WWC2026 - Masterclass - Make Shame Your Bitch
Friday, August 14, 2026 | 12pm-2:45pm
Hyatt Regency Calgary - Bannerman
with Jessica Waite
Part craft-talk, part author-development bootcamp, this workshop will help you turn your greatest vulnerability into your superpower.
- Learn how to harness shame to add depth and drama to your characters' motivations.
- Understand how your own shame triggers may be holding you back as a writer.
- Experience first-hand how it’s possible to transform shame into resilience and resolve.
Drawing on cultural examples of weaponized shame, including the presenter’s own experience surviving global tabloid media humiliation, our time together will focus on reclaiming our power to write bolder, wiser, more authentic stories. Expect relevant literary examples, personal storytelling, safe sharing of a tiny slice of your personal experience, plus cathartic scribbling, cutting and pasting. Vibe: Brené Brown, Monica Lewinsky and Jon Ronson get together to share secrets, strategies and stationery supplies. Let's do this.
Open to writers at all levels.
Please bring your most open-hearted self. Everything else will be provided.
Jessica Waite is a best-selling author and award-winning essayist whose work has appeared in The Globe and Mail, Alberta Views,The Catalyst and many other outlets. She was a recipient of Châtelaine magazine’s 2025 Doris Anderson Award for overcoming several obstacles in order to publish her debut memoir, The Widow’s Guide to Dead Bastards. Jessica advocates for the healing power of storytelling, and the connective power of truth. She lives on Treaty 7 territory in Mohkinstis/Calgary, Alberta.
