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45 Day Job

Ann Eriksson

British Columbia

Terry Fallis

Ontario

Russell Wangersky

Newfoundland

Ann Eriksson, British Columbia

Ann Eriksson is a novelist and biologist who combines her background in ecology with her life experiences to create works of fiction grounded in nature and populated with rich characters. Her novels are In the Hands of Anubis, Decomposing Maggie and, most recently, Falling from Grace. Eriksson was born in Saskatchewan and grew up in the Canadian Prairie provinces; she now lives with her husband, poet Gary Geddes, on Thetis Island and in Victoria. Read more

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Terry Fallis, Ontario

Terry Fallis’s stint as president of the student union at McMaster University translated into a career in politics. Working as an assistant to Cabinet Ministers at Queen’s Park and in Ottawa has provided him with plenty of material for his political satires. His new book, The High Road, is a sequel to his first novel, The Best Laid Plans, which won the 2008 Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour. Read more

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Russell Wangersky, Newfoundland

Russell Wangersky’s Burning Down the House: Fighting Fires and Losing Myself, won three national awards, including the BC National Award for Canadian Non-Fiction. His 2006 short story collection The Hour of Bad Decisions was long-listed for the Scotiabank Giller Prize, and was shortlisted for the Commonwealth Writer’s Prize, first book, Canada and the Caribbean. His new book, his first novel, is The Glass Harmonica. He lives in St. John’s Newfoundland, where he’s a journalist at The Telegram. Read more

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Host: Ian Weir
Friday, October 22, 2010 - 1:00pm - 2:30pm
Studio 1398
$17 / $8.50 for student groups

We know that writing is essential to the fabric of society, but can it pay the bills? When it can’t, and that’s often, the day job can provide remuneration as well as research. PR executive and political consultant Terry Fallis writes comic novels about politicians and life on the Hill. Russell Wangersky’s life as a volunteer firefighter and journalist has provided countless points of entry to his fiction writing. Biologist and ecology consultant Ann Eriksson puts her day job and experience to good use creating characters that include a female entomologist who is 3 foot, 10 inches tall. These authors prove that “Don’t quit your day job” can sometimes be great advice for would-be writers.

Suitable for Grades 10 to 12 and adults