Creative Writing Instructors
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
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Jason Anderson, B.A., Writer
Since moving to Toronto from Calgary in 1991, Jason Anderson has written for such publications as the Toronto Star, the Globe and Mail, The Walrus, Toronto Life, Chatelaine, Saturday Night, Entertainment Weekly and Toro. He currently writes columns on film for The Grid (formerly Eye Weekly) and the Toronto Star and won a Western Magazine Award in 2006 for his columns on music for Calgary’s Swerve magazine. He is the author of the novel Showbiz (published in 2005 by ECW Press) and has contributed to several anthologies including The State of the Arts: Living With Culture in Toronto (published in 2006 by Coach House Press). He also teaches a course on criticism for the University of Toronto’s Cinema Studies program and is the Director of Programming for the Kingston Canadian Film Festival.
SCS 1864 How to Write a Column
Genevieve Appleton, B.A.A., M.F.A., Screenwriter, Director/Producer
Screenwriter and filmmaker Geneviève Appleton associate produced the feature film Wilby Wonderful, directed by Daniel MacIvor. She recently produced Traveling Medicine Show: Apocalypse, directed by Amnon Buchbinder and the documentary The Dachau Line, directed by Seth Feldman. She wrote narration for GAP: Great Adventure People and two feature documentaries, In the Land of the Moose and Partly Private directed by Danae Elon, which won best New York Documentary at the Tribeca Film Festival. For her company, White Wave Productions, she has written, produced, directed and edited several films, including the documentary A Garden’s Family for Vision TV, the half-hour drama Vision, which won second prize at TV Ontario’s Telefest Awards, and the documentary Actor’s Transformation, which aired on Bravo! Canada. Her short dance film Calling the Minstrel was screened at the 2010 Olympics’ Cultural Olympiad, the Atlanta Film Festival, and the Izmir International Film Festival.
SCS 1709 Screenwriting: Introduction
SCS 1710 Screenwriting II
Kelley Armstrong, B.A., Writer
Kelley Armstrong has been telling stories since before she could write. Her earliest written efforts were disastrous. If asked for a story about girls and dolls, hers would invariably feature undead girls and evil dolls, much to her teachers’ dismay. All efforts to make her produce “normal” stories failed. Today, she continues to spin tales of ghosts and demons and werewolves, while safely locked away in her basement writing dungeon. She’s the #1 NYT bestselling author of the “Darkest Powers” young adult urban fantasy trilogy, the “Women of the Otherworld” paranormal suspense series, and the Nadia Stafford crime series. She lives in southwestern Ontario with her husband, kids and far too many pets.
SCS 2384 Summer Writing School: Dark Fantasy
Rosemary Aubert , B.A., M.A., C.Cri.
Rosemary Aubert is the internationally-acclaimed author of the Ellis Portal mystery series: “Free Reign”, “The Feast of Stephen”, “The Ferryman Will Be There”, “Leave Me By Dying”, and “Red Mass” (which garnered rave reviews from the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal). She is a two-time winner of the Arthur Ellis Award, Canada’s top prize for crime fiction. She has taught workshops from coast to coast in Canada and the United States and is a frequent guest lecturer at colleges, universities, writers’ groups and conferences. She is a regular reviewer of novels for The Globe and Mail and presently works as a criminologist in Toronto.
SCS 1714 Mystery and Suspense Writing
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Ken Babstock
Ken Babstock was born in Newfoundland and grew up in the Ottawa valley. He won the 2000 Atlantic Poetry Prize and the 1999/2000 Milton Acorn People’s Poetry Prize for his first collection of poems, Mean . His second book, Days into Flatspin, was published by Anansi in April 2001, winning a K.M.Hunter Award and was short-listed for The Winterset Award. He has worked as Poetry Faculty at the Banff Centre for the Arts and was a participant in the 2002 Rotterdam International Poetry Festival. A new collection, Airstream Land Yacht, was published by Anansi in Spring 2006.
Michel Basilieres
Michel Basilieres is the author of the novel Black Bird, a stage play and two CBC radio plays. He is a frequent reviewer for the Toronto Star and has written for the Globe & Mail, Maissoneuve Magazine and The Danforth Review. Black Bird received widespread aclaim and honours, including the Amazon.ca/Books In Canada First Novel Award. It was shortlisted for the Stephen Leacock Medal, the Commonwealth Writer`s Prize (Canada and Carribean) and included on both the Globe& Mail and Maclean`s best of the year lists. It is available in English, French, Dutch and Serbian, and is taught in schools across the country.
SCS 1664 Creative Writing: Introduction
SCS 2287 Writing Humour
Martha Batiz, B.A., M.A., Ph.D. (ABD), Writer
Martha Batiz started publishing at age 22 in her native Mexico. Her articles, reviews and stories have appeared in newspapers and magazines in Mexico, Spain, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico and Canada. In the US she collaborates with Literal Latin American Voices, and in Canada she has been published by the New Canadian Magazine, TransVerse and Exile Literary Quarterly. Her first book was the short-story collection A todos los voy a matar, Castillo Press, 2000. Recently published works include a compilation of articles and short stories La primera taza de café, Ariadna Press, 2007, the award-winning short novel Boca de Lobo, Leon Jimenes Press, 2007 (also published in Mexico by the Instituto Mexiquense de Cultura and will be published in English by Exile Editions in Canada this Fall), and Mexico visto desde lejos, Taurus and El Colegio de Chihuahua, 2008. This year a new story collection will be published by Terranova Editores in Puerto Rico.
SCS 2285 Creative Writing in Spanish I & II
Michelle Berry, B.A., M.A.
Michelle Berry has published three short story collections and four novels, two of which have also been published in the U.K. “What We All Want” was shortlisted for a TORGI Award and is presently optioned for film. “This Book Will Not Save Your Life” won the inaugural Enfield & Wizenty novel award, 2010. Her third collection of stories, “I Still Don’t Even Know You” won the 2011 Mary Scorer Award for Best Book by a Manitoba Publisher. Michelle has taught creative writing at Trent University, Ryerson and, by correspondence, at Humber College. She served on the board of PEN Canada, was on the author’s committee for The Writer’s Trust and was 2nd Vice Chair of The Writer’s Union. She is a contributing reviewer for The Globe and Mail.
Dave Bidini
Dave Bidini is the author of nine books. His play, “The Five Hole Stories,” was performed by One Yellow Rabbit and toured Canada in winter, 2009, and his two hockumentaries, “The Hockey Nomad” and “The Hockey Nomad Goes to Russia” were Gemini nominated-films (the former won for Best Documentary). He is the recipient of numerous National Magazine Awards as well as a weekly columnist in The National Post, and, in 1994, his former band, Rheostatics, won a Genie Award for “Claire” (from the film “Whale Music”) and two of their albums were included in the Top 20 Canadian Albums of All-Time. His first hockey book, Tropic of Hockey, was named one of the Top 100 Canadian Books of All-Time by McClelland and Stewart, and his baseball odyssey, Baseballissimo, is currently being made into a feature film.
Ryan Bigge, B.A., M.A., Writer
Ryan Bigge has over eight years of experience in freelance writing and editing. After two years as Managing Editor at Vancouver-based Adbusters, he moved to Toronto in 1999. Since then, he has worked as an editor at Eye Weekly and Broken Pencil and written for the New York Times Magazine, Saturday Night, Maclean’s, Shift, The Globe and Mail, the Toronto Star and Toronto Life, among other publications. Ryan has received two honourable mentions at the National Magazine Awards in the Essay category and his humour book A Very Lonely Planet was published in 2001. He is currently completing a Master’s in Communication and Culture through York/Ryerson.
