The Jack McClelland Writer-in-Residence

Each year the University of Toronto appoints a Canadian writer to work with students, faculty and staff interested in creative writing. The appointment process is internal; no external applications are considered or acknowledged. From January to April, the Writer-in-Residence offers a seminar on creative writing and holds office hours for consultations on writing. The Jack McClelland Writer-in-Residence Program is housed at Massey College and is jointly sponsored by Massey and the Department of English.

Headshot of David Chariandy.

David Chariandy lives in Vancouver and teaches in the department of English at Simon Fraser University. His first novel, entitled Soucouyant, was nominated for the Governor General's Award and the Scotiabank Giller Prize. His second novel, entitled Brother, won the Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize, the Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize, and the Toronto Book Prize. Brother was also named a book of the year by The Globe and Mail, The National Post, The Toronto Star, The Montreal Gazette, The New York City Public Library, Kirkus Reviews, Esquire Magazine, and The Guardian; a film adaptation of Brother (directed by Clement Virgo) will be released in fall 2022. His most recent book is a memoir entitled I've Been Meaning To Tell You: A Letter To My Daughter. David's writings have been published internationally and translated into a dozen languages. In 2019, he was awarded Yale University's Windham-Campbell Prize for fiction.

David will offer an in-person, non-credit fiction and creative non-fiction workshop at Massey College in the Fall 2022 term on Wednesdays, 4-8 pm

Jack McClelland Writers-in-Residence

Year Name
2021-22  Souvankham Thammavongsa
2020-21 Karen Solie
2019-20 Susan Swan
2018-19 André Alexis
2017-18 Garry Thomas Morse
2016-17 Sachiko Murakami
2015-16 Rawi Hage
2014-15 Shani Mootoo
2013-14 David Bezmozgis
2012-13 Joy Kogawa
2011-12 Michael Winter
2010-11 Barbara Gowdy
2009-10 Michael Redhill
2008-09 Christopher Dewdney
2007-08 David Gilmour
2006-07 Don McKay
2005-06 Camilla Gibb
2004-05 George Fetherling
2003-04 Steven Heighton
2002-03 Albert F. Moritz
2001-02 Kildare Dobbs
2000-01 Austin Clarke
1999-00 Erin Mouré
1998-99 Sarah Ellis
1997-98 Roo Borson
1996-97 Jane Urquhart
1995-96 Tom Wayman
1994-95 Susan Musgrave
1993-94 Tomson Highway
Spring 1993 Audrey Thomas
1991-92 Judith Merril
1990-91 Patrick Lane
1989-90 Lorna Crozier
1988-89 Erika Ritter
1987-88 Al Purdy
1986-87 Gwendolyn MacEwen
1985-86 Mary di Michele
1984-85 Leon Rooke
1983-84 Mavis Gallant
Spring 1983 Dorothy Livesay
Fall 1982 Brian Moore
1981-82 Irving Layton
1980-81 Marian Engel
1979-80 Timothy Findley
1978-79 Dennis Lee
1977-78 Carol Bolt
1976-77 John Newlove
1975-76 Adele Wiseman
1974-75 Fletcher Markle
1973-74 W.O. Mitchell
1972-73 Margaret Atwood
Spring 1971 Josef Škvorecký
Fall 1970 R.D.C. Finch
1969-70 Margaret Laurence
1968-69 Jack Ludwig
1965-68 Earle Birney

 

Application Instructions

David Chariandy will offer an in-person non-credit fiction and creative non-fiction workshop in the Fall 2022 term in the Round Room at Massey College on Wednesdays, 4-8 pm. The first meeting will be on September 14th.

The workshop, which will accommodate no more than 11 participants, is by application only and open to everyone who is currently part of the University of Toronto three-campus community-faculty, students, and staff. If you're interested in taking this workshop, please submit an application following the guidelines below.

What to submit

A four-page double-spaced writing sample plus a 200-250 word summary of your writing experience (if any) and current writing project. Please submit these as a single document in Word or pdf format. The attachment should be saved under your name and the program's name (e.g., Last Name_JackMcClelland WIR_2023). No cover letter or note is necessary.

How to submit

Please send your writing sample and project summary via your U of Toronto email address; submissions via a different email address will not be accepted or acknowledged. Send your submission to Ms. Tavleen Purewal. The submission email should include the following subject heading: "Jack McClelland Writer-in-Residence 2022 Seminar."

Deadline for submissions

Midnight, Saturday, July 16.

The screening will be done by the writer-in-residence, and results will be announced by mid August.