Writing the way for future authors
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By: Bina Patel
Each year, the English and Cultural Studies Department hosts the Mabel Pugh Taylor Writer-in-Residence. This four-month program seeks to attract highly accomplished Canadian writers, from which a selection committee narrows down to the top three authors who they believe are best suited to occupy the position in subsequent years. The recipient uses their knowledge and experiences to engage McMaster and the wider Hamilton community in the craft of creative writing.
This year, that resource is author and teacher Kim Echlin. According to Jeffery Donaldson, McMaster English professor and Chair of the Writer-in-Residence Committee, although published work gives an applicant eligibility for the position, selecting the ideal candidates goes beyond just the technicalities.
“We want to have some idea of what skills the writers will be bringing. Do they have the skills that we would expect them to have in editing and advising students? The more they know about the publishing community, the better advice they can give. We want to feel that the writer is a writer of reputation,” said Donaldson.
And of reputation she is. Echlin’s publications include Elephant Winter, The Disappeared, Inanna and Elizabeth Smart: A Fugue Essay on Women and Creativity. She is the winner of the Torgi Award, CBC Literary Award for non-fiction, Barnes and Noble Award, and has been nominated for the Scotiabank Giller Prize as well as the Chapters/Books in Canada First Award. It is distinction of this nature which indicate to the selection committee that the applicant inhibits what they consider are core skills in making a significant impact during the residency, which include one-on-one mentoring to students.
Her mentee and McMaster History and English alumnus Nichole Fanara, recounted her experience working with Echlin, whom she approached for assistance in writing and graduate program application. “We worked on my novel. She helped me get to the standard so that it would be good enough and was really great, really helpful,” Fanara said. In addition to mentoring aspiring writers, the Writer-in-Residence also reaches out to the wider community through public readings and lectures. One of these instances was during Prof. Donaldson’s Creative Writing Inquiry course, where Echlin shared her wisdom with the class of writers. “She’s brilliant. When she was talking she was making suggestions and little lights were going off in my head. She was saying things that you would think would be no brainers but they hadn’t occurred to me to say to my students,” he said.
Echlin has had a passion for writing since her childhood. Her most recent book, Under the Visible Life, follows the lives of two women in different parts of the world: Hamilton and Afghanistan. Despite having struggled through stigma and systematic oppression, both find their freedom through their love of music. “I explore the kinds of oppressions that women from all over the world have lived with and how they continue to make themselves free,” she said.
Although having a Writer-in-Residence has largely to do with fostering the creative imagination of students, Echlin makes clear that the advantages are mutual. “This is the first time I’ve been a Writer-in-Residence, and I really like it. At McMaster it’s very interesting because in the Humanities program you have a lot of alternative forms of storytelling. You have creative writing with Jeffery Donaldson, but also you have Daniel Coleman and he’s working with a lot of different forms of narrative.”
Donaldson added that although McMaster has not yet established a creative writing program, having an individual of such literary prowess to consult with is inspiring for young writers.
Photo Credit: McMaster University
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