SCS 1711 The Freelance Writing Business
SCS 1722 Freelancing the Feature
SCS 2654 Content Strategy Demystified
Shaughnessy Bishop-Stall, B.A.
Shaughnessy Bishop-Stall has hitchhiked from Canada to Costa Rica, picked olives in Spain, painted Villas in Italy, hopped freight trains in Arizona, taught English in Mexico, built a shack from scrap-lumber on the edge of Lake Ontario, and written about all of it. His non-fiction has appeared in Maclean’s, Utne Reader, The National Post, The Globe and Mail, The Vancouver Sun, Toro magazine, and three different incarnations of Saturday Night magazine. His first book, Down To This: Squalor and Splendour in a Big City Shantytown (Random House Canada), which documents the year he spent in Toronto’s infamous Tent City – was short-listed for the Pearson Non-Fiction Prize, The Drainie-Taylor Biography Prize, The Trillium Prize and The City of Toronto Book Award. In 2005 he was awarded the Knowlton Nash Journalism Fellowship at Massey College.
SCS 1769 Writing the Memoir
SCS 1830 Writing the Memoir II
SCS 1691 Creative Non-Fiction: Introduction
SCS 1679 Writing the Novel: Introduction
Ronna Bloom, B.A., M.Ed., Writer
Ronna Bloom is a poet, psychotherapist and photographer who has performed her poetry at festivals including Word on the Street, Ashkenaz and MayWorks as well as in numerous schools and libraries. She has three published books of poetry. Fear of the Ride (Carleton University Press, 1996, shortlisted for the Gerald Lampert Award for best first book of poetry), Personal Effects (Pedlar Press, 2000, acquired and translated by the Canadian National Institute for the Blind) and Public Works (Pedlar Press, 2004, shortlisted for the Pat Lowther Award). Her poems have been used in anthologies and textbooks and broadcast on CBC radio.
SCS 1705 Personal Narrative I & II: Inventing Your Truth
Dennis Bock, B.A.
Dennis Bock’s first book of stories, Olympia, won the 1998 Canadian Authors Association Jubilee Award, the inaugural Danuta Gleed Award for best first collection of stories by a Canadian author and the British Betty Trask Award. His first novel, The Ash Garden, was a #1 national bestseller and was shortlisted for the prestigious 2003 IMPAC Dublin Literary Award, the Amazon.com/Books in Canada First Novel Award, the Kiriyama Prize and the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize for Best Book (Caribbean and Canada Region). It won the Japan-Canada Literary Award, and has been published in ten countries. His second novel, The Communist’s Daughter, was published in 2006. Dennis Bock lives with his family in Toronto.
SCS 1664 Creative Writing: Introduction
SCS 1702 Writing the Novel: Master Class
Christina Perez Braid
Christina Perez Braid designs progressive curriculum on the fundamentals of language & literature through creative writing, technology, and contemporary forms of expression. With 15 years of research and educational practice, she has shared models at University of California, Penn State University, George Mason University, Salve Regina University, and University of Tokyo and published papers for Contemporary Justice Review, Encyclopedia of World Poverty, theory@buffalo, and Utopian Studies. Braid collaborates with authors and organizations such as Poetry in Voice, Justice Studies Association, Humber College, Mohawk College, Society for Utopian Studies, International Boys School Coalition, CITE, Conference of Independent Schools, and Toronto District School Board. She explores traditional, flipped, differentiated, and BYOD learning, backward design, parallel / critical thinking, info-literacy, multimedia, screenwriting and film to spark student expression and imaginative growth.
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Dave Carley
Dave Carley is a Toronto-based playwright. His plays have had over 300 productions across Canada and the United States and in many countries around the world. They include Writing With Our Feet (nominated for the Governor General’s Award), After You, The Edible Woman, Taking Liberties and Orchidelirium. Dave is the former editor at the Playwrights Union of Canada (now Playwrights Guild) and, for many years, was the script editor at CBC Radio Drama. Most recently, Dave was playwright in residence at the Shaw Festival, where he continued work on Kaj Munk, a biographical drama about the Danish playwright, pastor and World War II martyr. Dave’s website is www.davecarley.com
SCS 2366 Dramatic Writing: From Page to Stage
Kate Carraway, B.A., Writer
Kate Carraway is a writer, editor, and content consultant. She writes about music, pop culture, lifestyle, sex, travel, technology and politics for publications including LA Weekly, SF Weekly, OC Weekly, the Houston Press, the Dallas Observer, the Phoenix New Times, Eye Weekly, NOW magazine, and Nerve.com. She also contributed the chapter “The Secret Capitalist” to Coach House Books’ anthology, The State of the Arts: Living With Culture in Toronto. She usually lives in Toronto.
SCS 2097 Creative Journalism I & II
Anne Laurel Carter, B.A., B.Ed., M.Ed., Writer
Anne Laurel Carter is the author of six picture books, YA short stories, and eight novels. She has won the Mr. Christie Best Picture Book Award and the CLA Best Book Award for her novel Last Chance Bay. She co-edited an anthology of women’s memoirs, called My Wedding Dress for Random House. Her latest novel, The Shepherd’s Granddaughter, won the Canadian Library Association Best Book of the Year for Children Award in 2009 and was an IRA Notable Book for a Global Society as well as an Honor Book for the Jane Addam’s Award for peace.
SCS 1717 Writing for Children: Introduction
Margaret Christakos , B.F.A., M.A.
Margaret Christakos is a Toronto-based poet and novelist. Her poetry collections are Sooner (Coach House, 2005, shortlisted for the Pat Lowther Memorial Award), Excessive Love Prostheses (Coach House, 2002, winner of the ReLit Award), Wipe Under a Love (Mansfield, 2000), The Moment Coming (ECW Press, 1998), Other Words for Grace (Mercury, 1994) and Not Egypt (Coach House, 1989). Her novel Charisma (Pedlar Press, 2000) was a finalist for the Ontario Trillium Book Award. She has curated and hosted many events, edited books and magazines (Fuse, Fireweed, Mix: The Magazine of Artist-Run Culture), and reviewed poetry for Arc, Fiddlehead and the Globe and Mail, among others. Throughout the mid-nineties she taught creative writing at OCAD. She publishes regularly in literary journals in Canada and the United States and is well regarded in Canada’s experimental poetry community for her innovative sound poetics-influenced performance work.
SCS 1664 Creative Writing: Introduction
SCS 1777 Influency: A Poetry Salon
SCS 1689 Poetry: Master Class
SCS 1688 Poetry II
Kerry Clare, B.A., M.A.
Kerry Clare’s essays and short fiction have appeared in publications including The New Quarterly, ROOM Magazine, and Canadian Notes & Queries, and her essay “Love Is Let-Down” was featured by the UTNE Reader. She also reviews books for Quill & Quire and The Globe and Mail. Kerry has been blogging since 2000, and in 2006 launched Pickle Me This, where she writes about books and reading. In 2008, she spoke about literary blogs whilst serving as a panelist on the Arts Matters Forum “A Passion for Reading”, hosted by Their Excellencies, Governor General Michaëlle Jean and Jean-Daniel Lafond. In September 2010, Pickle Me This was cited by CBC.com as one of “Ten Book Blogs We Appreciate.”
