The Writers' Alliance of Newfoundland and Labrador encourages the recognition of the professional status of writers.
It is standard practice to pay writers for their services, including readings, manuscript evaluations, school visits, etc.
(Funding for some of these activities, such as school visits, may be available through sources such as the Newfoundland and
Labrador Arts Council and school boards.) Actual fees for services should be negotiated with the writer; this directory is
intended only to provide information. We encourage you to consider hiring writers to address your writing and related needs.
Writers for hire
Writers are listed alphabetically by last name.
Categories: Fiction, Non-fiction, Journalism, Book Reviews, Curriculum, Educational Workbooks, Screenwriting.
Available For: Workshop facilitation, school visits, readings and talks, manuscript evaluation, story editing, writing tutorials, copy-editing, and curriculum writing.
Mail: HB Creativity, Suite 304, 155 Water Street, St John's, NL A1C 1B3
Phone: (709) 753-7740 Email: paul.butler@nl.rogers.com
Bio: Paul's novels explore aspects of Newfoundland's "pre-history." Other works, the upcoming Hero, and Stoker's
Shadow delve into our search for personal authenticity. A graduate of the Canadian Film Centre's Professional Screenwriting Programme,
Paul writes book reviews for the Globe and Mail, Books in Canada, and Atlantic Books Today and contributes to The Beaver,
Saltscapes and Canadian Geographic.
Selected Awards: Four Newfoundland and Labrador Arts and Letters Awards, 2008, 2006, 2004, and 2003.
Selected Publications: Hero (Halifax: Nimbus, 2009), 1892 (St. John's, 2008), NaGeira
(St John's: Pennywell Books, 2006), Easton's Gold (St John's: Brazen Books, 2005), Easton (St John's: Flanker Press, 2004),
Stoker's Shadow (St John's: Flanker Press, 2003).
Categories: Writing for Children, Fiction, Historical Fiction.
Available For: Readings, school visits, workshops.
Email: susanbrowne@nl.rogers.com
Bio: Susan has authored eight books for children and numerous short stories and columns. She was a guest artist at the 2008
Labrador Creative Arts Festival and the 2005 Winterset in Summer Literary Festival. She has also adjudicated Junior Division Prose in the provincial
Arts and Letters Competition.
Selected Awards: Editor's Choice, Juvenile Fiction, December/January 2009, CBRA Canadian Children's Literature; Best of 2008 Picture Books, Resource
Links Magazine; Finalist, 2008 History and Heritage Award; Honourable Mention, 2008 Cuffer Prize Short Story Competition.
Selected Publications: Hey Freddy, it's Canada's Birthday ( Tuckamore Books 2009), Freddy's Day at the Races (Tuckamore Books 2008),
The Land of a Thousand Whales (Tuckamore Books 2006), Goodness Gracious, Gulliver Mulligan (Raincoast Books 2003).
Categories: Non-fiction, Essay, Travel Writing, Journalism, Columns, Op-ed Pieces.
Available For: Public readings, school visits, workshops, book club appearances, and manuscript evaluation. Marjorie is available for travel.
Mail: PO Box 6242, St. John's, NL A1C 6J9
Email: mmdoyle@nfld.com
Bio: An experienced CBC broadcaster and award-winning writer, Marjorie has been a columnist with The Globe and Mail,
The Telegram, and numerous periodicals and has two pieces anthologized in high school English textbooks. In Winter 2009, she
was Haig-Brown Writer-in-Residence on Vancouver Island.
Selected Awards: National Magazine Award—Silver, 2005; Newfoundland and Labrador Arts and Letters Competition, 2009, 2007, 2003, 2002; CBC Radio Awards for Programming Excellence, 1995, 1994.
Selected Publications: Reels, Rock and Rosaries: Confessions of a Newfoundland Musician (East Lawrencetown: Pottersfield Press, 2005); Newfoundlander in Exile: The Life and Times of Philip Tocque (1814-1899) (Halifax: John Doull Books, 1997); A View of Her Own (St John's: Long Beach Press, 1996).
Categories: Corporate and Technical Writing, Print/Web/Audio Journalism, Website Development, Research, Editing, Conference Rappateuring,
Interviewing, Communications Consulting.
Available For: Print/web/audio journalism assignments, commercial and technical writing, project/grant proposal writing, research,
copy-editing, conference rappateuring, workshops, and readings. Alison is available to travel.
Phone: (709) 576-1312 Email: squidink@nl.rogers.com
Bio: Professional freelance writer and journalist contributing to regional, national, and U.S. magazines and dailies; occasional
freelance broadcaster for CBC radio. With an academic and professional background in both natural sciences and cultural industries, Dyer also works
as a researcher/writer of technical reports, backgrounders, white papers, discussion guides, public information materials.
