Writing Studies
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Writing 2520A: Write Now! - Writers on Writing
Learn about writing from writers
Interested in creative writing, in learning about different genres and styles of writing, and in getting insights into the business and craft of writing from working writers? Consider taking Writing 2520A: Write Now! Writers on Writing.
Write Now! is organized around a series of lectures by writers. Every week, a new writer visits the class to read from their work, talk about their writing and their career, and answer questions. The writers include novelists, poets, playwrights, podcasters, graphic novelists, comic book writers, young adult authors, etc. Lectures cover topics such as inspiration, overcoming creative blocks, revision, publishing and literary citizenship.
This course offers students a unique opportunity to learn from a wide variety of writers about the craft of writing and the creative life while improving their own writing.
Fall 2025 Creative Writers Speaker Series
Guest lectures are open to all students, staff and faculty.
Presented by Writing 2520A, the Department of English and Writing Studies & the Creative Writers Speaker Series at Western, everyone is invited to hear some of Canada’s best established and emerging writers read from their work and talk about their craft.
Please join us in UCC 56 from 4:00 to 5:15 pm
September 10: Saad T. Farooqi
Born in Saudi Arabia, Saad T. Farooqi moved to Pakistan before his first birthday. There, he survived three separate kidnapping attempts before he was eight. His family eventually settled in the United Arab Emirates. After initially enrolling in electrical engineering to please his parents, Saad graduated with a BA in English Literature from the American University of Sharjah. He then earned an MFA in Creative Writing from Kingston University, London.
Saad immigrated to Canada in 2015 and resides in London, Ontario. At Kingston University, he studied under several notable authors, including Rachel Cusk and Elif Safak.
His short stories and poems have appeared in various magazines in the US, UK, and UAE. His debut novel, White World, was published by Cormorant Books in 2024.
September 17: Erín Moure and Chantal Neveu
Erín Moure is a poet (24 books of poetry, essay, memoir) and translator (33 books of poetry) based in Tiohtià:ke/Montréal. She writes principally in English and translates poetry into English from Galician, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Portuñol, into French from English and Galician, and co-translates from Ukrainian into English with Roman Ivashkiv. A recipient of two Governor General’s Literary Awards—one for poetry and one for translation from French to English—as well as the Pat Lowther Memorial Award and the A.M. Klein Prize, she holds two honorary doctorates, and has been International Translator in Residence at Queen’s College (Oxford) and Woodberry Creative Fellow (Harvard). Her latest work of poetry is Theophylline: A(n) (a)po(r)etic migration via the modernisms of Rukeyser, Bishop, Grimké (Anansi, 2023).
September 24: Anna Chatterton, Writer-in-Residence and Student Writer-in-Residence
Anna Chatterton, Writer-in-Residence
Anna Chatterton is an award-winning playwright, librettist, and performer known for bold storytelling. She is a two-time Governor General’s Award finalist and winner of the City of Hamilton Arts Award and the Toronto Theatre Critics Award. Her plays Within the Glass, Quiver, Cowgirl Up, and Gertrude and Alice have been produced across Canada and the United States.
Student Writer-in-Residence
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October 1: Jeff Dupuis
Jeff Dupuis is a writer and editor living in Toronto. He is the author of The Creature X Mystery novels and numerous short stories. Jeff is the editor, alongside A.G. Pasquella, of the anthology Devouring Tomorrow: Fiction from the Future of Food, which was published in March 2025 by Dundurn Press. He is a regular contributor to The Miramichi Reader and The Superstitious Times.
October 8: Gabrielle Drolet
Gabrielle Drolet is a journalist, essayist, and cartoonist based in Montreal. She regularly contributes cartoons to The New Yorker and the Globe and Mail, and is the first woman to receive a National Newspaper Award nomination for Editorial Cartooning. Her written work has been published in the New York Times, the Globe and Mail, The Walrus, VICE, Teen Vogue, and more. Her essays on disability have been nominated for a Digital Publishing Award and won gold at the Canadian Online Publishing Awards. Gabrielle finished her MFA at the University of Guelph in 2023.
October 15: Lily Chu
Toronto romance writer Lily Chu loves ordering the second-cheapest wine, wearing perfume all the time, and staying up far too late with a good book.
Four of her books have been released in audio as Audible Originals, performed by Phillipa Soo (The Stand-In, The Comeback, The Takedown, and Drop Dead) and John Cho (Drop Dead). Lily’s best-selling stories are critically acclaimed and have spent multiple weeks at number one in Audible Top Plus Listens, have been named in Best of the Year lists, and recommended in the New York Times. Translation rights have been sold for multiple languages.
October 22: Lily Wang
Lily Wang was born in Shanghai and moved to Canada at the age of six. They have an MA in English and Creative Writing from the University of Toronto. Their debut novel, Silver Repetition, was published in 2024.
November 12: Chido Muchemwa
Chido Muchemwa is a Zimbabwean writer and academic currently based in Toronto. Her short stories have previously appeared in Augur, Baltimore Review, Catapult, FIYAH, Lolwe, and Prism International amongst others. She is a 2022 Miles Morland Scholar, and she has an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Wyoming. Muchemwa is the author of Who Will Bury You And Other Stories, listed by the Boston Globe, Open Country Mag and Brittle Paper as one of the best books of 2024. Muchemwa is a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of English at the University of Toronto Scarborough.
November 19: Matthew-Ray Jones
Mississauga, Ontario native Matthew-Ray Jones, also known as Testament, is a connoisseur of anything and everything involving words. From poetry, spoken word and emceeing to facilitating, hosting and keynoting, Matthew-Ray has been using his natural speaking abilities to inspire audiences for over 20 years. His mother is his hero. She endured many hardships throughout her life and made sacrifices so that Matthew-Ray could pursue his dreams. She provided him with a diary at age 6 that inspired the artist to start his writing journey through self-expression.
Matthew-Ray has performed and taught nationally from coast to coast in Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, Ontario, Quebec, Alberta, Nunavut, and British Columbia. He has performed internationally in Venezuela and Italy and has travelled to six continents.
To date, he has recorded three albums and shared the stage with Talib Kweli, Naughty by Nature, Biz Markie, GZA, Kardinal Offishall, Saukrates, DāM-FunK and more. He co-founded an artist collective called P.E.A.C.E. (“People Everywhere Actually Co-existing Equally”) helping people realize they are 'a piece of P.E.A.C.E.' through poetry, HipHop, music, workshops, presentations and trainings. Matthew-Ray has appeared on Breakfast Television, CP24, MuchMusic, MTV and Rogers TV. He has been written about in Exclaim and Eye Weekly magazines plus numerous national and local newspapers and has made various appearances on radio stations.
A father, artist, entrepreneur and revolutionary, Matthew-Ray uses his passion for words, art and life to motivate, inspire and lead. He trusts in the values of peace, love and unity as his guiding principles as he continues to spread his message worldwide.
November 26: Kendra Coulter
Kendra Coulter earned a PhD from the University of Toronto and is a Professor at Huron University College at Western University where she leads the world’s first major in animal ethics and sustainability leadership. She is a Fellow of the Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics in England and the author of Defending Animals: Finding Hope on the Front Lines of Animal Protection. The Tortoise’s Tale is her first novel.
Contact
Dr. Aaron Schneider
aschnei4@uwo.ca