SCS 2114 The Art and Business of Blogging
Christy Ann Conlin, B.A., M.Ed., M.F.A., Writer
Christy Ann Conlin is a writer and storyteller. Her short fiction has been anthologized and published in numerous journals including Best Canadian Stories, Fireweed and Blood & Aphorisms. Her first novel Heave, was a national bestseller, a Globe and Mail notable book and nominated for the Amazon Books in Canada First Novel Award. Conlin has a MFA in Creative Writing from the School of Theatre, Film and Creative Writing at the University of British Columbia. She is a regular book reviewer for the Globe and Mail, and her articles and essays have been published in a variety of magazines including Canadian Geographic, Chatelaine and Geist. She is also a freelance broadcaster with CBC Radio. Christy Ann has been teaching creative writing for over ten years as well as working as an editor of fiction and narrative non fiction. Her second novel, Listening for the Island, will be published by Doubleday.
SCS 1664 Creative Writing: Introduction
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Willow Dawson, Illustrator, Graphic Novelist
Willow Dawson is the creator of 100 Mile House (in progress, excerpts published by Top Shelf Comics) and the illustrator of award winning graphic novels No Girls Allowed (Kids Can Press) and Violet Miranda: Girl Pirate (Kiss Machine). Dawson’s comics have been used between scenes in Deepa Mehta’s documentary Let’s Talk About It (Omni TV, 2005) and in publications by clients like YWCA Canada, Owl Magazine, Trinity Square Video, Toronto Comic Arts Festival and Kiss Machine. Dawson’s upcoming book Lila and Ecco’s Do-It-Yourself Comics Club (Kids Can Press, Fall 2010) is a graphic novel about making comics. Her books have received funding from the Toronto Arts Council, Ontario Arts Council and the Canada Council for the Arts. She teaches sequential art and scriptwriting to youth across the city and regularly participates in panel discussions about comics and illustration. www.willowdawson.com
SCS 2489 Creating Comics and Graphic Novels
Kelli Deeth , B.F.A., M.F.A., Writer
Kelli Deeth’s critically acclaimed short-story collection, The Girl Without Anyone, published by HarperCollins in 2001, was chosen as one of The Globe and Mail’s top books of 2001 and has sold internationally. Her short-stories have appeared in publications and anthologies such as The Dalhousie Review, The Antigonish Review and Write Turns. Her critically acclaimed one-act play Holdin’ On was produced and performed in Vancouver at Performance Works and The Havana Gallery. Her book reviews have appeared in The Vancouver Sun. Kelli Deeth holds an MFA in Creative Writing from The University of British Columbia. She also won an Excellence in Teaching Award in the University of Toronto’s School of Continuing Studies.
SCS 1664 Creative Writing: Introduction
Salvatore Difalco, Writer
Salvatore Difalco is the author of Black Rabbit & Other Stories and The Mountie At Niagara Falls. His short stories, essays, book reviews, and interviews have appeared in publications across Canada and the USA.
SCS 2704 The Art of the Interview
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Kim Echlin, B.A., M.A., Ph.D.
Kim Echlin is the author of The Disappeared, nominated for the 2010 Giller and published in 17 countries. Her first novel, Elephant Winter was nominated for the Chapters/ Books in Canada First Novel Award. She is also the author of Dagmar’s Daughter, Inanna, and Elizabeth Smart: A Fugue Essay on Women and Creativity. She has written and produced television documentaries and was the 2006 winner of the CBC Literary Award for Creative Non-Fiction. Her doctoral work was in stylistics.
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Cary Fagan, B.A., M.A.
Cary Fagan has an MA in English Literature from the University of Toronto. Among his novels are The Animals’ W altz, Felix Roth, and The Mermaid of Paris, and he has also published two collections of short fiction. His books for children include The Market Wedding, Daughter of the Great Zandini, and The Fortress of Kaspar Snit . Two new picture books are scheduled to appear as well as a sequel to Kaspar Snit . Among his many awards are the Toronto Book Award, two Jewish Book Awards, and a Mr. Christie Silver Medal.
SCS 1718 Writing for Children: Picture Books I & II
Terry Fallis, B.Eng., Writer
Despite an engineering degree, Terry Fallis has enjoyed a successful career first in politics, and then in public relations and social media consulting. In 2005, he finally wrote the novel that had been rattling around inside his head. After a year of unsuccessfully peddling the manuscript to agents and publishers, he took matters into his own hands. He podcast The Best Laid Plans, his debut satirical novel of Canadian politics, chapter-by-chapter, gathering rave reviews from legions of listeners in Canada and around the world. Encouraged by the response, he self-published the novel in September 2007 and hit the road to promote it. In 2008, The Best Laid Plans won the Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour, the first self-published novel ever honoured with this venerable literary award. Within a week, Fallis signed a publishing deal with McClelland & Stewart. In 2011, The Best Laid Plans was crowned the winner of the 10th anniversary edition of Canada Reads. M&S also published the sequel, The High Road, which was a finalist for the 2011 Leacock Medal.
SCS 2490 Building an Audience for Your Writing
Joy Fielding, B.A., Writer
After majoring in English, Joy Fielding appeared in the well-received student movie, “Winter Kept Us Warm.” Acting ambitions subsequently took her to Hollywood where she got a part in an episode of “Gunsmoke” and even got to kiss Elvis Presley! However, she worked in a lot of banks before leaving L.A. and returning to Toronto and her first love–writing. She is the author of the acclaimed New York Times bestseller The First Time, and other bestselling novels including The Deep End, Whispers and Lies, Puppet, and Mad River Road. She divides her time between Toronto and Palm Beach.
SCS 1825 Summer Writing School: Writing a Bestselling Novel
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Susan Glickman, B.A., M.A., Ph.D., Writer
Susan Glickman has worked with books all her life as a writer, bookseller, editor of both trade and academic books, English teacher at a French Lycee and professor of English at the University of Toronto and of Creative Writing both at U of T and Ryerson. Among the prizes Glickman has received for her work are the Gabrielle Roy and Raymond Klibansky prizes for literary criticism for The Picturesque & the Sublime: A Poetics of the Canadian Landscape (1998), and the Canadian Jewish Book Award for her first novel, The Violin Lover (2006). Her second novel, The Tale-Teller, will be coming out in the spring of 2012, as will her sixth book of poetry, The Smooth Yarrow. The second and third installments of the “Lunch Bunch” series of children’s books are also due out soon: Bernadette in the Doghouse in the fall of 2011, and Bernadette to the Rescue in the spring of 2012. Read more at her website:www.susanglickman.com.
SCS 1695 Creative Writing Through Reading
Lee Gowan, B.A., M.F.A.
Lee Gowan is author of Going to Cuba, a collection of short stories. His screenplay for the television movie, Paris or Somewhere won three screenwriting awards and was nominated for a Gemini. His first novel Make Believe Love was nominated for a Trillium Award for best book in Ontario. His second novel The Last Cowboy was published by Knopf, Canada in 2004. He is the Program Head of the Creative Writing Program here at the School of Continuing Studies.
Catherine Graham , B.A., M.A.
Catherine Graham, writer, editor, educator and creativity consultant, is the author of four acclaimed poetry collections: The Watch (Abbey Press) and the poetry trilogy Pupa, The Red Element and Winterkill (Insomniac Press). She holds a Masters’ degree in creative writing from Lancaster University (England). Nominated for an Excellence In Teaching Award at the University of Toronto, Catherine also teaches at the Haliburton School of the Arts. Her work has appeared in journals and anthologies in North America, the United Kingdom, and Ireland. Her next collection will be published fall, 2013 with Wolsak & Wynn. Visit: www.catherinegraham.com
SCS 1664 Creative Writing: Introduction
SCS 1687 Poetry: Introduction
SCS 1695 Creative Writing Through Reading
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Sam Hiyate
Sam manages key accounts for The Rights Factory Inc. He is a former literary agent with The Lavin Agency and is a founder and former editor/publisher of the litmag Blood + Aphorisms and the outlaw literary publishing firm Gutter Press. Hiyate has lectured on editing and publishing across Canada, including regularly at Centennial College and Ryerson University.
