Karen Valihora becomes new publisher of Canada’s oldest independent community paper

Karen Valihora, graduate program director and associate professor in the Department of English, purchased The Picton Gazette, a Prince Edward County historic weekly with the intent of continuing its community-building legacy. The Picton Gazette, first published as the Hallowell Free Press in 1830, had been owned by Jean Morrison, and her husband, since 1977. After her husband passed […]

Wendy McGrath wins the inaugural Prairie Grindstone Prize

Wendy McGrath is a poet, writer, and visual artist living in amiskwacîwâskahikan (Edmonton) on Treaty 6 Territory. McGrath’s writing practice embraces multiple genres—fiction, poetry, spoken word, and creative non-fiction. McGrath describes her writing as “Prairie Gothic” and gives voice to working class stories. McGrath holds a Master's Degree in English from York University and a Bachelor […]

Nominees announced for the 2023 Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards

Jonathan Warren and Alison Halsall's The LGBTQ+ Comics Studies Reader: Critical Openings, Future Directions is named a finalist for the 2023 Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards in the Best Academic/Scholarly Work category. The awards, named after the acclaimed comics creator Will Eisner, honour the best publications and creators in comics and graphic novels. Winners will […]

Professor Patricia Keeney celebrates bilingual volume of poetry

Patricia Keeney, a long-time professor of creative writing at York University, has had her fourth bilingual volume of poetry published in France. The author of 10 books of poetry in English, this is Keeney’s eighth volume in another language. Keeney has also taught English and humanities at York for some 40 years. Selected and translated by […]

Passings: Professor Elizabeth Sabiston

Elizabeth “Betty” Sabiston – professor emerita in the Department of English in York’s Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies, former acting master of Stong College and an accomplished author – passed away at 85 on April 29. Sabiston’s career at York began in 1973. Having started as a contract faculty member, she was eventually promoted […]

Professor B.W. Powe publishes book of poetry, essays, rock opera lyrics

This month poet, essayist, novelist and Department of English and Humanities Associate Professor B.W. Powe released his latest book, Ladders Made of Water. Powe’s new work is a collection featuring poems, mini-essays, stories, parables, meditations on contemporary cinema and unfinished rock opera lyrics. Blending essaying and poetry, Powe says Ladders Made of Water was writing in an impressionistic, […]

Writer-in-Residence Program

The Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies (LA&PS) Writer-in-Residence program is aimed at supplementing existing Creative Writing courses by providing students with access to a working, professional writer for feedback and support. Additionally, the program is dedicated to engaging the broader community by developing partnerships with North York libraries, schools and community organizations to […]

President's Creative Writing Awards Submission Form

Daniel Whittaker-Van Dusen Prize

The Daniel Whittaker-Van Dusen Prize for Emerging Poets is available campus-wide for students whose work explores, provokes, and challenges readers' understanding of the world. The prize was established in memory of Daniel, a philosophy graduate who wrote poetry that explored the absurdities of life in a precise and unafraid voice. Dan’s parents, Sheelagh Whittaker and […]

Richard Teleky Short Fiction Prize

The Richard Teleky Short Fiction Prize is awarded to an undergraduate or graduate student for a single, original, previously unpublished work of short fiction submitted as part of an annual competition. Jay Singer graduated with a bachelor's degree in English (Creative Writing) from York University in 1996. He also earned an MFA from New York […]