To be held at the FCJ Retreat & Conference Centre in Calgary, Alberta
with Michelle Dwyer
From Michelle’s website: Michelle Dwyer is a laughing, red-shoe-wearing dealer of hope. She loves to get real with people. She is passionate about igniting fires of hope and equipping others to live in emotional and spiritual health so they can flourish and become agents of transformation in the world around them. She speaks at workshops, conferences, retreats, and leads a church in Calgary. All of this is fuelled by her desire for everyone to encounter the dynamic, loving presence of God who restored her broken heart and tormented mind.
Her resume includes legal assistant, teacher, author, RCMP Chaplain, and pastor. She holds an MA in Leadership and Ministry from Ambrose University and makes her home in Calgary, Alberta, with her husband Brian. They have three mostly grownup kids.
Full Conference Package (partial packages are not available)
- Member early bird (prior to August 15, 2024) $200
- Non-Member early bird (prior to August 15, 2024) $250
- Member regular (August 16 – September 22, 2024) $250
- Non-Member regular (August 16 – September 22, 2024) $300
Your Conference Package includes (click here to see the conference schedule):
Thursday evening mixer and readings
Keynote messages each day
Choice of Workshops each day
Coffee and snacks each day
Lunch both days
Gala banquet (Friday evening, semi-formal)
AGM (voting by members only)
Reduced pricing for the Encore Event
Foundation Day – Crafting a Writer’s Manifesto
- September 26, 2024. 10a.m. – 3p.m. includes lunch. – $75
- Suitable for all levels of writers (beginner and experienced, unpublished and published). See speaker info below.
Encore Event, Virtual Conference,
- October 18-19, 9 am – 4 pm MST – $75
This is an online reprise of the in-person conference. We will host watch-parties of all recordings of keynote talks and workshops. Encore attendees will enjoy real-time interaction with each other in the chat, breakout rooms, and coffee/lunch breaks. Attendees will receive the full package of conference recordings (to be released in November)
Foundation Day – Crafting a Writer’s Manifesto
Many writers love the craft of writing but do not always consider the impact of the extra work and responsibilities involved in having a writing business. Like any other field, writing has wonderful aspects to it as well as challenging ones, too. As we spend more of our time on the challenging aspects, just pushing through without caring for our souls, it can take a toll.
A manifesto is a collection of a writer’s thoughts, purposes, values, practices, disciplines, and hopes about how they want to impact their readers with their words, while maintaining a safe pace and cultivating a resilient soul. The manifesto becomes a guideline for the writer to remind themselves how to write from a soul-filled place with a healthy balance, addressing their needs when faced with competing demands and stress. We will explore ways that helps the writer compassionately care for their whole self–considering body, soul, and spirit needs and respond in ways that cultivate resilience.
Instructor: Fern Buszowski, MALM, MA Counseling. Fern is a published author, public speaker, and thriving cancer survivor. She has spent most of her career equipping others to grow, develop, and find hope through counseling, workshops, programs, and training, locally and internationally. She is passionate about encouraging others to cultivate curiosity, choose hope, seek wholeness, and develop life practices that nurture their soul uncovering all that God has in store for them and shares stories of hope at events, podcasts, and more recently on the TV show Legacy Makers.
Her book Embrace Life, Embrace Hope: Cultivating Wholeness and Resilience through the Unexpected grew out of her experience with tongue cancer during COVID restrictions. She recently developed a program called “Connected by Hope – A cancer support community” and established the “Embrace Life, Embrace Hope” foundation to raise funds for cancer research and support groups for cancer patients and their families. Fern lives with her husband Steve in Alberta. They have two grown married daughters, two sons-in-law, and five grandchildren.