SCS 1703 Insider’s Guide to Writing and Publishing
SCS 2586 The Art of the Non-Fiction Book Proposal
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Chris Johns, B.A.
Chris Johns is an award winning food and travel writer. His work has appeared in The Globe and Mail, enRoute, Toronto Life and the Best Food Writing compilation among other publications.
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Kathy Kacer, B.Sc., M.A.
Kathy’s focus is historical fiction and non-fiction. Her books for young readers have won many awards and have sold internationally. Her first book, The Secret of Gabi’s Dresser was adapted into a play. Kathy talks to young audiences around the country and lectures to educators on the topic of teaching sensitive material to children. Before becoming a children’s author, she worked as a psychologist and has an M.A. in Clinical Psychology. Her published works are: The Secret of Gabi’s Dresser, Second Story Press, 1999; Clara’s War, Second Story Press, 2001; The Night Spies, Second Story Press, 2004; The Underground Reporters, Second Story Press, 2005; Margit: Home Free, Penguin Books Canada, 2003; Margit: A Bit of Love and a Bit of Luck, Penguin Books Canada, 2005; Margie: Open Your Doors, Penguin Books Canada, 2006; Hiding Edith, Second Story Press, 2006; Margie: A Friend in Need, Penguin Books Canada, 2006; and The Diary of Laura’s Twin, Second Story, 2008.
SCS 1717 Writing for Children: Introduction
Beth Kaplan, B.F.A.,M.F.A., Writer
Beth Kaplan spent a decade as a professional actress before leaving the stage to earn an MFA in Creative Writing from UBC. Scores of her personal essays have appeared in newspapers and magazines, and she has read her own work regularly on CBC radio, including the programs Tapestry and Fresh Air. Her play Gordin in America won a national playwriting competition in 1994; her biography and family memoir about her great-grandfather, Finding the Jewish Shakespeare: the Life and Legacy of Jacob Gordin, appeared in 2007, and she has spoken about the book at Oxford University, the 92nd St. Y and Stella Adler Studio in New York, the Medem Library in Paris, the Stratford Festival, and also in other cities, including Philadelphia, Washington D.C., and Vancouver. She has taught creative non-fiction and memoir writing since 1995. For more information on Beth as teacher and writer, please check out her website and blog at www.bethkaplan.ca.
Ibi Kaslik, B.A., M.A., Writer
Ibi Kaslik is an internationally published novelist and freelance author whose first novel, Skinny, was a New York Times Bestseller. Skinny was also nominated for several awards and translated into many languages. Ibi’s second novel, The Angel Riots, published in 2008 by Penguin Group Canada, was a national critical success, dubbed “beautiful” by The Globe and Mail. Ibi was the twenty-second writer-in-residence at the Regina Public Library in 2007–2008 and currently lives in Toronto.
SCS 1680 Writing Short Fiction: Introduction
SCS 1679 Writing the Novel: Introduction
Kathryn Kuitenbrouwer, B.A.
Kuitenbrouwer is the author of Way Up: Stories, which won a Danuta Gleed Award and was short-listed for the ReLit Award. Her novel, The Nettle Spinner, was recently published by Goose Lane Editions. She has reviewed or written articles for various newspapers and journals, including The Globe and Mail, Books in Canada, Quill and Quire and Maisonneuve magazine. A former editor with The Literary Review of Canada and The Review, Kathryn Kuitenbrouwer is currently an editor for the literary news e-magazine Bookninja.com. For more information visit www.KathrynKuitenbrouwer.com.
SCS 2202 Summer Writing School: Creative Writing: Introduction
SCS 2231 Writer’s Talk: Writing Through Reading
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Allyson Latta
Allyson Latta is a literary editor who over the past thirteen years has worked with many of Canada’s most respected authors and edited numerous award-winning works of fiction and non-fiction, specializing in memoir. In 2004, she developed and taught one of the first interactive online memoir writing courses, on which others have been modelled. She also leads workshops through her own company and for libraries and writers’ organizations. After earning degrees in criminology and journalism, Allyson worked as newspaper reporter, associate editor for Quarry literary journal, associate editor and features writer for Ottawa Magazine and Ottawa Business Magazine, and for three years taught English in Japan. She has published short memoirs and short fiction, and writes for a national current affairs newsletter for secondary school teachers. Allyson is a consultant for the annual Words Alive Literary Festival, held in Sharon, Ontario, and a judge for U of T Magazine’s short fiction contest.
SCS 2282 Memories into Story: Introduction to Life Writing (online)
David Layton, B.A., Writer
Award winning journalist David Layton has had short fiction and articles published in numerous newspapers and magazines including: The Daily Telegraph, Conde Nast, The Toronto Star and The Globe & Mail. He is the author of “Motion Sickness”, published by McFarlane Walter & Ross, a memoir which was shortlisted for the Trillium Award. His critically acclaimed second book, “The Bird Factory” was published by McClelland & Stewart in 2005 and film rights for the novel were recently sold to Marty Katz, executive producer of “Hotel Rwanda”. David Layton’s third book, “Bloodlines”, will be published by HarperCollins, Canada, in the fall of 2010.
SCS 1664 Creative Writing: Introduction
SCS 1684 Creative Writing II
SCS 1769 Writing the Memoir
Alexandra Leggat
Alexandra Leggat is the author of the poetry collection This is me since yesterday and the short story collections Animal, Meet Me in the Parking Lot and Pull Gently, Tear Here, which was nominated for the Danuta Gleed First Fiction Award. She writes two columns for Toro Magazine – Woman’s POV and Sports Extras. Her articles, reviews, fiction and poetry are published widely across Canada and U.S.
SCS 1695 Creative Writing Through Reading
SCS 1711 The Freelance Writing Business
SCS 1691 Creative Non-Fiction: Introduction
SCS 1679 Writing the Novel: Introduction
Paul Lima, B.A.
Based in Toronto, Ontario, but operating virtually the world over, Paul Lima has worked as a professional writer, communicator and writing instructor for over 25 years. He has run a successful freelance writing, copywriting, corporate communications, media relations and writing workshop business since 1988. A trained adult educator, Paul has a BA in English from York University and is a professional member of the Periodical Writers Association of Canada. He has had articles published in The Globe and Mail, National Post, Toronto Star, Time Canada, Profit, and a host of other publications.
SCS 1711 The Freelance Writing Business (online)
Holly Luhning, B.A., M.A., Ph.D., Writer
Holly Luhning is the author of Quiver (HarperCollins), a novel, and Sway (Thistledown Press), a collection of poetry. Originally from Saskatchewan, she has received a Saskatchewan Lieutenant Governor’s Arts Award and has been nominated for a Saskatchewan Book Award. Her PhD research specialized in eighteenth-century literature, print culture, and theories of the body.
