Wow! Just back from Nova Scotia. And, yes, I am reeling from an extraordinary couple of weeks at University of King's College in Halifax, teaching in the new master's program in Creative Nonfiction. All the best stuff has been placed under a Cone of Silence. But if you were not there, here's the good news (he said unblushingly): I'm offering an online, 10-week course in Narrative or Creative Nonfiction through University of Toronto starting September 22. In the past, most registrants have come from Ontario, but we've also had people from Seattle, Japan and Uganda. Think about it.
Just before that launches, on Saturday, September 20, I'll present a two-hour writing workshop for the Creative Nonfiction Collective. This will be the CNFC's first writer development workshop in T.O., and will run from 11:45 to 4:30 at the Bloor/Gladstone Library. I'll share the presentation load with the redoubtable Susan Olding. Details will soon be posted here.
Two Saturdays after that, on October 4, I'll give a slideshow presentation at the Centre for Scottish Studies in Guelph. It's part of a fall colloquium that looks like fun. Title of my talk: Canada's New Celtic Ancestors: How the Scots and the Irish Gave Rise to a Postmodern Nation. As for the photo above, Sheena Fraser McGoogan took it last October, during a Toronto book launch for 50 Canadians Who Changed the World. The trade paperback edition will surface from HarperCollins Canada in September. In short, the photo is only marginally relevant, and constitutes a cheap ploy to attract your attention.

OK, here we go. On May 4, Our Hero addresses the Canadian Celtic Arts Association in downtown Toronto. It's a public event co-sponsored by Celtic Studies, St. Michael's College, University of Toronto, and Ken will talk about his book How the Scots Invented Canada. Details: please click here.

On May 25, Ken will read from that same book at a "non-fiction cabaret" called Stranger Than Fiction. That's with several other high-profile writers: Wayne Grady & Merilyn Simons, Don Gillmor, Marni Jackson, Rosemary Sullivan, Andrew Westoll. That's at Harbord House Gastro Pub, 150 Harbord St., Toronto, 8:30 p.m. Details: please click here.

Then, on May 27, three days before he flies to Glasgow to sail around Scotland with Adventure Canada, Ken will don his hat as chair of the Public Lending Right Commission to moderate a panel (PLR: 25 More Years Please) at the annual general meeting of The Writers' Union of Canada. That's open to the public, 9:30 a.m. at the Courtyard Marriot, 475 Yonge Street. Details: please click here.

As for the voyage, well it's sold out. www.adventurecanada.com