Award-winning Canadian novelist Miriam Toews is eager to mentor the next generation of writers as the University of Toronto Scarborough’s inaugural writer-in-residence.
Toews will visit classes, facilitate workshops, deliver readings and consult with students on manuscripts-in-progress. Just as importantly, she will have dedicated time to work on her next creative project.
"I'm really excited about being the Writer-In-Residence at UTSC," says Toews, the author of five novels and one book of non-fiction. "It's always fun and inspiring to meet students and to talk about writing, but I'm also excited about the opportunity to work on some of my own writing as well."
Toews is one of Canada's most gifted and well-loved storytellers. Her 2004 novel A Complicated Kindness about a teenage girl living alone with her father in a small Mennonite community, earned Toews the Governor General’s Award for English fiction.
She has also won several of Canada’s most prestigious literary awards including the Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize, the Writer's Trust Engel/Findley Award for a body of work and CBC's annual book competition Canada Reads. Last year Toews' accomplishments were recognized by her home province as she was awarded the Order of Manitoba.
The appointment of Ms. Toews comes at an exciting time for the UTSC English department. Last fall the department launched its new Minor in Creative Writing, one of only a handful of undergraduate creative writing programs available in Canada.
“Our Creative Writing program serves a vibrant community of writers on campus,” says Alice Maurice, acting chair of the English department. “To have someone of Ms. Toews’ caliber in our midst is a fantastic opportunity for our students, for the department, and for the entire campus.”