Writer in Residence Archives
Most months Open Book feature a virtual writer-in-residence, who shares original, literary-focused thoughts with our readers. From writing tips to interviews, craft confessions to publishing tidbits, our writers-in-residence bring wildly creative points of view and new perspectives. They are amongst the most acclaimed authors in Canada today, including both exciting up and coming voices and established authors you know and love. Check out the archives to find your favourite, and stay tuned for our next great WIR!
The writer-in-residence position is offered by invitation only. Unfortunately, we're not currently accepting enquiries or applications for the WIR program.
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Our Interview with HasanOctober 2019-November 2019Hasan Namir
Iraqi-Canadian author Hasan Namir graduated from Simon Fraser University with a BA in English and received the Ying Chen Creative Writing Student Award. He is the author of God in Pink (2015), which ...
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Our Interview with NancySeptember-October 2019Nancy Jo Cullen
Nancy Jo Cullen is the fourth recipient of the Writers’ Trust Dayne Ogilvie Prize for LGBT Emerging Writers. She holds an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Guelph and her short story ...
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Our Interview with ZalikaJune 2019-July 2019Zalika Reid-Benta
Zalika Reid-Benta is a Toronto-based writer whose work has appeared on CBC Books, in TOK: Writing the New Toronto, and in Apogee Journal. In 2011, George Elliott Clarke recommended her as a “Writer ...
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May 2019-June 2019Alisha Sevigny
Alisha Sevigny is the author of YA novels, Summer Constellations, (winner of CCBC Best Books for Kids & Teens 2018), and Kissing Frogs. Her historical adventure series, Secrets of the Sands, launches ...
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Our Interview with EdwardApril 2019-May 2019Edward Carson
Edward Carson, writer and photographer, is twice winner of the E.J. Pratt Medal in Poetry and author of Knots, Birds Flock Fish School, and Taking Shape, as well as his most recent collection, Look Here ...
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Our Interview with ShaziaMarch 2019-April 2019Shazia Hafiz Ramji
Shazia Hafiz Ramji is the author of Port of Being, a finalist for the 2019 BC Book Prizes (Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize) and the Gerald Lampert Memorial Award. Her writing has recently appeared or is ...
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Our Interview with DeannaFebruary 2019-March 2019Deanna Young
Deanna Young’s previous books include House Dreams, nominated for the Trillium Book Award for Poetry, the Ottawa Book Award, the Archibald Lampman Award and the ReLit Award, and Drunkard’s Path. Young ...
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Our Interview with BrianNovember 2018-December 2018Brian Wilkinson
Brian Wilkinson attempts to juggle multiple careers as an author, high school teacher, and librarian. He currently lives in East York, Ontario, with his wife and two children, who served as the inspiration ...
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October 2018-November 2018Waubgeshig Rice
Waubgeshig Rice is an author and journalist originally from Wasauksing First Nation. His first short story collection, Midnight Sweatlodge, was inspired by his experiences growing up in an Anishinaabe ...
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September 2018-October 2018Jessica Westhead
Jessica Westhead's short stories have appeared in major literary magazines including Hazlitt, Five Dials, Room, Maisonneuve, Matrix, Geist, The New Quarterly, and Indiana Review. Her fiction has ...