Professional Member Of: Professional Writers of Canada; Society of Environmental Journalists, Canadian Science Writers Association,
Outdoor Writers of Canada.
Selected Awards: Metcalf Institute for Marine & Environmental Reporting, Rhode Island, 2006; Newfoundland and Labrador Arts and
Letters Competition, 2003, 2005.
Selected Publications: Journalism: Canadian Geographic, Beaver Magazine, Adventure Kayak Magazine, Progress Magazine, Working Waterfront;
Fiction and Poetry: Grimm Magazine, The Nashwaak Review, Newfoundland Quarterly, Rhythm Poetry Magazine.
Categories: Non-fiction, Journalism (print and digital), Research, Feature Writing (with accompanying photography if desired), Corporate Work (news releases, brochures, etc.), Crosswords and Quizzes, Writing for Children.
Available For: Writing and editing assignments, school visits, workshops, historical research. Denise is available for travel.
Phone: (709) 895-0261 Email: dflint@nl.rogers.com
Bio: A professional member of PWAC (Professional Writer's Association of Canada), Denise has written hundreds
of articles for magazines and newspapers, as well as for government and corporate clients. She is a stickler for getting
it right and has never missed a deadline.
Selected Publications: The Globe & Mail, The National Post, St. John's Telegram, History Magazine, Canadian Geographic.
Categories: Academic, Business and Technical Writing, Research, Editing, Process Consulting.
Available For: Academic, technical and business writing, process documentation, research including database
development or analysis, copy editing, content editing, editorial consulting, text workflow consulting.
Phone: (709) 437-1156 Email:
mhhild@earthlink.net
Bio: Martha Hickman Hild (B.A., Ph.D) has enjoyed a unique sequence of roles as academic researcher, technical
writer-editor, public servant, publishing manager, prize-winning journalist and process consultant. She has a reputation for thoughtful
problem solving and sensitivity to readers' needs.
Selected Awards: Finalist, Harvard Goldsmith Prize, 2003. One of nine "Women Who Lead", Media Management Centre, Northwestern
University, 2006.
Selected Publications: Journalism for Dayton Daily News; Educational Writing and Editing for National Geographic,
U.S. Internal Revenue Service, Ohio E.P.A.; Technical Writing for Procter & Gamble; Academic Writing for Nature.
Categories: Non-fiction, Business and Technical Writing, Journalism, Reviews and Oral Histories (with a particular emphasis on material related to aboriginal people).
Available For: Workshops, readings, school visits, book groups, lectures, conference reports, traditional knowledge, tourism information, and oral history interviews. Robin is willing to travel particularly within Newfoundland, Labrador, and the Canadian Arctic.
Mail: Box 862, Station C, Goose Bay, NL A0P 1C0
Phone: (709) 896-7213 Email: robinmcgrath@gmail.com
Bio: Robin has written hundreds of articles, newspaper columns, and reviews, and authored and edited 16 books.
She has work published throughout the world and is a columnist with The Telegram.
Selected Awards: Henry Fuerstenberg Poetry Award; The Newfoundland and Labrador Heritage and History Award; 14 Newfoundland and Labrador Arts and Letters Competition awards; Canada-Caribbean short list for the Commonwealth Award.
Selected Publications: Salt Fish and Schmattes: A History of the Jews of Newfoundland and Labrador from 1770 (Creative Press, 2006); Coasting Trade (Rattling Books, 2006);Covenant of Salt (Killick Press, March 2005); Donovan's Station (Killick Press, 2002).
Categories: Fiction.
Available For: Readings, lectures, school visits and book-group visits.
Phone: c/o Breakwater (709) 722-6660 or Knopf Canada Publicity (416) 957-1538
Bio: A charter member of the Writers' Alliance and the Newfoundland Writers' Guild and frequent winner of the
Newfoundland and Labrador's Arts and Letters Competition, Morgan has served on numerous boards including the editorial board of
Killick Press and on the board of the Newfoundland Quarterly. Her first two novels were filmed as a four-part CBC
television miniseries, Random Passage.
Awards: Canadian Authors Association Award for Fiction, Thomas H. Raddall Award for Fiction, Newfoundland and Labrador Arts Council Artist of the Year.
Selected Publications: Random Passage (St. John's: Breakwater, 1992); Waiting For Time (St. John's: Breakwater, 1994); Topography of Love (St. John's: Breakwater, 2000); Cloud of Bone (Toronto: Knopf Canada, 2007).