SCS 2587 Writing Historical Fiction
Laura Lush , B.A., M.A., TESL Cert., M.Ed. (in progress)
Laura Lush studied poetry and fiction with Don Coles, the late Don Summerhayes, Christopher Wiseman, William Stafford, and Isabel Huggan. She has read at numerous literary festivals across Canada including The Vancouver Writers Festival and The March Hare in Newfoundland. She has taught numerous creative writing workshops in Toronto and was one of the creative writing mentors for the University of Guelph’s inaugural Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing program in 2007. Her first book of poems, Hometown (Signal Editions, 1991) was nominated for the 1992 Governor General’s Literary Award for Poetry. She has two other collections: Fault Line (Signal Editions, 1997) and The First Day of Winter (Ronsdale Press, 2002), in which selections of this book tied for second place in the 2002 CBC Literary Contest. She also has a collection of short stories, Going to the Zoo (Turnstone Press, 2002). Her novel, The Company, was shortlisted in the 2000 Chapters/Robertson Davies Contest. She is presently working on a new collection of poetry, entitled Downlight. When Laura isn’t in the classroom, you can find her in the rock climbing gym with fellow instructors.
SCS 1664 Creative Writing: Introduction
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Glenda MacFarlane
Glenda MacFarlane has worked for Playwrights Union of Canada, as a playwrights’ agent, and in Drama Education. She is currently the Series Editor for Scirocco Drama, and is working on a play for Lorraine Kimsa Theatre for Young People. Her radio drama Homestead was recently broadcast on CBC Radio.
SCS 2366 Dramatic Writing: From Page to Stage
Anand Mahadevan, B.A., B.Ed., M.Sc., Writer
Anand Mahadevan has made his home in Toronto since 2002. His first novel The Strike was published to critical acclaim in Toronto in 2006 with an Indian edition to be published by Penguin in 2009. He is currently collaborating on a stage adaptation of the book. He teaches creative writing both at the University of Toronto and at Humber College and writes about the lives of individuals in the margins—his next novel will explore the life of a Muslim man, pre and post 9/11. Besides writing, Anand enjoys cooking for his friends and, in the past, has hosted a television cooking show.
SCS 1664 Creative Writing: Introduction
Rabindranath Maharaj , B.A., M.A., Dip. Ed.
Rabindranath Maharaj is the author of A Perfect Pledge, which was short listed for a Commonwealth Writers’ Prize, and the 2006 Rogers Fiction Prize. His two previous novels: The Lagahoo’s Apprentice, was a Globe and Mail and Toronto Star notable book of the year; and Homer in Flight, was nominated for the Chapters/Books in Canada First Novel Award. He has also written two collections of short stories, The Book of Ifs and Buts, and The Interloper, which was nominated for a Regional Commonwealth Prize for Best First Book. Maharaj was born in Trinidad and now lives in Ajax, Ontario. He was the Writer in Residence at the Toronto Reference Library from September 2006 to December 2006.
SCS 1664 Creative Writing: Introduction
SCS 1679 Writing the Novel: Introduction
SCS 1680 Writing Short Fiction: Introduction
Pasha Malla, B.A., M.A., Writer
Pasha Malla has contributed to CBC Radio, Esquire, Salon, Tin House, The Walrus, and Zoetrope: All-Story, and writes frequently for the Globe and Mail and McSweeney’s Internet Tendency. He is the author of All Our Grandfathers are Ghosts, a collection of poems, and a book of stories, The Withdrawal Method, which won the Trillium Book Award and the Danuta Gleed Literary Prize, was shortlisted for the Commonwealth Book Award, longlisted for the Giller Prize and ReLit Award, and chosen as a Globe and Mail and National Post book of the year. His short fiction has won the Arthur Ellis Award for crime writing and twice appeared in Journey Prize anthologies. Pasha spent the summer of 2009 as writer in residence at the Berton House in Dawson City, Yukon, and is currently on faculty at the Banff Centre’s Wired Writing Studio. His first novel, People Park, will be published by House of Anansi in 2010.
SCS 1680 Writing Short Fiction: Introduction
Ken McGoogan , B.A.A., M.F.A.
Lady Franklin’s Revenge, Ken McGoogan’s newest work, is his third book about the history of northern exploration. His first, Fatal Passage, was a Canadian bestseller and won four literary awards; his second, Ancient Mariner, drew rave reviews internationally. McGoogan turned to literary non-fiction after working for many years as a journalist, including a 10-year stint as books editor at The Calgary Herald. Given to peripatetic urges, he has also worked as a bicycle messenger in San Francisco, a forest fire lookout in the Canadian Rockies and a French teacher in Dar es Salaam. In 2004, McGoogan was a visiting scholar at the University of Cambridge and in 2005 was appointed writer-in-residence at the Toronto Reference Library.
SCS 1691 Creative Non-Fiction: Introduction
SCS 1692 Creative Non-Fiction II
Maureen McKeon, M.A.
Maureen McKeon is a Gemini-nominated screenwriter who teaches the postgraduate Screenwriting Workshop at Sheridan College, and well as continuing her career as a writer and story editor, most recently on a feature film for Back Alley Film Productions in Toronto. She has worked as a writer and producer for CBC, Global, Showcase, and CTV and for production companies in Ontario, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Quebec. Maureen has an M.A. from University of Toronto and was a British Council Scholar in the Postgraduate Film and Television program at Bristol University in England.
SCS 1709 Screenwriting: Introduction
Brenda McMillan
Brenda McMillan’s career change to freelance writing was launched in 2005 by an editor who requested more material after publishing an obituary she’d written. The articles that followed grew into a popular weekly column that ran for more than four years. Aided by a background in peddling (sales and marketing), Brenda quickly built a full-time writing career. Regular columns and stories about her adventures in advertising, real estate, renovations, wine, food, travel and life have been published in a variety of Canadian and US publications. The thrill of seeing her words (and photos) in print has never worn off. Brenda is now teaching skills and tricks to writers who are looking for the same thrill.
Andrew Mitrovica
Andrew Mitrovica is a writer and journalism instructor. He has been an investigative reporter for a variety of news organizations and publications including the CBC, CTV, Saturday Night Magazine, Reader’s Digest, the Walrus magazine and the Globe and Mail, where he was a member of the newspaper’s investigative unit. He has won numerous national and international awards for his investigative work. Andrew is an eight-time winner of the Canadian Association Journalist’s Award for Investigative Reporting. His best-selling expose of Canada’s spy service, Covert Entry, was published in 2002 and garnered the Arthur Ellis Award for the best work of non-fiction. Currently, Andrew teaches in several graduate journalism programs at Sheridan College in Oakville. He continues to write on a freelance basis for a variety of magazines and his opinion columns appear frequently in the Toronto Star. He is working on his second non-fiction book. Andrew lives with his wife and two girls in Toronto.
SCS 1722 Freelancing the Feature
Shani Mootoo, B.F.A., Writer
Mootoo began her literary career with a collection of short fiction, entitled Out on Main Street, published in 1993 to enthusiastic reviews, exploring the theme of triumphing over childhood abuse. Her second book, published in 1996 in Canada, Cereus Blooms at Night, was a finalist for the 1997 Giller Prize, the Chapters/Books in Canada First Novel Award and the Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize. She has also written a collection of poetry, The Predicament of Or. Her next novel, He Drown She in the Sea, was longlisted for the 2007 IMPAC Award. She is currently a contribution editor for CBC Radio’s “This Morning”. She is also a multimedia artist, whose paintings, videos and photos have been exhibited internationally.
SCS 1679 Writing the Novel: Introduction
Alison Motluk, Journalist
Alison Motluk has been a journalist for 15 years, writing for publications such as New Scientist, The Economist and the Globe and Mail. She’s done several documentaries for CBC Quirks and Quarks, including “See, if you can hear this”, about learning to see with your ears, and “Blinded by science”, about her own experience being blindfolded for a week. She has also written and broadcast widely about the fallout from scientific advances in reproduction. Long ago, she was a host at the Ontario Science Centre, where she did the StarLab show, the Electricity Show, and made paper out of banana peels.
