Past Writers-In-Residence

“Rawi Hage is as clear-eyed and fearless a writer as this country has known. Book after book he descends into the darkness, returning with a story we require.” — 2019 Jury Citation, Writers’ Trust Engel Findley Award  
  
Victoria University in the University of Toronto is pleased to announce that multi-award winning writer Rawi Hage has been appointed the Shaftesbury Creative Writer-in-Residence at Victoria College for 2023-2024. He will play a key role in mentoring and inspiring students in the Creative Expression and Society program and the Norman Jewison Stream of the Vic One program, and in fostering creative citizenship among the wider Vic U community.  
  
Born in Beirut, Hage survived the Lebanese civil war during the 1970s and 1980s before emigrating to Montreal in 1992. His writing is infused with compassion and humour, even when it confronts difficult subject matter.  
  
His first novel, De Niro’s Game (2006), won several awards, among them the prestigious IMPAC Dublin Literary Award. All five of his books have been shortlisted for either the Governor General’s Literary Award, the Giller Prize or the Rogers Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize: De Niro’s Game, Cockroach (2008), Carnival (2012), Beirut Hellfire Society (2018), and Stray Dogs (2022). He has won the Hugh MacLennan Prize for Fiction twice, and in 2019, he received the Writers’ Trust Engel Findley Award, which recognized his entire body of work  
  
“It is my pleasure to welcome Rawi to our campus. We are honoured to have a writer of his accomplishment join our academic community,” said Professor Angela Esterhammer, former principal of Victoria College. “Vic believes it is crucial for students to learn from leaders in their field who challenge and illuminate ideas. Rawi’s appointment as Shaftesbury Writer-in-Residence 2023-24 is another example of the depth of talent in our midst. It will provide both students and faculty with an enriching opportunity to learn from a luminary of contemporary writing.”  
  
“With his impressive body of work and unique perspective on the world of literature and the creative process, Rawi brings a wealth of knowledge and insight to Vic students,” said Professor Adam Sol, an award-winning poet who leads the Creative Expression and Society program at Victoria College.  
  
Hage is the third person to hold the prestigious Shaftesbury Creative Writer-in-Residence role. Thanks to a generous gift made to Victoria College by Shaftesbury,  a Toronto-based entertainment company founded by Vic alumna Christina Jennings, C.M., the Shaftesbury Creative Writer-in-Residence was previously held by acclaimed poets Canisia Lubrin in 2021-22 and Liz Howard in 2022-23.  
  
“My early experience at Vic has been a foundation to my professional success. At Shaftesbury, we are pleased to contribute to the tradition of offering young people the opportunity to learn from practicing artists in the fields of creative writing—the next generation of students will benefit greatly from Rawi Hage’s talent and ideas,” said Christina Jennings, the founder, chairman and president of Shaftesbury, which produces hit shows including Murdoch Mysteries, Hudson and Rex and Departure.  

Nov. 29, 2023 | Vic One Plenary

Liz Howard, whose poems were described as being “filled with energy and magic” and “scintillating” by the jury of the Griffin Poetry Prize, has been appointed the Shaftesbury Creative Writer-in-Residence at Victoria College for 2022-2023. She will play a key role in teaching, mentoring and inspiring students in the Creative Expression and Society program and the Norman Jewison Stream of the Vic One program, and help to foster creative citizenship among the Victoria College community.

Born and raised on Treaty 9 territory in Northern Ontario, Howard writes poetry that is sonically rich and thematically ambitious, interrogating scientific, Indigenous, and poetic ways of knowing in a rich mélange of intelligence, curiosity, and vulnerability.

Her first book, Infinite Citizen of the Shaking Tent, won the Griffin Poetry Prize in 2016, the first time the prize was awarded to a debut collection. Her latest collection, Letters in a Bruised Cosmos, was published last year by McClelland & Stewart.

“On behalf of the Vic academic community, we are thrilled to be welcoming Liz to Vic. Her awareness of the current literary landscape, and the correspondences between various kinds of discourse communities, will bring an important voice to the Victoria College community,” said Prof. Adam Sol, who leads the Creative Expression and Society program at Victoria College.

Ms. Howard earned her BSc in psychology at the University of Toronto, and an MFA in Creative Writing at the University of Guelph. She brings a wealth of teaching experience in diverse settings, having served as an adjunct faculty member in the English Department’s MA in Creative Writing program, as a sessional lecturer in English at UTM, Writer-in-Residence for the University of Calgary and Douglas College, and serving as one of the Poetry Editors for Buckrider Books.

Ms. Howard is the second poet to hold the prestigious Shaftesbury Creative Writer-in-Residence role. Thanks to a generous gift by Shaftesbury, a Toronto-based entertainment company founded by Vic alumna Christina Jennings, C.M. (VIC 7T4), the inaugural Shaftesbury Creative Writer-in-Residence was launched with poet Canisia Lubrin in 2021/2022.

“Learning from exceptional writers and thinkers at Vic had such a significant impact on me as a student, and what I have been able to achieve professionally. I am extremely pleased that the tradition of attracting such incredibly talented writers as Liz Howard continues for current students,” said Christina Jennings, Founder, Chairman, and President of Shaftesbury, which produces hit shows including Murdoch Mysteries, Hudson and Rex, and Departure.

Jan. 18, 2023 | Vic One Plenary

Mar. 8, 2023 | Victoria College Faculty Reading Series

Mar. 24, 2023 | Sovereign Utopias: A Panel on Indigenous Creativity

Lubrin brings a wealth of experience to the position, having taught Creative Writing at OCAD, U of T’s School of Continuing Studies, and the University of Guelph. She was also the Writer-in-Residence for Queen’s University in 2019.

Lubrin’s work has garnered widespread recognition. Some of her recent accolades include winning the 2021 OCM Bocus Prize for Caribbean Literature, as well as being named a 2021 recipient of the prestigious Windham-Campbell prize awarded by Yale University. The Dyzgraphxst was shortlisted for the Governor General’s Award for English-language Poetry at the 2020 Governor General’s Awards, was a finalist for the 2020 Trillium Book Award and won the 2021 Griffin Poetry Prize.

Oct. 28, 2021 | Portfolio and Practicalities Applying to Graduate School in Creative Writing

Nov. 17, 2021 | Vic One Plenary

Nov. 18, 2021 | Victoria College Faculty Reading Series

Mar. 15, 2022 | Crosscurrents Part 1: Vic Faculty Reading & Discussion

Mar. 31, 2022 | Crosscurrents Part 2: Continuing and Becoming New