MFA in writing student named writer-in-residence at Winnipeg Public Library

By Chris Putnam

Carolyn Gray, a student in the University of Saskatchewan’s MFA in Writing Program, will be the next writer-in-residence at the Winnipeg Public Library.

Gray begins her seven-month term on Oct. 1 at the Millenium Library in Winnipeg, Man., where she will be offering feedback on submissions by local writers as she works on her own writing project.

“The only thing I enjoy as much as writing is helping other writers realize their projects,” said Gray in an email. “I especially like building springboards to propel writers on to creation, and finding inroads to improving a piece after the initial endeavour.”

An accomplished writer of plays, fiction and non-fiction, Gray won the Manitoba Day Award for Excellence in Archival Research for her play The Elmwood Visitation as well as the John Hirsch Award for Most Promising New Writer at the Manitoba Book Awards. She will be working on a screenplay during her writer-in-residence term.

Gray, who recently defended her MFA thesis, will graduate at Fall Convocation this November.

“The position comes at an ideal time, too,” said Gray. “I knew I'd miss working with my brilliant classmates and instructors in the MFA program. But now I'll be surrounded by people who are interested in language and story. It'll make the break from the MFA in writing much smoother.”

Gray’s latest book is the biography Dean Gunnarson: The Making of an Escape Artist.

The MFA in Writing Program is a two-year graduate program based in the College of Arts and Science’s Department of English. It trains students in the professional and creative aspects of writing.

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