SCS 2416 Freelance Science Writing
Sachiko Murakami, B.A., M.A., Writer
Sachiko Murakami is the author of the poetry collections The Invisibility Exhibit (Talonbooks 2008), a finalist for the Governor General’s Literary Award and the Gerald Lampert Memorial Award, and Rebuild (Talonbooks 2011). She has been a literary worker for numerous presses, journals, and organizations, and is Poetry Editor for Insomniac Press.
SCS 2655 Engaging the Political Through Poetry
Colleen Murphy, Playwright
Colleen Murphy’s play The December Man (L’homme de décembre) won the Governor General’s Award for Drama, the Canadian Author Association/Carol Bolt Award for Drama and the Enbridge playrRites Award. Other plays include Beating Heart Cadaver (a Governor General’s Award nominee, and a Chalmers Award for Best New Play), The Piper, Down in Adoration Falling and All Other Destinations are Cancelled. She has won CBC Literary Competitions for the radio dramas Fire-Engine Red and Pumpkin Eaters. She was recently short-listed for the Siminovitch Prize in Theatre. She is currently Playwright in Residence for Tapestry New Opera Works in Toronto and wrote the libretto for The Enslavement and Liberation of Oksana G. As a filmmaker, her award- winning films have played in festivals around the world and been nominated for a total of 8 Genie Awards, including Putty Worm, The Feeler, Shoemaker, Desire, War Holes, Girl with Dog, and Out in the Cold.
SCS 2100 Playwriting Master Class: Being Human
George Murray, B.A., Writer
George Murray’s five books of poetry include Glimpse: Selected Aphorisms (ECW, 2010), The Rush to Here (Nightwood, 2007), The Hunter (McClelland & Stewart, 2003). He has been widely anthologized and has published poems and fiction in journals and magazines in Canada, the United States, Australia, and Europe. He is a former poetry editor for the Literary Review of Canada and is a contributing editor for several journals, including Canadian Notes & Queries, Maisonneuve, and The Drunken Boat. He regularly reviews poetry and fiction for the Globe and Mail. He has won or been shortlisted for several awards, and he has been on the part time faculty at New School University and Humber College. He lives in St. John’s, Newfoundland is the editor of the popular literary website Bookninja.com.
SCS 1687 Poetry: Introduction (online)
SCS 1688 Poetry II
Ken Murray, B.A., M.F.A., Writer
Ken Murray is a writer of fiction, non-fiction, and poetry. His work has been published by Globe and Mail, Brooklyn Rail, Ottawa Citizen, Canadian Business Magazine, Macleans, MendaCity Review, and SCS (through the Random House Award). While earning his MFA at The New School in New York City, he also trained as a Teaching Artist with Community Word Project and taught with the organization Poets House. He is the recipient of numerous awards and grants, including the inaugural Marina Nemat Award, the Random House Award, and an Emerging Artist’s grant from the Toronto Arts Council. You can follow him on twitter @Write_Stories.
SCS 2374 Generating Stories I
SCS 2437 Generating Stories II
SCS 2692 Reading Like a Writer
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Deb Nathan, B.A., M.A., Screenwriter
Deborah Nathan is the Senior VP of Development and has been a writer, story editor and producer in the US and Canadian television industry for twenty years. She has extensive experience in dramatic series including the award-winning Road to Avonlea for CBC and Disney, Top Cops for CBS, and War of the Worlds for Paramount. Deb has provided creative consultant services on US television movies and mini-series including Jesus starring Jeremy Sisto and Gary Oldman and Haven starring Natasha Richardson and Anne Bancroft for CBS. Television movies include Choice for CTV and Martha Inc. for NBC. In addition to her writing and producing activities, Deb sits on the screenwriting juries of the Canadian Gemini Awards and the Charles Israel Screenwriting Award for first-time feature writers.
SCS 1865 Writing Episodic Television
SCS 1867 Writing Episodic Television II
Marina Nemat, Writer
Marina Nemat, a native of Iran, was arrested after the Islamic Revolution of 1979. The 16-year-old had come under official scrutiny for writing articles in her school newspaper and for speaking her mind. During the two years she spent in Evin, Iran’s most notorious political prison, she was tortured, came close to being executed, and lost many friends to state-sponsored violence. Ms. Nemat emigrated to Canada in 1991. She is a graduate of the certificate program in creative writing at the School of Continuing Studies at the University of Toronto and was a finalist in the 2005 CBC Literary Awards in the Creative Non-Fiction Category. She is the best-selling author of two memoirs–Prisoner in Tehran and After Tehran.
SCS 2658 Creative Writing in Farsi
SCS 2706 Summer Writing School: Writing the Memoir
Haskell Nussbaum, Lawyer, Writer
Haskell Nussbaum is a lawyer turned writer turned literary agent. He is the author of Beat That Parking Ticket and has contributed articles and stories to the National Post (Canada), Jerusalem Post, Pacific News Service and others and he has appeared on, or been featured in, national and local news, radio and TV, including Fox and Friends, NPR, NY Post, New York Magazine, USA Today, NY1, CBS, Today in New York, and many others. His list is diverse, ranging from clients on the New York Times Bestsellers list to debut authors.
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Mike O’Connor
Mike O’Connor is the founder and publisher of Toronto-based publishing house, Insomniac Press. He studied journalism at Ryerson Polytechnical University. After graduation he worked for several newspapers in southern Ontario. O’Connor returned to Toronto and took his first job in publishing as assistant to the president of Firefly Books. His experience at Firefly inspired him to publish small chapbooks of his friend’s poetry and short fiction. O’Connor later worked for McClelland & Stewart.
SCS 1664 Creative Writing: Introduction
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Ranjini George Philip, M.A., M.F.A., Ph.D., Writer
Ranjini George Philip’s work has appeared in Hamlet Studies, Peregrine, Agni, So to Speak, Room of One’s Own, The Sincerest Form of Flattery: Contemporary Women Writers on Forerunners in Fiction, Modern English Teacher, Commonwealth and American Women’s Discourse, The Victorian Newsletter, Write (a publications of the Writers’ Union of Canada), among others. A recipient of the Arnold B. Fox Award in Research Writing (1989), a Georges and Anne Bochardt Fiction Scholar at the Sewanee Writers’ Conference (2005), and the first prize winner in the Canada’s inaugural Coffee Shop Author contest (2010), she holds a PhD in English from Northern Illinois University and an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of British Columbia.
SCS 1769 Writing the Memoir
SCS 2678 Meditation and Writing
SCS 2708 The Path of the Tiger: Discipline in Your Writing
SCS 2763 Summer Writing School: Meditation and Writing Retreat
SCS 1664 Creative Writing: Introduction
Christine Pountney , B.A., M.A.
Christine Pountney is the author of two novels: Last Chance Texaco, published by Faber and Faber and longlisted for the Orange Prize in 2000, and The Best Way You Know How, published by Faber (UK) and Penguin (Canada) in 2005. She has written for the Financial Times, the Guardian, the Globe and Mail, the Toronto Star, and the New Quarterly .
SCS 1682 Autobiographical Fiction I
SCS 1683 Autobiographical Fiction II
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Janis Rapoport, B.A.
Janis Rapoport’s award-winning work has appeared in a variety of publications across Canada as well as in translation in France and Peru. Her published books include poetry and drama, and her essays and travel writing are published in The Globe and Mail and The Toronto Star . Ms. Rapoport’s career in the Canadian publishing industry also involves many years of editorial work for book and magazine publishers. Many of Ms. Rapoport’s students are now successful and distinguished authors in their own right; she has been teaching creative-writing for over three decades, since 1988 at the School of Continuing Studies, where she was the winner of the SCS Excellence in Teaching Award in 1998. At present Ms. Rapoport divides her time between Toronto, Cusco (Peru) and La Paz (Bolivia) where she continues to write and teach.
