Writer coming to Kelowna campus

The UBC Okanagan’s first writer in residence won’t be in Kelowna for a long time, but it could be a good time for city scribes.

The university announced Canadian author Lynn Coady will spend two weeks on campus in March, delivering literary advice to hopeful writers.

“Having a writer in residence in a community is a huge benefit to new writers,” said Nancy Holmes, associate professor in Creative Studies at UBC Okanagan.

Coady is author of the novels Strange Heaven (1998), Saints of Big Harbour (2003), and, most recently, Mean Boy (2006). She has also published a short story collection, Play the Monster Blind (2000), and edited a collection of short fiction from Atlantic Canada called Victory Meat (2003).

Students of UBC Okanagan and writers in the Kelowna area are invited to have their work critiqued and to participate in a one-on-one meeting with Coady while she is in the city from March 1 to 15.

“Writers can get feedback on their work, talk about agents and publishing, and the writer’s life in general with someone who’s been there. We’re incredibly lucky to have Lynn Coady from Toronto to be UBC Okanagan’s first writer in residence,” said Holmes.

The novelist and short story writer was nominated for a Governor-General’s Award for fiction for her first novel Strange Heaven.

Since then she has garnered the Canadian Authors Association’s Under-Thirty and Jubilee Award for short fiction, as well as the Dartmouth Book Award and the Atlantic Bookseller’s Choice Award. Most recently, Coady acted as editor of The Anansi 40th Anniversary Reader, published in 2007 by House of Anansi Press.

Writers who would like an appointment with Coady should, between Jan. 15 and Jan. 31, send an email to Holmes at nancy.holmes@ubc.ca with an attachment in Microsoft Word or rich text format. The attachment should be no more than 15 double-spaced pages of fiction or creative non-fiction.

In the email, provide contact information including name, student number if applicable, phone number, and email address and put “Writer in Residence” in the subject line. Creative writing faculty will review manuscripts and notify accepted writers.

Coady has taught creative writing at Douglas College, Simon Fraser University’s Writer’s Studio, The Sage Hill Writing Experience, The Maritime Writer’s Workshop, and the Banff Center’s Wired Writing Studio. Coady was born and raised in Nova Scotia and now lives in Toronto.

Coady will give a free public reading at the downtown Kelowna library on March 5. A welcome reception for Coady will be held from 4 to 6 p.m. March 3 in the Arts Building atrium at UBC Okanagan. The public is invited to meet Coady and share some wine and food.