Home Founding Patron Lineage Member The Boreal Sessions Library & Colloquium
 

Greetings friends, visitors, and companions, and welcome to 

The Scriptorium: 
Echos of an Orphan Wisdom

Whatever scent you followed to find yourself here, we are grateful that you have arrived at The Scriptorium’s door.

Many of you may have encountered Stephen Jenkinson’s storytelling, lyric prose, and word-smithing ways through the Orphan Wisdom School, the Nights of Grief and Mystery, many interviews or his books. For some of you this may be a first contact. Whatever has brought you here, The Scriptorium is a place to learn and to hear the reverberating echos of a thinking man's life's work. And for those inclined, we created a way to connect with others via the Colloquium.

Following a health challenge which led to Stephen deciding to close the doors to the school, Nathalie, together with a handful of Orphan Wisdom School scholars, decided to create a platform where people might still listen to the gifts of his wonderings.

So welcome one and all,  each and every one of you, and whomever you may bring with you. Welcome to this online archive, this cherished library created from the collected works of  Mr. Stephen Jenkinson, Founder and Principal Instructor of The Orphan Wisdom School.

Echos of an Orphan Wisdom

The Scriptorium is an online platform that houses Stephen Jenkinson's collected works in a Library, and a place where we host online classes. It is also a place to connect with other people through the Colloquium. And in 2025, we'll host two in-person events in the Ottawa Valley, called The Boreal Sessions.

We invite you to be an active participant in carrying forth these Echos of an Orphan Wisdom.

Here are some ways how:

In becoming a member of The Scriptorium you will have access to talks available nowhere else, be able to hear unpublished recordings and read transcriptions of those talks as well as being able to listen in on Orphan Wisdom School sessions.

“I’m saving the best for last? No, I’m not. No, I spilled the wine early on, and then I did it again, and then I did it again. And now you want to find out what the secret sauce is? It’s the spilled wine on the floor. That’s the secret sauce. It’s not the stuff that hasn’t been said, it’s the stuff that has been said, and the fact that I said it.” 
~ Stephen Jenkinson

Become a Founding Patron

Your financial contributions provide an opportunity for those who could not otherwise participate, and help carry ongoing transcription, site development and administrative costs of The Scriptorium.

Become a Founding Patron

Lineage Member

You can now become a Lineage Member, and your early commitment will support our curating work. Stephen’s works were never meant to be hoarded or hidden or casually consumed. 

While membership officially begins in September 2025, Lineage Members who join between April and August will receive special early access benefits and materials throughout this period.

Become a Lineage Member

About Stephen Jenkinson MTS, MSW

Culture activist, worker, author, Stephen teaches internationally and is the creator and principal instructor of the Orphan Wisdom School, co-founded the school with his wife Nathalie Roy in 2010, which convened for 13 years semi-annually in Deacon, Ontario, and in northern Europe. He has Master’s degrees from Harvard University (Theology) and the University of Toronto (Social Work).

Read Stephen's full bio

Invitation from Orphan Wisdom Manager, Khadija Striegel

 

Boreal Sessions: The Scriptorium Echos

These are in-person events at Orphan Wisdom in the Ottawa Valley, Ontario and limited to a maximum of 15 participants. 

In these events we follow the example of those ancient monks, who copied oral stories onto vellum. We'll gather in the Great Hall by candle light to listen to recordings of past teaching events. 

In the time we have together we'll review the mojo and accuracy of the transcripts and upload those in our online Library for member access. We have a lot more in store for those who participate in The Boreal Sessions.

We are honoured to place this open invitation before you. This for Orphan Wisdom scholars, for people with little or no familiarity with Stephen Jenkinson’s work, and for all those in between.

Applications, for the 2025 Boreal Sessions: 

  • August 13-17: Founding Patron Special Offer - Coming Soon
  • August 20-24: Opens in late May
Explore the Boreal Sessions

 Online Library & Colloquium

One of the features of The Scriptorium is an online Library and Colloquium: from Latin colloqui ‘to converse’, from col- ‘together’ + loqui ‘to talk’

The Library houses Stephen Jenkinson’s work. Transcripts from The Boreal Sessions are continuously added to the Library, alongside an expanding collection of audio and video recordings from Stephen Jenkinson’s vault. 

The Colloquium is our gathering place for participant conversations, and a platform for us to host meetings that include a variety of scholar-led sessions.

Explore the Library & Colloquium

Handcrafted Books

In time, we mean to create a collection of hand-crafted leather-bound books. Stephen's twenty years of oral storytelling has resulted in a vast vault of recordings. Participants in The Boreal Sessions will be afforded the opportunity to listen in, and to enter into the labours of a scribe. We are thrilled about this feature of The Scriptorium. We’ll make note of unpublished poignant passages, drastic medicine in stories, balm for the soul, etymologies and ‘unthinkable thoughts’ which will then be collated and bound into books.

Scriptorium Ensemble

The Scriptorium is scholar-crafted and scholar-led. This curating work is the ~ Echos of an Orphan Wisdom.

We govern ourselves by this question: 'What would Stephen do if he were creating this?'

And the fact is he isn’t leading this. And won't.

The Scriptorium is upheld by the generosity of village-minded scholars and friends of Orphan Wisdom. It is led by Nathalie Roy: Orphan Wisdom Co-Founder and Creator of The Scriptorium and Khadija Striegel: Orphan Wisdom Manager and Scriptorium Caretaker. 

The photos posted on these pages have been captured mostly by Nathalie Roy, Khadija Striegel, Ian MacKenzie and Christopher Roy. The opening short film was crafted by Ian MacKenzie & Delaney Covelli with additional footage from Mattias Olsson. And the graphic art is done by Sandor Balogh.

“Would that everybody's life turn into something somebody else was in on. Not something you crafted. That's what I mean by 'echo.' Somebody else was in on it, and that's how you find out you did something. And that's why, if you're lucky, and people are willing to go through the formalities of doing so, you don't have to wait till you're dead to find out if you were here.”  
~ Stephen Jenkinson