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.
Kyo Maclear is an essayist, novelist and children’s author. Her books have been translated into eighteen languages, published in over twenty-five countries, and garnered nominations from the Hilary Weston Writers' Trust Prize for Nonfiction, the Governor General's Literary Awards, the TD Canadian Children's Literature Awards, the Boston Globe-Horn Book Awards, the Amazon.ca First Novel Award, and the National Magazine Awards. Her nonfiction books include the hybrid memoir Birds Art Life (2017), a #1 Canadian bestseller, finalist for the Hilary Weston Writers’ Trust Prize for Nonfiction and winner of the Trillium Book Award, and Unearthing: A Story of Tangled Love and Family Secrets (2023), a Canadian bestseller and winner of the Governor General’s Literary Award for Nonfiction. Her recent children’s books have received: the Caldecott Medal Honor (2025), the Charlotte Zolotow Honor (2025), and the NYT Best Illustrated Award (2024). She holds a doctorate in Environmental Humanities and teaches writing at the University of Guelph Creative Writing MFA. In 2023, she was the recipient of the Vicky Metcalf Award for Young People for her body of work.
During her term as the 2026 Jack McClelland Writer-in-Residence (January 5 to April 5), Kyo Maclear will be available to meet with UTSG students, faculty, and staff between 9:30am and 12pm on Wednesdays at JHB 924. Appointments can be scheduled via email: kyo.maclear@utoronto.ca.
Jack McClelland Writers-in-Residence
| Year | Name |
|---|---|
| 2024-25 | George F. Walker |
| 2023-24 | Shyam Selvadurai |
| 2022-23 | David Chariandy |
| 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
Kyo Maclear will offer a "non-credit creative non-fiction workshop focusing on narratives that extend the boundaries of the personal. We’ll look at incorporating research, cultural criticism, reportage, history, biography, poetry, fictional elements, images, and other elements that push the limits of CNF and blur the lines between memoir and other forms of nonfiction."
The workshop, which will accommodate no more than 15 participants, will take place in the 2026 "S" term at 4-6 pm on Wednesdays at Massey College. It is open to everyone who is currently a member of the University of Toronto St. George community—faculty, students, and staff.
Submission Instructions & Process:
If you're interested in taking this workshop, please submit directly to Smaro Kamboureli a single document that includes a four-page double-spaced writing sample plus a brief (200-250 word) summary of your writing experience (if applicable) and current writing project. Submissions should be in in MS Word or PDF format and sent via your @utoronto.ca email address.
Please save your attachment under your last name and the program's name (e.g., Sparrow_JackMcClelland_Sample_2026) and the submission email should include the following subject heading: "Jack McClelland Writer in Residence 2026 Workshop.”
NB: Submissions that do not follow the above instructions will not be considered or acknowledged.
The deadline for submissions is on Halloween at midnight (Friday, October 31st ).
The screening will be done by the writer-in-residence, and results will be announced by December 12.