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Orangeville poet to host writing workshop celebrating debut chapbook to encourage new writers

November 12, 2026   ·   0 Comments

By Joshua Drakes, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Orangeville poet Allison Bothley is bringing poetry, creative writing and community connection to Shelburne later this month with an upcoming workshop at Cecil Books & Gifts.

Scheduled for Sunday, Nov. 22, from 2 to 3:30 p.m., the Reading and Generative Writing Workshop will give participants an opportunity to hear Bothley read from her debut poetry chapbook, Practice for Drowning, before taking part in hands-on writing activities.

Bothley said the event will begin with a short reading featuring poems from the collection.

“I’m going to open with a little reading, mostly confessional-style poems from the book,” she said. “Just a short one. Maybe we’ll do a little Q and A, and then we’re going to get into some generative writing.”

Bothley plans to use a combination of confessional and creative prompts, keeping the activities accessible to people with different levels of writing experience. The goal is to give participants an opportunity to experiment and generate new ideas, rather than requiring them to arrive with an established writing practice or finished work.

The workshop grew out of Bothley’s connection with Cecil Books & Gifts, whom she first encountered through social media after Lisa began following Bangs, Bothley’s independent literary zine. The two later met in Orangeville and discussed the possibility of working together.

Cecil Books & Gifts was interested in hosting workshops, while Bothley was looking for opportunities to bring her writing and creative interests to local audiences. After discussing the release of Practice for Drowning, they developed an event combining a poetry reading with an interactive writing session.

For Bothley, the gathering is about more than writing exercises. She hopes to create a welcoming space where experienced writers, emerging authors and people who have never tried creative writing can connect and explore their creativity.

“I want people who are curious about writing to come in and give it a go,” she said. “And you don’t have to share what you come up with if you’re not comfortable. I really believe in giving emerging writers a space because I spend so much time not doing that after my MFA [Master’s of Fine Arts]. I want young writers and emerging writers, people who are maybe a senior in life but are just coming into writing, to experience community and learn from each other.”

Snacks and drinks will also be available, helping create a relaxed atmosphere for participants to enjoy books, writing and conversation.

The event will also introduce attendees to Practice for Drowning, which Bothley released in October. The chapbook explores experiences of womanhood, motherhood and relationships, examining what people endure and how those experiences shape their identities. Recurring water imagery reflects the collection’s central themes of survival and endurance.

“The collection is called Practice for Drowning because it’s kind of themed around the things that we survive, what we endure, especially as women, marriage, children,” she said. “How we position ourselves in our lives and in relationships, and it’s kind of about surfacing from that, and how we come out of these moments, and building endurance through that.”

The project took approximately two and a half years to develop, with poems emerging through writing exercises and local writing groups, including Orangeville’s After Hours group. Cover art was done by Josie Ament and interior art was done by Alex Goubar.

Bothley uses poetry as a way to process personal experiences, and hopes readers will find connections to their own lives through themes such as loneliness, love and longing.

“I want people to feel something,” she said. “I want them to be entertained. I want them to be inspired by it — that’s my intention. I deal with a lot of themes of reckoning with wanting to be chosen and love and longing. And I think everybody can understand feeling lonely or feeling like they wanted to be chosen and weren’t.”

Based in Orangeville, Bothley is an award-winning writer and communicator with a Master of Fine Arts from The New School and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of New Brunswick. Her writing has appeared in publications including The Globe and Mail, White Wall Review, Pinch and Literary Review of Canada.

She is also the creator and editor of Bangs, an independent literary zine that showcases emerging writers and artists. Published quarterly around a central theme, the publication provides a platform for contributors from Dufferin County and beyond.

Through the Shelburne workshop, Bothley hopes to continue building that kind of literary community locally, giving people an opportunity to celebrate words, meet fellow writers and discover what they can create.

To sign up for the workshop, go to checkout.square.site/merchant/MLPSM6Z47XNYB/checkout/JFBSDCO53ZASCDXURKLXUUTU

For more information, visit Bothley’s site at www.allisonbothley.com.

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