Last call to meet with writer-in-residence

[img_inline align=”right” src=”http://padnws01.mcmaster.ca/images/andrealexis.jpg” caption=”Award-winning novelist, playwright and short story writer Andre Alexis is on campus until the end of December as McMaster’s Writer-in-Residence. “]Award-winning novelist, playwright and short story writer Andre Alexis is on campus
until the end of December as McMaster's Mabel Pugh Taylor Writer-in-Residence.

Each year, the English department's Writer-in-Residence program brings accomplished
writers to campus, allowing them to devote time and resources to works in progress. The
four-month residency offers aspiring writers the chance to consult one-on-one with established writers.

Alexis was born in Trinidad and spent his childhood in Ottawa, where he reconciled with
his parents, grappled with the challenge of learning French, and found a sense of
belonging.

“The feeling of home has always been in my imagination, which is always anchored in a
place I know,” said Alexis. “I was born in Trinidad, where I spent the first three years of
my life, and born again when I moved to Ottawa. I feel most at home there.”

Alexis' collection of short stories, Despair and Other Stories from Ottawa, received
praise from the Quill & Quire for its “compelling interpretation of a landscape generally
perceived by Canadians as painfully unexotic.”

Alexis' debut novel, Childhood (1998) won the Chapters/Books in Canada First Novel
Award and was shortlisted for the Giller Prize. His recent works include a second novel,
Asylum (2008), and a collection of essays entitled Beauty and Sadness (2010).

“Writing can be both controlled and uncontrolled – it's about acknowledging your
limitations, but fighting them, too,” said Alexis. “In the end, you do find a kind of joy in having every sentence the way you want it to be. It's something like a clockmaker's
ecstasy.”

Alexis enjoys working in a variety of genres, and has published children's books, short
stories, non-fiction, adult fiction, plays and essays throughout his career.

He previously served as writer-in-residence at the University of Western Ontario and the
Canadian Stage Company.

“I think of myself as a fellow writer, not a teacher or educator,” said Alexis. “I can show
you how to be more efficient and what your options are, but ultimately, you make the
decisions.”

Alexis recommends that writers send him a draft of their work before making
arrangements to consult with him.

“Every piece of writing has its own context,” said Alexis. “I like to know where people
stand and what their purpose is before I sit down with them.”

Alexis holds open office hours from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on Mondays and Tuesdays
during the fall term in Chester New Hall 212. Appointments can be made by sending an
email to englwir@mcmaster.ca.