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Crafting the Meet-Cute: A Romance Writing Workshop with Leanne Toshiko Simpson

Friday, October 17, 2025

Upstart & Crow Studio

Description

Join us on Friday, October 17 at 6pm for a special romance writing workshop!

Open to writers, dabblers and everyone interested in an evening with romantic flare, this 1.5 hour workshop with award-winning U of T creative writing teacher, Leanne Toshiko Simpson, will help you design compelling lead characters and the perfect meet-cute to carry the love story you’ve always wanted to write. We’ll work through prompts, talk about tropes and end with a take-home list of resources to continue your writing journey.

To support our non-profit programming and to help us cover costs, this workshop is $10. If you are experiencing barriers to attend, please reach out over email. We are happy to provide you with one of our reserved free-by-donation tickets. We have very limited seating and spots go quickly, so please reserve your place here!

About Upstart & Crow: Located on Granville Island, Upstart & Crow is a not-for-profit literary arts studio for curious readers and creative storytellers alike. We are international in our outlook, and local in our sensibilities. We create opportunities to surface new talent and champion bold ideas through events, workshops, literary launches, unique partnerships — and yes, we also sell books!

Accessibility: The main studio of our shop is accessible for folks with mobility aids. There is a washroom on the main floor available for attendees.

Questions: hello[at]upstartandcrow.com.

Leanne Toshiko Simpson

Leanne Toshiko Simpson is a Japanese Canadian writer, educator and psychiatric survivor from Toronto. She loves writing joyful and messy stories about living with mental illness, and the moments of hope that help us get out of bed day after day. Leanne teaches creative writing at the University of Toronto and her debut novel Never Been Better recently won the Rakuten Kobo Emerging Writer Prize for Romance.

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