Sheridan welcomes Kate Cayley as 2023-24 Writer-in-Residence

Award-winning fiction writer, playwright and poet Kate Cayley is joining Sheridan as the Honours Bachelor of Creative Writing & Publishing (CW&P) degree program’s 2023-24 Writer-In-Residence.

Cayley has published two short story collections and three collections of poetry, and her plays have been performed in Canada, the U.S. and the UK. She has won the Trillium Book Award, an O. Henry Prize and the Mitchell Prize for Poetry, and been a finalist for the Governor General’s Award for Fiction, the Firecracker Award for Fiction, the ReLit Award for both fiction and poetry, and the K.M. Hunter Award for Fiction. Her writing has appeared in such literary publications as Brick, Electric Literature, Joyland, Best Canadian Poetry and Best Canadian Stories, and she has been a writer in residence at McMaster University and the Toronto Public Library.

“Kate’s diverse work plumbs meaning, strangeness and beauty from the spaces we inhabit, even in our domestic lives, while tackling some of the big philosophical questions we all face,” says Dr. Genevieve Amaral, Associate Dean, School of Humanities and Creativity. “Our Sheridan community welcomes her capacious intellect, limpid style and wonderful mentorship with full hearts, open ears, and pens, paper and keyboards at the ready!”

Sheridan’s CW&P Writer-in-Residence program supports an annual non-teaching, community- and culture-building fixed-term position designed to complement existing CW&P programming and curriculum. During her time at Sheridan, Cayley will develop personal writing projects, visit and contribute to writing and publishing classes, lead public workshops and provide creative leadership, mentoring and public outreach to and on behalf of the program and school.

“I am thrilled to be joining the writing community at Sheridan for the upcoming year,” Cayley says. “Creating across forms is fundamental to my practice, and I am passionate about the mentorship of emerging writers, both through advice on craft and on the practical side of making a life and a living. I’m excited to be a friendly and supportive presence for students, helping with the work on the page and any questions that surround that work.”