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English

Writer in residence

The Kuldip Gill writing fellowship

Each year the English department welcomes an accomplished Canadian writer to inspire students, mentor aspiring writers, and provide practical advice on publishing, while receiving dedicated time to work on their own creative projects.

During the winter semester (January to April), the Writer in Residence works with faculty and students, visiting creative writing classes, consulting one-on-one with students, and enriching the local literary scene by participating in both UFV and community events.

Apply to UFV's Writer in Residence Position


Julia Dovey (2024) 

Julia Dovey headshot.Julia Dovey hails from Aldergrove, BC. Her two novels (Lipstick Tattoo and Potatoes and Pink Vodka) are published by BWL Publishing, and a third is slated for release in spring 2024. Her areas of interest include both fiction and drama. She has extensive experience as a workshop leader and enjoys helping emerging writers put pen to page. In addition, she works as a video editor, novel editor, and copywriter, and spends her free time making dramatic videos about coffee to post online. She is excited and honoured to be taking on the role of UFV's 2024 Writer in Residence.

Book time with Julia Dovey: Writer in Residence Office hours


Past writers in residence

Rob Taylor (2023)‌

www.roblucastaylor.com

Rob Taylor is the author of four poetry collections: StrangersOh Not So Great: Poems from the Depression Project, The News and The Other Side of Ourselves. The News was shortlisted for the Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize. Rob is also the author of six poetry chapbooks, most recently The Green Waves: Poems from Roblin Lake, and the editor of What the Poets are Doing: Canadian Poets in Conversation and Best Canadian Poetry 2019.

Rob’s poems, short stories, essays and interviews have appeared in more than sixty journals and magazines, including The Walrus, Brick, The Fiddlehead, The Malahat Review, and the Literary Review of Canada. In 2015 he received a City of Vancouver Mayor’s Arts Award for the Literary Arts, and he has served terms as Writer-in-Residence at St. Mary's University and the Al Purdy A-frame.

Rob lives with his wife and children in Port Moody, BC, on the unceded territories of the kʷikʷəƛ̓əm (Kwikwetlem), xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw (Squamish) and səl̓ilw̓ətaʔɬ (Tsleil-waututh) peoples, and teaches Creative Writing at Simon Fraser University. You can learn more about him at http://roblucastaylor.com/

To book an appointment with Rob (to talk about a piece of your writing, or the world of writing and publishing, or your pet turtle - your call!) send him an email at rob.taylor@ufv.ca. He's looking forward to working with you.

 

Sheri-D Wilson (2021)‌

www.sheridwilson.com

Sheri-D Wilson, aka Mama of Dada, the award-winning author of 13 books, 4 short films, and 4 albums which combine music and poetry. An international artist known for her electric performance-style, Sheri-D has performed and taught workshops at festivals around the world.

In 2019 Sheri-D was appointed to The Order of Canada, for her contributions as a Spoken Word Poet and her leadership in the community. In 2017, she received her Doctor of Letters – Honoris Causa from Kwantlen University.

Other Honors: 2018-2020 Calgary Poet Laureate Emeritus * 2015 City of Calgary Arts Award * 2013 CBC Top 10 Poets in Canada * 2009 Ted Talk * 2006 Stephan G. Stephansson Award for Poetry * 2005 SpoCan Poet of Honour * 2006 People's Choice Award * 2006 Woman of Vision * 5 Rosie Awards * 2003 USA Heavyweight Title * Her 1991 jazz-play, Confessions, received 5 Vancouver Jessie Nominations * Ace Award.

In her poems, Wilson uses personal narrative to address themes of personal story, social justice, lost languages, bullying, violence against women and the earth.
A strong advocate for social change & community building, she was Founder & Artistic Director of: Calgary Spoken Word Society (2003-2022) & Spoken Word Program | The Banff Centre (2005-2012).

Sheri-D is a Marriage Celebrant and Ceremonialist.

Lindsay Wong (2020)

www.lindsaywongwriter.com

Lindsay Wong is the author of the bestselling, award-winning memoir The Woo-Woo: How I Survived Ice Hockey, Drug-Raids, Demons, and My Crazy Chinese Family. She has a BFA in creative writing from the University of British Columbia and MFA in literary nonfiction from Columbia University, and she is now based in Vancouver, Canada, My Summer of Love and Misfortune is her first YA novel.

View Lindsay's work:

Follow Lindsay on social media:

 

Robert Wiersema (2019)

robertjwiersemabooks.com

Robert J. Wiersema is the bestselling author of Before I Wake, Bedtime Story, and fo‌ur other books.  One of Canada's foremost writers on books, his reviews appear regularly in the Toronto Star, the Globe and Mail, Quill & Quire and other magazines, and his "Beyond the Bestseller" column is featured biweekly on CBC Radio. Born and raised in the Fraser Valley, Wiersema now lives in Victoria, BC. He is a professor of Creative Writing at Vancouver Island University, and teaches at Camosun College. 

View Robert's work:

 

Billeh Nickerson (2018)

billeh.com

Billeh Nickerson UFV Writer in ResidenceBilleh Nickerson is the author of five books including the 2014 City of Vancouver Book Award nominated Artificial Cherry. He is also a former editor of PRISM international and Event—two of Canada’s most respected literary journals—and a previous writer-in-residence at both Queen’s University and at the Berton House in Dawson City, Yukon. He’s currently co-editing Valley: A Poetry Anthology with Surrey Poet Laureate Renee Sarojini Saklikar. He grew up in Langley, and now resides in East Vancouver.

