Sarah Selecky

Acclaimed author, master writing coach and literary mentor Sarah Selecky lives, writes, and makes magic here in Prince Edward County. Having been a writer since she was five years old, Sarah has helped thousands of writers bring their ideas to life, finding joy and success through writing during her career. “As a writer, I use words to transmit energy through story, imagery, and pattern-making,” she says. “I write as a way to pay attention, and attention is my artistic practice.”

Sarah’s short story collection, This Cake Is for the Party, was a finalist for the 2010 Giller Prize and Commonwealth Prize, and her 2018 novel, Radiant Shimmering Light, was optioned by HBO. Her most recent book, Story Is a State of Mind: Writing and the Art of Creative Curiosity, teaches writers how to awaken their intuition and create a sustainably smart and joyful writing life.

Sarah brings decades of meditation and mindfulness to her teaching, and in 2011, she founded the Sarah Selecky Writing School, offering vibrant online creative writing programs. With the Writing School, she has cultivated a creative community of over 10,000 writers and counting.

Writers looking to reconnect with their creative curiosity can join Sarah as she leads the upcoming Story Is a State of Mind: A Meditative Writing Workshop this Saturday, December 6th, 2025 from 2-4 PM at the County Arts Lab. In this workshop, Sarah will share key methods from her book, Story Is a State of Mind, guiding participants on how to integrate conscious and unconscious awareness for more authentic work, using a combination of guided exercises, meditations, freewriting prompts, and deep noticing practices. Learn more about this not-to-be-missed workshop and register here.

Read on to learn all about what Sarah’s been enjoying lately, what advice she has for writers just starting out, and more!

Tell us about another artist’s artwork or artistic project you’ve experienced recently that made an impact on you:

The Department of Illumination pageant at Delhi Park this past August. Krista Dalby invited local artists, musicians, dancers, activists, and initiators to gather around a fire to intentionally connect to the park, and to be curious about it. She asked us all to explore the park in a way that felt true to us individually, and then to share our perspectives. As each person told their story around the fire, Krista took notes. Then she went away and wrote a play that feels like an origin myth for our community, with this piece of land as the central character. I found the whole process very moving. Writing can tend to centralize and separate – it gives us a siloed author’s vision of a story. But Krista had this visionary approach. I’ve never seen a story written this way before. She wrote a story that actually connects us all. The script weaves layers of history with the more-than-human world with skill, honouring multiple points of view while creating a cohesive story. Also, it’s laugh out loud funny! I don’t know how she does it. It’s so inspiring to see a writer create a multi-voiced story that is inclusive and relational. The pageant made me think differently about storytelling, and the purpose of writing as an art form.

What advice would you give to writers just starting out in their careers?

Connect to joy before you begin writing. Don’t look for it on the page, after you’ve started working — cultivate the state of mind you want to write from, first. Your creative energy will follow your emotional state. Make this process of connecting to joy part of your artistic practice. This habit will sustain you through the ups and downs of your career.

Where is your favourite place to work on your writing?

The trails of Macaulay Mountain Park. This is where ideas come to me most reliably. They come when my mind is busy keeping track of the confusing trail markers, trying to avoid the mud, staying vigilant on the blue trail where ticks hang out, etc. Ha! There’s a lot for that alarmist part of my mind to do there, so that’s probably why it stays out of my creative thinking. My walks through the forest always tell me what to write next, and what connections and insights I want to make in my work. When I have a question about craft or story, the forest answers it by showing me the answer without words. The pink trail is my favourite, because it goes up on top of the ridge where there’s hardly anybody, except the mushrooms and the owls.

Tell us about a piece of media you’ve been loving lately:

The Telepathy Tapes podcast. Mind-blowing. If you haven’t listened yet, you’re welcome! I also love the meditations on the Insight Timer app. I highly recommend Charles Freligh’s Tao Te Ching Mastery course.