Visiting Authors

The Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies invites accomplished novelists, essayists, poets, screenwriters, and playwrights present their work through the public FCCS Reading Series at the Okanagan Regional Library and other venues around the Okanagan. The Writer-in-Residence program promotes Canadian writing and literature to Okanagan residents and provides emerging writers with the opportunity to get feedback on their creative work.

Writer in Residence

Shelly Wood

Shelley Wood

The UBCO writer in residence program promotes Canadian writing and literature to Okanagan residents and provides emerging writers with the opportunity to get feedback on their creative work.  We are pleased to welcome Shelley Wood as the 2024 Writer-in- Residence.

Originally from Vancouver, BC, Shelley Wood did her undergraduate degree in English Literature at McGill and her graduate degree in Journalism at UBC. Her short stories and creative nonfiction have been published in Grain, Room, Causeway Lit, Canadian Notes & Queries, Phoebe, the Antigonish Review, The New Quarterly, Bath Flash Fiction, Freefall, and the Saturday Evening Post. Her debut novel, The Quintland Sisters (William Morrow, 2019), was an instant #1 Canadian bestsellerand her second novel, The Leap Year Gene, will be published in August 2024 by Harper Collins Canada and Union Square Press (US).  She divides her time between her home in Kelowna, BC, and her work as a medical journalist and editorial director for the Cardiovascular Research Foundation in New York, NY.

Public Talk

Date: Wednesday, March 6
Time: 7:00 – 8:00 pm
Location: FINA Gallery in the Creative and Critical Studies building.

Call for Manuscripts

Writers of adult fiction or non-fiction are invited to submit manuscripts for review and feedback. The Writer in Residence will meet with the first 6 general public authors whose manuscript submissions satisfy the requirements below and the first 6 UBC student authors whose manuscript submissions satisfy the requirement below.

We regret that the Writer in Residence may not be able to meet with everyone who submits a manuscript. Meetings with the Writer in Residence are by appointment only and will occur between February 26th  and March 8 2024.  There is no fee for the appointment or to submit a manuscript.

Manuscripts will be accepted between February 1 and 19, 2024. 

  • For adult fiction or non-fiction, submit between 2500 to 3000 words or 10 – 12 typed pages, double-spaced, 12 pt Times New Roman, single-sided.  A one page synopsis is optional.
  • Do not submit poetry, screenplays, playscripts, children’s literature, or other forms.
  • Be available for a meeting with the Writer in Residence during business hours on a Monday to Friday, between February 26th and March 8 2024. (Meetings may held on Zoom, or could be held at the UBC campus or the downtown public library)
  • Include a cover page with your name, address, email, and telephone number. Material submitted will not be returned.
  • If you are a UBC student include your student number.

Submission form 

Annual Sharon Thesen Lecture

Sharon Thesen was the first full professor in the Department of Creative Studies and is now professor emerita here at UBC. She is also a renowned Canadian poet and editor. The Creative Writing program at UBC intends for the Sharon Thesen lecture to acknowledge her contributions to British Columbian and Canadian literature and to the Creative Writing Program at UBC Okanagan. In her honor, a different writer each year will give a lecture that tackles key issues of contemporary writing, poetics, and Canadian literature. By recording each lecture, we will create a wonderful resource of contemporary thinking by writers.

View past lectures below. 

Past Visiting Authors