The City of Richmond welcomes Canadian literary icon Audrey Thomas as its 2023 Writer-in-Residence. Ms. Thomas will be offering a series of events, workshops and mentorship opportunities to aspiring writers in Richmond from September 23 to November 30.

The writer’s residency will launch with a short literary reading at the opening ceremony for Richmond Culture Days on Saturday, September 23 at 11 a.m. at the Richmond Cultural Centre, 7700 Minoru Gate. This free event is open to all. No pre-registration is required. 

The performance will be followed by a meet-and-greet session at noon that includes another public reading and an opportunity to learn about the free program offerings available during her residency including:

• Memoir Writing: Everyone has a story (Adults)
  
• Flash Fiction: a very short story (15-19 years) 
  
• All in the family: Writing about Relationships (Adults) 
  
• Writing Circle (Teens) 
  
• Mentorship and consultation (Adults)

Audrey Thomas was born in western New York State and immigrated to Canada in 1959. As the author of award-winning novels such as Coming Down From Wa, Songs My Mother Taught Me and Isobel Gunn, her exceptional literary contributions have been recognized with numerous awards, including the Canada Scotland Award, the Canada Australia Award, the Marian Engel Award, and the W.O. Mitchell Award. Recently, Audrey was honoured with the distinguished Governor General's Award for Literary Excellence. She has taught writing workshops and held residencies in several countries around the world. 

Richmond’s Writer-in-Residence program is presented by the City of Richmond and the Richmond Public Library.

Details about the program and the workshops being offered are available at richmond.ca/culture/howartworks/artists-opportunities/writerinresidence.