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.
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.