Erika Ritter, B.A., M.A., writer, broadcaster
Erika Ritter is a playwright, novelist, essayist and non-fiction book writer, who has also worked for more than two decades as a radio host-journalist. Her published works include: a widely-produced play, Automatic Pilot; three books of essays of social observation; a novel, The Hidden Life of Humans; and, most recently, a non-fiction book The Dog by the Cradle, the Serpent Beneath: Some Paradoxes of Human-Animal Relationships. Her pursuits are divergent and varied as a writer and broadcaster — with works ranging from comic essays and plays about male-female relationships, to a novel partly narrated by a dog, to a carefully researched examination of human ambivalence toward animals, to many years on air in current affairs radio and arts broadcasting. Yet, what unites those interests is a fascination with the drama, both comic and tragic, inherent in all existence and all interaction, human and otherwise. More information at www.erikaritter.com.
SCS 2405 Summer Writing School: Comedy Writing
SCS 2588 Comedy Writing: Intensive
Ray Robertson, B.A., M.F.A.
Ray Robertson is the author of the novels Home Movies, Heroes, Moody Food, Gently Down the Stream, What Happened Later, and David, as well as Mental Hygiene: Essays on Writers and Writing. He’s a Contributing Reviewer to The Globe and Mail and appears regularly on CBC Radio’s Talking Books.
SCS 1679 Writing the Novel: Introduction
SCS 1701 Writing the Novel II
Elizabeth Ruth, B.A., M.A.
Elizabeth Ruth has taught creative writing for several years at George Brown College and privately. She has a BA and an MA from the University of Toronto and is a graduate of the Humber School for Writers. Elizabeth’s debut novel, Ten Good Seconds of Silence, was published in 2001 and was a finalist for the Writer’s Trust of Canada Fiction Prize, the Books In Canada/Amazon.ca First Novel Award and the City of Toronto Book Award. Her second novel, Smoke, was just published. Ruth’s short fiction and non-fiction have appeared in journals and anthologies. She has written on books and authors for the Globe & Mail and other media. In 2002 she compiled and edited an anthology, Bent On Writing . She is currently at work on a novel and a short story collection. Please visit www.elizabethruth.com for more info.
SCS 1664 Creative Writing: Introduction
SCS 2283 Bent on Writing: The Queer Scribe
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Paul Savoie, B.A., M.A., Writer
Paul Savoie, originally from St. Boniface, Manitoba, has had about 30 books published, in both French and English and in various literary genres, including poetry, short stories, works of non fiction and literary translation. Racines d’eau, a Selection of his poetry, appeared in Les Éditions du Noroît’s prestigious Oval Collection in 1998. His books include Amour flou, L’empire des rôdeurs, The Meaning of Gardens, Fishing for Light as well as his translations of the poetry of Louis Riel into English and the poetry of Dennis Lee into French. In addition to his literary output, he has worked in several of Canada’s arts organizations, including the Canada Council for the Arts, the Ontario Arts Council, the Canadian Television Fund, the Ontario Ministry of Culture. In 2007, he received the Trillium Award for his book CRAC. He has written many songs and composed music for piano. He lives in Toronto.
SCS 2659 Creative Writing in French
Howard Shrier, B.A., Writer
Howard Shrier holds an Honours Degree in journalism and creative writing from Concordia University and has worked for more than thirty years in journalism, theatre and television, sketch comedy and improv, and corporate communications. He was a senior writer and editorial supervisor at Ontario’s Addiction Research Foundation for six years, and senior communications consultant at the LCBO for more than eleven years, responsible for the annual report, employee newsletter, speeches, government briefs and strategic communication and business plans. Howard has won more than 15 awards, including the Jack Busby Memorial Award for best employee newsletter in the Ontario civil service, and Ovation Awards of Excellence for Best Annual Report and Best Feature Story from the Toronto Chapter of the International Association of Business Communicators.
SCS 2112 Freelance Writing: Corporate Communications
Eve Silver
Eve Silver is the national bestselling author of thirteen novels and three novellas. Her work has garnered rave reviews from the Chicago Tribune, starred reviews from Publishers Weekly and Library Journal, and was listed among Library Journal’s Best Genre Fiction (2007). She is a two-time winner of the RT Book Reviews Reviewers’ Choice Awards, and was nominated for the Romance Writers of America® RITA® Award. Her books have been translated into more than ten languages. Eve is currently working on a young adult series for Katherine Tegen Books (an imprint of Harper Collins Publishers). Find out more about Eve and her books at www.evesilver.net.
SCS 2749 Writing Popular Fiction
Arthur Slade, B.A., Governor General Award Winner, Writer
Arthur Slade was raised in the Cypress Hills of southwest Saskatchewan and began writing at an early age. He received an English Honours degree from the University of Saskatchewan, spent several years writing advertising and has been writing fiction full time for fifteen years. He is the author of sixteen books, including “Dust” (which won the Governor General’s award), “Tribes,” and “The Hunchback Assignments.” He currently lives in Saskatoon, Canada.
SCS 1717 Writing for Children: Introduction (online)
Norman Snider, Screenwriter
Norman has written extensively for movies and TV, such CASINO JACK, starring Kevin Spacey and Kelly Preston, the Genie award-winning, internationally-recognized drama DEAD RINGERS (dir. David Cronenberg), the crime drama CALL ME: THE RISE AND FALL OF HEIDI FLEISS, (dir. Emmy-winner Charles McDougall), RATED X, (dir. Emilio Estevez), and the thriller VALENTINE’S DAY for HBO. He has also worked with directors Bob Rafelson, Edward Zwick, Norman Jewison, and Atom Egoyan. Among his current projects are PRETTY COOL, about jazz great Chet Baker, and FAME MONSTER, a biopic of Lady Gaga, for the Lifetime Network in the U.S. As well, Snider is one of Canada’s premier magazine journalists, and was nominated for four National Magazine Awards. His work has appeared in Toronto Life, Saturday Night, Macleans, and Rolling Stone. For seven years, he was a weekly columnist for The Globe and Mail and is the author of the bestselling true crime book, Smokescreen, a work of political journalism The Changing of the Guard (a Book of the Month Club selection), a collection of non-fiction, The Roaring Eighties and Other Good Times. Scheduled for publication in fall 2011 is How to Make Love to a Movie Star: Writing For Film.
SCS 1709 Screenwriting: Introduction
SCS 2101 Screenwriting: Master Class
Marissa Stapley-Ponikowski, B.A., Writer
Marissa Stapley is an author and freelance writer/editor who has written for a range of Canadian publications, including Elle, Lush, Viva, Today’s Parent and The Globe & Mail. She is currently the editor of Elevate magazine. Her first novel is entitled Saving the World in Sensible Shoes. Visit her webiste at:www.marissastapley.com
SCS 2585 Writing and Selling Commerical Women’s Fiction
SCS 2703 Freelancing Fashion, Beauty, Health, and Lifestyle
Olivia Stren, Writer
Olivia Stren, a Toronto-based freelance writer, contributes to a variety of Canadian and US publications including the National Post, Toronto Life, Chatelaine, FASHION, ELLE Canada, Flare, ROB, National Geographic Traveler and Conde Nast Traveller’s concierge.com. While she mainly writes profiles (recent subjects: Michael Buble, Feist, Kate Hudson and George Stroumboulopoulos) and travel stories, she also writes frequently about fashion, food, real estate and design.
