Help Save the Toronto Writers' Centre

Help Save the Toronto Writers’ Centre

The Toronto Writers’ Centre has been a vital co-working sanctuary for hundreds of Canadian writers across forms since 2006, and is now in danger of closing forever.

The pandemic spelled financial disaster for the TWC in its current iteration, but its story is not yet over.

We need your help to push through a few vital months as we revive and reshape the space under a collective model. With the help of your generosity, we hope to serve as a home for writers at every stage of their careers for generations to come.

History

The Toronto Writers’ Centre was originally established by Mitch Kowalski in 2006 as Canada’s first literary incubator. Inspired by The Writers Room in New York and looking for a new enterprise (and a place to write his first novel), Mitch rented office space in Yorkville with a compact but charming kitchen area. The key was the essential “quiet room”: the heart of the Centre, where no talking is allowed, and no ringing cell phones—just as it is to this day.

Member #1 was noted crime writer Giles Blunt, a veteran of the New York room. Giles had made his own efforts to start a hub of the kind in Toronto alongside authors Antanas Sileika, Katherine Govier and the late Eric Wright—and showed up at Mitch’s door to sign up before the Centre even officially opened.

The first years in Yorkville were full of productive energy: Journalist Richard Poplak joined and wrote the hit Ja, No Man and The Sheikh’s Batmobile; award-winning nonfiction author Andrew Westoll worked on The Riverbones, about his sojourn in the jungles of Surinam; Ellen Vanstone worked on a novel while churning out articles for the Globe and multiple television scripts, while Blunt himself completed his third John Cardinal novel and started on the next one.

The writers who have gone on to use the TWC (and some continue to do so), including such literary luminaries as Nino Ricci, Vincent Lamand, Sarah Polley, have won many prestigious awards such as Governor General’s Awards, Giller Prize, Genie Awards, Edgar Award, Arthur Ellis Awards for Excellence in Crime Fiction, Silver Dagger Award, and the Charles Taylor Prize. But this place is about community as much as accomplishment:

“For early members,” Giles remembers, “Those first two years were fun. We tried to eat lunch on the balcony, weather permitting, because our laughter from the kitchen could destroy the concentration of anyone in the quiet room. To have the companionship—not to mention the occasional advice and contacts—of kindred spirits is balm for the troubled soul.”

By 2008, Mitch Kowalski, facing the brutal reality of Yorkville rents, was forced to find new digs. In June, 2008, the Toronto Centre opened at 647 Bloor St. West, a short walk from the Bathurst subway stop. Eventually Mitch would feel the need to seek other ventures and greener pastures, and in 2016 the TWC was taken over by Jocelyn Hidi, a passionate supporter of the literary arts as well as a keen reader and one of the founders of The Open Book book club.

As the new owner and Managing Director, Jocelyn understood operating the TWC to be a unique opportunity to help Canadian writers. She maintained TWC’s tradition of providing authors with a place to focus their ideas and be part of a community, while growing the TWC membership and pushing forward into new media to provide greater exposure for the TWC and its members.

Under her brilliant and dedicated stewardship a new cadre of writers flocked to the Centre, including novelists, playwrights, screenwriters, memoirists, poets, and more, like Brooke Banning, Nicolas Billon, Sandra Campbell, Ken Harvey, and many others. Antanas Sileika wrote his memoir “The Barefoot Bingo Caller” here; Bruce Geddes worked on The Higher the Monkey Climbs. The TWC has helped foster works in multiple formats and multiple genres by documentarian Sarah Goodman and screenwriter James Hurst, not to mention Kathryn Mockler, Howard Shrier, Stephen Thomas, Niko Troubetzkoy, Polly Phokeev, and #1 best-selling thriller writer Amy Stuart.

The TWC welcomed more collaborative writing situations also: the Boardroom is rented out by television writers of successful TV shows which have aired on The Disney Channel, Hulu, CBC and CTV. The writers for the hit show “Murdoch Mysteries” (now entering its 10th season) have routinely used the TWC Boardroom to focus their ideas, talk story, and start the collaborative writing process at the beginning of each new season. Alexander Saxton's podcast "Wrong Station"is almost all written out of the writer's center with over 100k listeners monthly.

Paulette Bourgeois, the author of the very successful “Franklin the Turtle” books, when asked about the importance of a dedicated space for writers, with no distractions, said: “I’ve been writing for over 22 years at home. When you’ve been writing for 22 years at home…you tend to procrastinate. When you’re at home and you should be writing, suddenly the laundry becomes important.”

The TWC has, for over seventeen years, provided that place. No distractions. No excuses. No laundry.

The Future

Plans for the TWC’s next incarnation are for a revival, which, if successful, will mean a cooperative space for writers, collectively run, that will be an office space (keeping that precious quiet room) as well as a rentable meeting place/writers room (board rooms) and a hub for events. The idea is to offer writers a shared workspace, and also run events in the evenings/weekends that can foster creative connections. Courses, book clubs, TV/film screenings, readings, competitions - the possibilities abound.

How are we going to do this?

The TWC will become a collectively-run space, with a core group of members sharing responsibilities in its day-to-day operations, as well as its ongoing growth.

We have a robust plan to cultivate an industry outreach campaign and a thriving social media presence, to let more people know about the inspiring opportunity that is this space.

We’re a resourceful collective. Not only are we writers, we are also entrepreneurs, event coordinators, editors, filmmakers, lawyers, producers, digital operations managers, professors, all-around noteworthy dream-wranglers. We have the expertise, the dedication, and the drive to get the new TWC up and running.

All we need is a bit of time.

Where is this money going?

Your donation will go towards covering the expenses necessary to keep the Toronto Writers’ Centre running for 4 months, July-October 2023, as we remodel the business. Immediate changes include a lease take-over, new business registration, and ironing out the details of our collective leadership model.

The monthly expenses, including rent, hydro, internet, security system, banking fees, and necessary supplies, total $7,897.23. This is just to keep the space open. We will take on duties on a volunteer basis, splitting up the responsibility of cleaning the space, and running the administration. With your generous contribution, we will be able to spend these four months putting our energy into giving this place a new momentum.

What if things don’t go according to plan?

If we aren’t able to stay in the current office that houses TWC, we will be looking for other spaces in Toronto. In that case, this funding will go towards covering first and last month’s rent in a new location, as well as the sourcing of furniture and the financing of a move.

Wherever we go, we hope to continue hosting a co-working and event space for writers, fostering community and inspirational focus.