person sitting at table typing on laptop keyboard

“Some of my deepest learning happens in the Writing Centre. The one-on-one appointments offer an opportunity not only to improve my academic and creative writing skills but also to engage with fellow scholars in conversations that test my understanding of course material and enhance my ability to think critically.”

Fourth-year Women & Gender Studies major

The New College Writing Centre (NCWC) offers various programs and services, including one-on-one sessions and drop-in spaces with highly skilled instructors to help you develop your thinking and writing at university.

Meeting with one of our friendly instructors is one of the most effective ways of transforming your writing, whether you are working on your very first university essay or your first publication. We work with students at all stages of the research and writing process, across all fields of study, and on all genres of assignments, including multimodal assignments, oral presentations, lab reports, analytic and reflective essays, business reports, policy briefs and research proposals, theses, and much more. All of our instructors hold graduate degrees in their fields.

Our free one and one 50-minute sessions (online or in-person) are geared to you, the student. You can come see us with just the ideas in your head (not on paper yet), or with a rough draft that you’d like feedback on. Got feedback on a paper graded by your instructor or the teaching assistant and want to learn how to improve your work in the future? Bring your paper to us and we can chat together about what you could strengthen in your writing for future assignments. Visit us early in the term to get your year off on the right track!

We also offer drop-in spaces the Writing Room, or the CAESS Writing Group (if you are in at least one Caribbean studies, African studies, or Critical Equity and Solidarity studies course), where you can work alongside your peers to get assignments done. We welcome multilingual students for whom English is an additional language as well as those who know many additional languages/language varieties.

Students tell us that “part of writing successfully is having a safe place to do [it]” which they feel the writing room provides. They “love the inclusive and welcoming environment” and having a space “to focus and work independently.”

Throughout the academic school year, we host events such as Write Night and Writing Retreat with writing strategy workshops to help you get ahead of end-of-term assignments.

The New College Writing Centre is a place for you to talk about your ideas while learning how to better communicate them. Check out our programs and how to book a one-on-one appointment

What students have told us:

“The group setting [in the Writing Retreat] made me feel like I was part of something and made me feel less alone to smash my assignments.”

“The availability of staff to help whenever help is needed.”

“Just surrounding myself with other students and feeling motivated to study.”

Students sitting in computer lab during a writing workshop“[In the CAESS Writing Group] I was able to feel more confident in writing papers and felt the support. It was incredibly useful to have Mikayla [Librarian] walk me through the research process and then switch over to Marci [Writing Instructor] and get that support with the paper itself. Writing a paper can feel very overwhelming and stressful, but through the writing group, I was able to manage my time to finish my papers with confidence.”

“[The CAESS Writing Group] helped me have a place to share my ideas for papers or research and provides helpful feedback. Also, the facilitators are a great resource for improving writing and research skills.”

“I love having a place where I know people are working on similar projects as me. A supportive writing community makes all the difference and there is not a group like [the CAESS Writing Group] this in my two other programs”

“This writing group has been so helpful to me. I don’t think I would have succeeded had it not been for [CAESS]. I’m very grateful.”