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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February 2019-March 2019
Deanna 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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November 2018-December 2018
Brian 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 2018
Waubgeshig 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 2018
Jessica 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 ...
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July 2018-August 2018
Daniel Perry
Daniel Perry’s first short fiction collection, Hamburger, was published in 2016. His stories have been short-listed for the Carter V. Cooper Prize and appeared in publications in Canada, the U.S., the ...
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June 2018-July 2018
Chelene Knight
Chelene Knight is the author of the poetry collection Braided Skin and the memoir Dear Current Occupant, winner of the 2018 Vancouver Book Award. Her essays have appeared in multiple Canadian and ...
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May 2018-June 2018
Mark Sampson
Mark Sampson is the author of the novels Off Book, Sad Peninsula, and The Slip, as well as a short-story collection, The Secrets men Keep, and a poetry collection, Weathervane. He has published fiction ...
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April 1 2018-May 1 2018
Emma Healey
Emma Healey’s first book of poems, Begin with the End in Mind, was published by ARP Books in 2012. Her poems and essays have been featured in places like the Los Angeles Review of Books, the FADER, ...
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March 1, 2018-April 1, 2018
David Demchuk
David Demchuk was born and raised in Winnipeg and now lives in Toronto. He has been writing for theatre, film, television, radio, and other media for more than thirty years. His publications include the ...
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December 2017-January 2018
Dan MacIsaac
Raised on Vancouver Island, Dan MacIsaac is a third-generation lawyer and served for ten years as a director on the board of the Environmental Law Centre at the University of Victoria. His poetry, verse ...