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 publishing advice, craft confessions to reading habits, 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 to published authors based in Canada who have recently released a new book. We're not currently accepting enquiries or applications for the WIR programme.
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Our Interview with AnneMarch 2021-April 2021Anne Stone
Anne Stone is the author of four novels, Delible (2007), Hush (1999) and jacks: a gothic gospel (1998), and her newest book, Girl Minus X. She is currently at work on a collection of short fiction. She ...
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Our Interview with ChristeneChristene A. Browne
Christene Browne, originally from St. Kitts, is a well-respected and internationally acclaimed Toronto independent filmmaker and was the first Black woman to direct a feature film in Canada. In 2011 she ...
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Our Interview with SennahNovember-December 2020Sennah Yee
Sennah Yee is from Toronto, Ontario, where she writes poetry, short stories, and film criticism. Her first book, the creative nonfiction collection How Do I Look?, was published by Metatron Press in 2017. ...
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Our Interview with DietrichOctober-November 2020Dietrich Kalteis
Dietrich Kalteis is the award-winning author of Ride the Lightning (bronze medal winner, 2015 Independent Publisher Book Awards, for best regional fiction), The Deadbeat Club, Triggerfish, House of Blazes ...
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Our Interview with CarySeptember 2020Cary Fagan
Cary Fagan was born in 1957 and grew up in the Toronto suburbs. His books include the The Student (finalist for the Governor General’s Award for Fiction and the Toronto Book Award), A Bird’s Eye ...
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Our Interview with AlisonAugust 2020Alison Wearing
Alison Wearing is the bestselling author of Confessions of a Fairy’s Daughter, an Indigo Top 50 pick shortlisted for the Edna Staebler Prize and longlisted for the RBC Taylor Prize, Honeymoon in Purdah: ...
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Our Interview with IrfanJuly 2020Irfan Ali
Irfan Ali is a poet, essayist, writer, and educator. His short poetry collection, Who I Think About When I Think About You was shortlisted for the 2015 Bronwen Wallace Award for Emerging Writers. Accretion is ...
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Our Interview with HelaineJune 2020Helaine Becker
Helaine Becker is an award-winning author who has written over eighty books for children. Her picture books include You Can Read, illustrated by Mark Hoffmann; Sloth at the Zoom, illustrated by Orbie; ...
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Our Interview with DerekMay 2020Derek Mascarenhas
Derek Mascarenhas is a graduate of the University of Toronto School of Continuing Studies Creative Writing Program, a finalist and runner-up for the Penguin Random House of Canada Student Award for Fiction, ...
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Our Interview with DaniApril 2020Dani Spinosa
Dani Spinosa is a poet of digital and print media, an on-again-off-again precarious professor, the managing editor of the Electronic Literature Directory, and a co-founding editor of Gap Riot Press, a ...
