faculty and other writing participants to share work and projects for review.

During this program writers will take part in scheduled workshops with faculty and guests to:

• explore and learn the elements of a strong narrative.
• hear topics related to mountain and wilderness writing.
• receive feedback on unfinished work from faculty.
• share best practices and ideas with other participants.

Writers will have access to uninterrupted writing time and a personal studio space.

The program is designed to cater to emerging and established writers in all genres— fiction, nonfiction, poetry, essay, history, biography, and memoir—working on mountain narratives, environmental journalism, stories of adventure, or projects with an environmental theme. 

Participants will benefit most if they are comfortable working autonomously in an unstructured environment. The program suits those focused on:

• working on a specific project.
• creating new works.

This program is run in English and only accepts projects that are being written in English. English is the language of Banff Centre correspondence.

Application Deadline: May 28, 2025
Program Dates: Oct 29, 2025 - Nov 18, 2025

For more information and to apply: bit.ly/4h1Yw2P 

This self-directed writing residency supports new writers of young adult and children’s books at varying levels of accomplishment—from not-yet-published writers to those with one published book—to improve their writing skills and expand their practice, taking it to the next level. 

Participants in Early Career Writers of Young Adult and Children's Books will have the opportunity to work closely with faculty Jordan Scott, Jen Ferguson, and Tanya Boteju, and professional guest David Robertson (Tundra Books) as well as a community of artistic peers. With one-on-one mentorship sessions, faculty talks, and public events, this energizing and transformative residency will help writers build critical vocabulary as well as community, making them better critics of their own and others’ work. 

Description

This two-week residency has a flexible format that allows participants to choose the amount of programming and support they are looking for.

Optional elements include:

• thematic talks from specialist faculty and guests.
• one-on-one mentoring sessions with faculty to discuss ideas, experiences and obstacles.
• Q & A sessions.
• workshops to explore techniques, aspects, and devices writers may find useful in their practice.
• public reading opportunities.

All participants will have individual accommodation and a small private studio where they can focus on their writing practice. 

The residency is designed to cater to any new writer of young adult or children’s books interested in mentorship, public reading opportunities, and feedback from faculty and fellow participants. 

The residency will provide participants with tailored opportunities for professional development and creative growth and is open to writers with:

• no publications
• a few publications, or 
• a first book for young adults or children. 

Participants will benefit most if they are comfortable working autonomously in an unstructured environment. The program suits those focused on:

• working on a specific project.
• creating new works.

This program is run in English and only accepts projects that are being written in English. English is the language of Banff Centre correspondence.

Application Deadline: June 4, 2025
Program Dates: Nov 24, 2025 - Dec 5, 2025

For more information and to apply: bit.ly/3QHTDkN

Comics and Graphic Novels is a self-directed residency that considers how creatives use this unique media as a place for personal narrative, memoir, and exploration. The residency provides writers with the time and space to delve deep into their creative project away from the constraints of everyday life, take advantage of an artistic community of peers, and consult with experienced faculty. 

Residency faculty and guests specializing in comics, illustration, publishing, and writing include Matt Madden, Bishakh Som, Tom Hart, and professional guest Michel Vrana (Black Eye Books). Participants can take part in individual mentoring sessions with faculty as well as group sessions to discuss their work and project. 

This two-week residency has a flexible format that allows participants to choose the amount of programming and support they are looking for. 

Optional elements include:

• thematic talks from specialist faculty and guests.
• one-on-one mentoring sessions with faculty to discuss ideas, experiences and obstacles that participants may be encountering in the genre of comics and graphic novels.
• Q & A sessions.
• workshops to explore techniques, aspects, and devices writers may find useful in their practice.
• public readings where writers can share their work.

All participants will have individual accommodation and a small private studio where they can focus, reconnect, and re-energize their writing practice. 

The program is designed to cater to experienced writers, graphic novelists/cartoonists, writer/illustrators, or writer and illustrator pairings looking to explore the future of visual and literary techniques and focus on works in progress.

Participants will benefit most if they are comfortable working autonomously in an unstructured environment. The program suits those focused on:

• working on a specific project.
• creating new works.

While this program is run in English, it will accept projects that are being written in English, French, Bengali and Spanish. English is the language of Banff Centre correspondence.

Application Deadline: May 21, 2025
Program Dates: Oct 06, 2025 - Oct 17, 2025

For more information and to apply: bit.ly/41jAdaL