Editor’s Pick: The Call of the Word

liz worthIf you’re an aspiring fiction writer looking for guidance/encouragement, the experience of searching for classes can be daunting, simply because there’s so damn many of them.

There’s a recent addition to this landscape that caught our attention: firstly because it involves creative coaching through tarot card readings, and secondly because it’s run by the talented and highly disciplined writer Liz Worth (pictured at left). You may know Liz from her poetry, novels and non-fiction works, such as last year’s BookThug collection No Work Finished Here: Rewriting Andy Warhol  or her excellent oral history of the Toronto punk scene, Treat Me Like Dirt, and she’s also a professional tarot reader who regularly works with clients all over the world.

The Call of the Word combines both of these interests. It’s a customized five-week program that aims to help writers deal with all the things that can set us unravelling: self-doubt, uncertainty, motivation and discipline. This is not a program that will teach you how to write, or get you a book deal – rather, it’s a program that helps writers clear the way through their biggest self-imposed barriers in order to push forward and take their work to the next level.

The program starts with a tarot reading by Liz, which might sound weird to the uninitiated – but when it comes to creativity, tarot can be a surprisingly great tool to identify creative blockages and discover untapped potential. Based on this reading, Liz designs a personalized program with assignments, goals and personal mentorship, plus weekly one-on-one meetings and readings (via Skype or in person, depending on your location.)

I find this program intriguing and refreshing because it targets new writers who know how to write but still wrestle with creative roadblocks, and suggests an alternative solution to approaching these blockages. Go here to learn more about The Call of the Word, previous clients (BP fave Janette Platana is a fan) and Liz’s work. Registration for The Call of the Word closes February 28. (Alison Lang)