View Billeh's work:

 

Jordan Abel (2017)

jordanabel.ca

Jordan Abel UFV Writer in ResidenceJordan is a Nisga’a writer from BC. Currently, he is pursuing a PhD at Simon Fraser University where his research concentrates on the intersection between Digital Humanities and Indigenous Literary Studies.

View Jordan's work:

 

Jen Sookfong Lee (2016)

sookfong.com

Jen Sookfang Lee Writer in Residence UFVA popular radio personality, Jen was the writing columnist for CBC Radio One’s On the Coast and All Points West for three years. She appears regularly as a columnist on The Next Chapter and Definitely Not the Opera, and is a frequent co-host of the Studio One Book Club. Jen is a member of the writing group SPiN and is represented by the Carolyn Swayze Literary Agency. She currently teaches fiction at The Writers’ Studio Online at Simon Fraser University.

View Jen's work:

Emily Pohl-Weary (2015)

emilypohlweary.com

Emily Pohl Weary Writer in Residence UFVFor more than a decade Emily has facilitated creative writing workshops that focused on learning tools for conflict-resolution and processing trauma. She’s worked with people reintegrating from prison, youth in shelters, and people with severe mental health issues. Currently, she’s an assistant professor in the Creative Writing program at the University of British Columbia.

View Emily's work:

Daniela Elza (2014)

strangeplaces.livingcode.org

Daniela Elza UFV Writer in ResidenceDaniela Elza is the author of three books of poetry: milk tooth bane bone, the weight of dew, and the book of it. She is the recipient of Pandora's Collective Citizenship Award (2010). She has served as a regional editor for the Pacific Poetry Project: An Anthology of three cities (Portland, Seattle & Vancouver).

Elza's work has appeared in more than 80 publications, including The Capilano Review, CV2, Van Gogh's Ear, Vallum, Room, Rocksalt Anthology, A Verse Map of Vancouver, and Poetic Inquiry. Born in Bulgaria and raised in Nigeria, she immigrated to Canada in 1999 and has since lived in Vancouver. She received her Ph.D in Education from Simon Fraser University.

View Daniela's work:

Rex Weyler (2013)

rexweyler.com

Rex Weyler UFV Writer in ResidenceRex Weyler is a writer and ecologist. He has extensive experience working alongside many of the world's renowned authors, ecologists, and public intellectuals. Many of you will recognize him as co-founder of Greenpeace International. Rex's stories and photographs helped make Greenpeace a household name around the world.

View Rex's work:

Anosh Irani (2012)

anosh‌irani.com

Anoosh Irani UFV Writer in Residence Anosh Irani was born and brought up in Bombay, India and moved to Vancouver in 1998. Anosh has published three critically acclaimed novels: The Cripple and His Talismans, a national bestseller; The Song of Kahunsha, which was an international bestseller and was shortlisted for Canada Reads and the Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize; and Dahanu Road, which was nominated for the Man Asian Literary Prize.

View Anosh's work:

Elizabeth Bachinsky (2011)

elizabethbachinsky.blogspot.ca

Elizabeth Bachinsky UFV Writer in ResidenceA frequent lecturer and instructor of creative writing, she has taught at UBC, UBCO, The Summer Literary Seminars, the Sage Hill Writing Experience and other schools, and is now permanent faculty in the department of Language, Literature and Performing Arts at Douglas College.

She has been a literary editor for a decade, first at PRISM international and then at EVENT magazine, and she was trained in letterpress printing by Jan and Crispin Elsted at Barbarian Press.‌

View Elizabeth's work:

Jaspreet Singh (2009)

jaspreetsinghauthor.com

Jaspreet Singh UFV Writer in ResidenceBorn in India, Jaspreet Singh moved to Canada in 1990. He is a novelist, essayist, short story writer and a former research scientist. He received his doctorate in chemical engineering in 1998 from McGill University, Montreal, and two years later decided to focus full time on writing.

Seventeen Tomatoes, his debut story collection, won the 2004 Quebec First Book Prize. Chef, his first novel, about the damaged landscapes of Kashmir, was a 2010 Observer 'Book of the Year' and won the Canadian Georges Bugnet Prize for Fiction.

View Jaspreet's work:

Richard Van Camp (2008)

richardvancamp.com

Richard Van Camp UFV Writer in ResidenceRichard Van Camp is a proud member of the Dogrib (Tlicho) Nation from Fort Smith, NWT, Canada from Fort Smith, NWT. He is a graduate of the En'owkin International School of Writing, the University of Victoria's Creative Writing BFA Program, and the Master's Degree in Creative Writing at the University of British Columbia.

He is an internationally renowned storyteller and best-selling author. His novel, The Lesser Blessed, is now a movie with First Generation Films and premiered in September of 2012 at the Toronto International Film Festival.

View Richard's work:

Kuldip Gill (2007)

Kuldip Gill UFV Writer in ResidenceKuldip Gill was born in Punjab, India in 1943. As a child, she immigrated to Canada and grew up in the Fraser Valley. After working in the forestry and mining industries for 20 years, she obtained an M.A. in social anthropology in 1982 from UBC with a thesis entitled: A Canadian Sikh Wedding as a Cultural Performance.

She then went on to obtain her Ph.D., also from UBC, and obtained it in 1988. Her thesis is entitled: Health Strategies of Indo-Fijian Women in the Context of Fiji. Kuldip taught at UBC, SFU and at Open Learning Canada in Burnaby, B.C. Her last book of poetry, Valley Sutra, was completed several months before her death in 2009.

View work from Kuldip:

Dessa Bayrock, UFV English grad

Coming from a small university, I was scared that I wouldn't measure up when I started grad school. But as corny as it sounds, UFV gave me all of the tools I need to succeed.

  • – Dessa Bayrock
  •    Doctoral Candidate, Carleton University
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