The Writer's Studio Community
Staff of The Writer's Studio
Wayde Compton, Program Director
Wayde Compton is the author of two books of poetry, 49th Parallel Psalm (1999), which was a finalist for the Dorothy Livesay BC Book Prize, and Performance Bond (2004). In 2001, he edited Bluesprint: Black British Columbian Literature and Orature, the first comprehensive anthology of writers of African descent in this province.
His latest book, After Canaan: Essays on Race, Writing, and Region (2010), was shortlisted for the City of Vancouver Book Award, and its electronic version was chosen as an iTunes Book of the Week in 2012.
He and Jason de Couto perform electronic sound poetry as a duo called The Contact Zone Crew. Compton is a co-founding member of the Hogan's Alley Memorial Project, an organization dedicated to researching and documenting Vancouver's historical black community. He is also one of the publishers of Commodore Books.
Compton is currently working on a collection of short stories.
Jen Currin, 2012 Mentor
Jen Currin was born and raised in Portland, Oregon, and did her schooling at Bard College (BA), Arizona State University (MFA), and Simon Fraser University (MA).
Jen has published three books of poetry: The Sleep of Four Cities (Anvil Press, 2005), Hagiography (Coach House, 2008), and The Inquisition Yours (Coach House, 2010).
The Inquisition Yours was shortlisted for the 2011 Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize and a Lambda Literary Award. It won the Audre Lorde Poetry Award.
Shaena Lambert, 2012 Mentor
Shaena Lambert’s novel Radiance was hailed as "a marvelous feat of imagining" by The Globe and Mail, and chosen as a "best book of the year" by The Globe and Mail, Quill and Quire, New Zealand Star-Herald, and New Zealand Listener.
Her story collection, The Falling Woman, was published to critical acclaim in Canada, the U.K., and Germany. Her stories have appeared in Zoetrope and Ploughshares, and were chosen for Best Canadian Stories three years in a row.
Brian Payton, 2012 Mentor
Brian Payton writes fiction and nonfiction. His articles and essays have appeared in The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Boston Globe, and The Walrus.
He is the author of Hail Mary Corner, a debut novel that The Globe and Mail said “packs a cathartic wallop.” His nonfiction narrative, Shadow of the Bear: Travels in Vanishing Wilderness, was a Best Outdoor Book of 2006, a Barnes and Noble Book Club Pick, and a finalist at the Banff Book Awards.
His latest book, The Ice Passage: A True Story of Ambition, Disaster, and Endurance in the Arctic Wilderness, was shortlisted for the Hubert Evans Nonfiction Prize and longlisted for the B.C. National Award for Canadian Nonfiction.
