Our Vibrant Creative Writing Community
Get to know our creative writing community and explore some of our past events
Get to know our creative writing community and explore some of our past events
Get to know our creative writing community and explore some of our past events
Since 2006, the English Department has brought Scotiabank Giller Prize winners to campus for public readings and book signings, with graduating students in English receiving free copies of the prize-winning book. This has been made possible by the generosity of donor Diane King and, more recently, the support of the Scotiabank Giller Foundation. Starting in 2022, the Scotiabank Giller Prize Event will be built into a course for graduating students in English and Creative Writing and will be planned and run entirely by students.
Scotiabank Giller Prize winners who have participated in this event include:
Our 2023 Giller Prize Event
Our 2022 Giller Prize Event
Watch Dr. Sam McKegney, head of the English department, interview 2021 Giller Prize winner and Queen's Writer in Residence Omar El Akkad:
Watch our 2022 Giller Prize Event with Omar El Akkad:
Our 2021 Giller Prize Event
Watch the Department of English’s 2020 Writer in Residence Kaie Kellough in conversation with 2020 Scotiabank Giller Prize Winner, Souvankham Thammavongsa, author of How to Pronounce Knife.
For a decade, the English Department has brought renowned Canadian writers to campus to reflect on artistic craft through the evocative prompt of “the page.” Supported by Steven Page and family, this event honours the late Kingston author and painter Joanne Page and has hosted a diverse array of writers from across the country. Many of the lectures have been published as chapbooks.
This Year's Page Lecture
Helen Humphreys
Fred Wah
Marilyn Dumont
Celebrated dub poet Lillian Allen was the inaugural Queen’s Writer in Residence in 2006. Since that time, writers in residence have organized a diverse array of intimate, public, collaborative, and performative events for the Queen’s community and others.
In recent years, the inaugural event featuring the Writer in Residence has been considered the Welcome Event, which has come to be a highlight of the school year.
Omar El Akkad
Kaie Kellough
Watch Kaie Kellough performing “Maroon Time,” at his 2020 Writer in Residence Welcome event.
Canisia Lubrin
As a part of Queen's Global Summer's Creative Writing Studio, The Department of English and Queen's Biological Station was delighted to offer "Reflections from the Writers' Studio" featuring Smokii Sumac, John Elizabeth Stintzi, and moderated by Omar El Akkad.
Smokii and JES discussed their respective creative processes, inspirations, and their time at Queen's Biological Station at the QUBS Writers' Studio.