Novelist Carrianne Leung named Laurier’s Edna Staebler Writer-in-Residence

Sept. 4, 2019
For Immediate Release

Waterloo – Fiction writer Carrianne Leung will be Wilfrid Laurier University’s Edna Staebler Writer-in-Residence from Jan. 13 to April 3, 2020.

Leung is an award-winning author of two books of fiction. Her nationally bestselling novel, That Time I Loved You, won the Danuta Gleed Literary Award in 2019, and her first book, The Wondrous Woo, was a finalist for a Toronto Book Award in 2014.

“We are very happy to welcome Carrianne Leung to Laurier as 2020’s Staebler Writer-in-Residence,” said Tanis MacDonald, professor in the Department of English and Film Studies and chair of the Edna Staebler Writer-in-Residence committee. “Carrianne’s experience in writing fiction for adult and youth audiences will really appeal to writers of all ages and stages. If you haven’t read Carrianne’s books yet, I highly recommend them.”

Throughout the winter term, Leung will be working on two book projects: a novel about female superheroes, set in contemporary Toronto, and a series of personal essays that offer her experience as a creative professional to writers who are just starting out. As writer-in-residence, she will visit classes on Laurier’s Waterloo and Brantford campuses, give guest lectures and conduct workshops in fiction and creative non-fiction writing, as well as offer one-on-one meetings with writers in the Laurier community. Leung will also give a public talk at Laurier at the end of January.

Leung has taught courses and workshops in creative writing at the Ontario College of Art and Design and has been featured at literary festivals all over Canada, including the International Festival of Authors in Toronto, the Ottawa International Writers Festival and the Festival of Literary Diversity. Earlier this year, she served as writer-in-residence at the University of Toronto’s Scarborough campus.

The Edna Staebler Laurier Writer in Residence and Visiting Author positions were established in 2012 through a bequest from the late Edna Staebler, a prolific creative non-fiction writer and author of the very popular Schmecks books, which celebrate the culture of Waterloo Region. Previous Staebler Laurier Writers-in-Residence and Visiting Writers include novelist Alison Pick (2018), creative non-fiction writer Emily Urquhart (2018), novelist Pasha Malla (2017), novelist Ashley Little (2017), playwright Drew Hayden Taylor (2016), poet Sonnet L’Abbé (2015), playwright Colleen Murphy (2014) and creative non-fiction writer Andrew Westoll (2013).

Leung follows poet and novelist Gary Barwin, who was Laurier’s writer-in-residence in winter 2019.