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Writer in Residence

A banner image of Kyla Jamieson with text saying Writer in Residence

Born and raised in Squamish and North Vancouver, Kyla Jamieson is a poet, anti-oppressive educator, and disability advocate. Guided by her belief in the universality of creativity, her cultural work centres self-expression, interdependence, and embodiment.

I am writing towards care-full futures where creativity is a tool we use to connect with ourselves and each other while envisioning possibilities beyond the status quo.

In her début poetry collection, Body Count (Nightwood Editions, 2020), Kyla sifted through the raw material of her life before and after a disabling mild Traumatic Brain Injury in search of new understandings of self and worth. Body Count was a CBC Best Poetry Book of 2020 and received praise for its candour, humour, and complexity.

Poetry can open portals to feelings we haven’t felt safe to feel and give us language for experiences we haven’t known how to articulate. By creating space for the complexities of reality, poetic language invites us to embrace our truths and find pathways back home to ourselves.

Kyla earned her BFA and MFA in Creative Writing from the University of British Columbia while living and relying on the unceded traditional territories of the Squamish, Musqueam, and Tsleil-Waututh Nations. She has served as a literary editor of both poetry and prose in roles with SAD Mag and PRISM international, and is passionate about supporting emerging writers.

If you have questions about Writer in Residence Programming, please contact Andrew Battershill at:  andrew.battershill@vpl.ca

Residency Information

The Writer plays a creative and valuable role at the Library, using their experience to foster a greater public appreciation for Canadian writing. They provide the community with opportunities to interact with and learn from a published writer, especially communities not typically exposed to Canadian writing.

The Writer in Residence will develop and lead exciting public events that promote a love of writing and reading. They will support and provide advice to community members and aspiring writers through one-on-one consultations and group workshops.

This full-time position (35 hours/week) requires 50 percent of the Writer’s time be spent on library programs or projects, leaving 50 percent of the residency time available for working on their writing projects.

The Library would like to hear from you if you are:

  • A published Canadian writer with experience as a teacher, workshop leader, mentor, writer-in-residence, or editor
  • Enthusiastic about developing, presenting, and sharing your knowledge and craft through events with Vancouver Public Library. Events may be held in person, online, or both in order to maximize accessibility
  • Committed to participating in Vancouver Public Library and City of Vancouver events
  • Currently working on a writing project
  • Available on a full-time basis for the residency and for a two-week planning period prior to June, 2024 and September 2 through December 8, 2024

In addition to your writing and public speaking experience you must also be able to:

  • Work independently and as part of a team with library staff
  • Comfortably interact with members of Vancouver’s diverse public, including youth and seniors
  • Deliver programs and consultations online, if required, working remotely through online environments, such as Zoom. VPL staff will be available to provide support for delivery of online programs
  • Participate in media opportunities to promote the residency, the library and Canadian writing
  • Prepare for and meet deadlines

The Writer in Residence will have three main responsibilities:

  • Spend time developing their own writing project
  • Lead literary and cultural events and other relevant programs for the general public of Vancouver and the Lower Mainland
  • Support and assist new writers through online one-on-one meetings and group workshops

Contract terms: $22,000 for four months full-time activity ($5,500 per month on a self-employed basis).

Past Writers in Residence

See more writers

Upcoming Events

  • Writing Consultations with Kyla Jamieson

    This fall, Writer in Residence Kyla Jamieson offers accessible one-on-one consultations to local writers in person and online with the Central Library. Kyla's focus is poetry, with additional expertise in creative nonfiction, memoir, autofiction, hybrid genres and literary magazine publishing...

    1:00pm – 3:30pm

    Central Library

  • Every Poem is a Love Poem

    This workshop looks at poets who engage with love as their subject matter or as a guiding principle for their writing. According to the poet Chen Chen, “poetry matters because it nourishes the heart.” Likewise, the heart nourishes poetry.

    Participants...

    6:30pm – 8:00pm

    Central Library

  • Poetry Together

    Join VPL’s Writer in Residence Kyla Jamieson for an afternoon of rest, reading and creativity.



    You are invited to gather in the Poets’ Corner, where we will meet each other and explore the poetic form of the Cento. This workshop...

    1:00pm – 3:00pm

    Central Library