SCS 1707 Travel Writing
SCS 1708 Travel Writing II
Caitlin Sweet, B.A., Writer
Caitlin Sweet’s first fantasy novel, A Telling of Stars, was published by Penguin Canada in 2003. It was nominated for an Aurora Award, a Crawford Award, a Locus Best First Novel Award, and long-listed for a Sunburst Award. Her second novel, The Silences of Home, was published by Penguin in 2005 and nominated for an Aurora Award. The editors of SFSite placed it at number 4 in their Best SF and Fantasy Books of 2005 list. Both books were released in 2008 in Germany by Random House. Her third novel, The Pattern Scars, was published by ChiZine Publications in November, 2011.
SCS 1719 Writing Fantasy and Science Fiction
SCS 2553 Fantasy and Science Fiction: Master Class
SCS 2710 The Great Escape: Writing Fantasy
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Mariko Tamaki, Writer
Mariko Tamaki is a Toronto writer and freelance journalist. To date, she has written two books of creative non-fiction and a novel. Most recently she completed two graphic novels with artists Jillian Tamaki (Skim) and Steve Rolston (Emiko Superstar). Skim received several awards including the Ignatz and Doug Wright Award for Best Graphic Novel and was named one of the Best Illustrated Books by the New York Times in 2008. Mariko currently performs and teaches creative writing in high schools and universities across the country. Information on Mariko’s books and readings can be found at www.marikotamaki.com
SCS 2203 Summer Writing School: Creating Comics and Graphic Novels
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Geraldo Valerio, B.A., M.A., Illustrator
Geraldo Valerio is a successful illustrator for children’s books. His work has been published by major publishers in the United States, Canada, Brazil and Portugal. His most recent books include “All Aboard for Dreamland” by Melanie Harby (Simon & Schuster, USA and Tradewind Books, Canada), “Moving Day” by Pamela Hickman (Kids Can and Scholastic Canada), and “When You are Happy” by Eileen Spinelli (Simon&Schuster). Upcoming projects include books for the Penguin Group USA, William B. Eerdmans Publishing USA, August House, and Editora Marins Fontes in Brazil. The book “Do You Have a Hat?” by Eileen Spinelli (Simon&Schuster) was selected for the 2008 Spoonful of Stories reading initiative and was inside over one million boxes of Cheerios cereal. Geraldo Valerio previously taught illustration at the University of British Columbia. He holds a M.A. from New York University. His portfolio can be viewed at www.GeraldoValerio.com.
SCS 2197 Children’s Book Illustration
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Thom Vernon, B.A., M.P.W., Writer
Thom Vernon has worked in film, television and theatre since 1989, including appearances on Seinfeld, General Hospital and The Fugitive. He holds degrees in Screenwriting/ Fiction, Gender Studies and Philosophy. His teachers & mentors have included Hubert Selby, Jr. (Last Exit to Brooklyn, Requiem for a Dream, etc.), playwright provocateur Donald Freed (Circe & Bravo, etc.) and Oscar Winner Sy Gomberg (When Johnny Comes Marching Home). His screenplays and fiction have placed in various competitions, including Paramount’s Chesterfield Writer’s Film Project and the Open Door Contest. He is also the author of the acclaimed recent novel The Drifts (Coach House Books).
SCS 1709 Screenwriting: Introduction
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Myna Wallin, B.A., M.A., Writer
Myna Wallin is an author and editor born and living in Toronto. A Thousand Profane Pieces, her first poetry collection, was published by Tightrope Books in 2006. Her poetry and prose have appeared in numerous literary journals and anthologies, including Existere, Literary Review of Canada, Matrix Magazine, Rampike and Taddle Creek. She received an Honourary Mention for the 2009 CV2 2-Day Poem Contest and the 2010 Winston Collins/Descant Prize for Best Canadian Poem. She was shortlisted again for the Winston Collins Prize in 2011. Myna’s first novel, Confessions of a Reluctant Cougar, was published by Tightrope Books in 2010. Myna edited Phoebe Tsang’s Contents of a Mermaid’s Purse and Sandra Kasturi’s The Animal Bridegroom and co-edited I.V Lounge Nights with Alex Boyd. Over the years Myna has worked as an actor, a radio host at CKLN, and taught writing at George Brown College.
SCS 2653 Freeing Your Erotic Self in Poetry or Prose
Eric Weinthal, Screenwriter
Eric Weinthal works in film, television, theatre and educational productions: writing, story editing, directing, producing and acting. He has made a feature film shown at the Montreal, Toronto and Colombian film festivals, as well as theatrically and on television. He has written dozens of network television shows, sold and optioned screenplays, pitched and sold pilots to networks, and written plays. His award-winning series A Taste of Shakespeare is used in schools all over the world and is broadcast across Canada. Eric has written comedy, drama, family and reality, and was post-production supervisor on series, pilots and movies. He has taught a Continuing Education course in screenwriting for the Toronto District School Board, and was Screenwriting Mentor for the Toronto International Film Festival, working with writers across the country, one-on-one on their screenplays. Eric also acts in film, television and theatre, and does commercial and animation voice-overs.
SCS 1709 Screenwriting: Introduction
Andrew Westoll, B.Sc., M.F.A., Writer
Andrew Westoll is an award-winning narrative journalist and author. His first book, The Riverbones, is a travel memoir set deep in the jungles of Suriname. His next book, The Chimps of Fauna Sanctuary, is about a family of chimpanzees who spent decades behind bars in a biomedical lab, and who are now living out their retirement on a hobby farm near Montreal. Andrew’s feature writing has appeared in The Utne Reader, The Walrus, Canadian Geographic, explore and many other venues. His work has won a Gold National Magazine Award, has been shortlisted for the Edna Staebler Award and been anthologized in Cabin Fever: The Best New Canadian Non-Fiction. Andrew used to study capuchin monkeys in the South American rainforest.
SCS 1691 Creative Non-Fiction: Introduction
Robert Weston, M.F.A.,Writer
Robert Weston is author of the award-winning children’s novel, Zorgamazoo. His fiction has appeared in On Spec, Postscripts, The New Orleans Review and others, and been nominated for the Journey Prize in Canada and the Fountain Award for Speculative Literature in the United States. His second novel, a dark fantasy for young adults, will be published by Penguin in the fall of 2010. He holds an MFA in creative writing from the University of British Columbia and lives in Toronto.
SCS 1717 Writing for Children: Introduction
SCS 2289 Writing Young Adult Fantasy
Michael Winter , B.A.
Michael Winter is the author of the novel The Death of Donna Whalen, The Architects Are Here, The Big Why and the fictional memoir This All Happened. He’s won the Winterset Award and been nominated for both the Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize and the Trillium Award. He has also published two collections of stories, One Last Good Look and Creaking in Their Skins.
SCS 1698 Fiction From Life I
SCS 1699 Fiction From Life II
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Alissa York, Writer
Alissa York is an acclaimed novelist and short story writer who has lived all over Canada and now makes her home in Toronto with her husband, filmmaker Clive Holden. York’s bestselling novels, Effigy (Random House Canada, 2007) and Mercy (Random House Canada, 2003), have sold internationally. Her award-winning short fiction has appeared in various literary journals and anthologies, and in the collection, Any Given Power (Arbeiter Ring Publishing, 1999). To learn more about York’s work, go towww.alissayork.com.
SCS 1672 Summer Writing School: Short Story Workshop
SCS 1863 Writing Short Fiction: Master Class
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