Categories: Fiction, Non-fiction, Poetry, Business and Technical Writing, Journalism, Reviews.
Available For: Workshops, readings, school visits, copy-editing, lectures, and contract work.
Mail: PO Box 482, Station B, Happy Valley-Goose Bay, NL A0P 1E0
Phone: (709) 896-8358 Email: bnwrite@yahoo.com or beverlynippard@fastmail.fm
Bio: After earning a diploma in "Writing for Magazine," Beverly has been published in a variety of
magazines, newspapers, and anthologies across Canada. Her poetry and commentaries have been aired on CBC Radio and
she has had a song recorded. Beverly is currently submitting a novella for publication.
Awards: National competition for newsletters in the '100 bed and under category', 2006; Christmas in the Country international writing competition—First Place, 2003.
Selected Publications: Columnist: Labrador Life Magazine; Editor: The Auxiliary News; LHCA Quarterly Newsletter; Anthology: Christmas in the Country (2003).
Categories: Non-fiction, Fiction, Researcher, Writer, Archivist (Level I).
Available For: School visitations, workshops on non-fiction writing and publication, as well as readings. Robert is available for travel.
Mail: 32 Pearson Place, Grand Bank, NL A0E 1W0
Phone: (709) 832-2427 Email: robertparsons@personainternet.com
Bio: Robert has written 17 books, several with Newfoundland publishers and four with Pottersfield Press of Nova Scotia.
He has published about 200 non-fiction articles, research articles, reviews, poems, and short stories in local and provincial newspapers and journals.
Selected Awards: Newfoundland and Labrador Literary Award shortlist, 2002.
Selected Publications: Between Sea and Sky (St John's: Creative, 2002); Ocean of Storms, Sea of Disaster (Lawrencetown: Pottersfield, 2005).
Categories: Non-fiction, Life Stories, Communications, Business Writing.
Available For: Research and writing of stories for communities, families, and businesses.
Mail: Stories Worth Telling, 28 Poplar Avenue, St John's, NL A1B 1C8
Phone: (709) 738-0840 Email:
diana@storiesworthtelling.ca
Bio: Diana has a bachelor of commerce, works as a communications practitioner, achieved the
coveted accredited business communicator designation through the International Association of Business Communicators, and is a member
of the Association of Personal Historians. Fascinated by the power of stories since the age of five, she's dedicated to helping organizations,
communities, and families tell their stories.
Categories: Fiction, Non-fiction, Editing, Corporate, Academic and Technical Writing, Research, Communications Consulting.
Available For: Manuscript evaluation, editing (developmental, substantive, stylistic, copy editing and proofreading of
any document), curriculum development and delivery, workshops on writing and grammar, grant proposal writing, corporate and technical writing,
communications and strategic planning.
Email: info@tamarareynish.com
Bio: An experienced editor and writer, Tamara teaches technical and proposal writing, editing and grammar at Memorial
University. For additional information, see her website at http://tamarareynish.com/.
Professional Member Of: Editors' Association of Canada, Society for Technical Communicators.
Selected Awards: Nominated for the Tom Fairley Award for Editorial Excellence from the Editors' Association of Canada, 2006.
Selected Publications: Fiction and non-fiction - Over 40 editing publishing credits; Academic and Technical - Hundreds of
editing publishing credits.
Categories: Journalism, Biography, Fiction.
Available For: Dan writes in the areas of oceanography, marine biology, boat building, educational theory and practice, music,
visual arts, travel, and cultural change. His background includes science, technical writing, arts, and humanities. Dan is available to travel.
Phone: (709) 335-2340 Email: secondstage@hotmail.com
Bio: Dan has been a school principal, broadcaster, and a radio play producer and a theatre director.
He has advised educational leaders on curriculum development. Dan is on the board of directors for the NL Musicians' Association.
He is the founder of Second Stage Creative Arts, a Newfoundland and Labrador arts management agency.
Selected Awards: The Prime Minister's Award for Teaching Excellence; Award of Merit from the British Columbia Arts Council; Mattia Family International Poetry Competition—First Prize.
Selected Publications: Salt on the Wind: The Sailing Lives of Allen and Sharie Farrell (Victoria: Horsdal and Schubart, 1996); Short Fiction includes: The Burn (OnSpec Magazine) and The Singing (Anthology Tesseracts 9 and Between the Covers, CBC, 2006).
Pete Sarsfield, Winnipeg
Categories: Non-fiction (essay; travel memoir; person-in-place), Science (public health and/or healthcare commentary), Fiction
(short story), Advocacy (indigenous peoples; environmental).
Available For: Public readings and talks, advocacy support, school visits, conference and workshop talks, and professional group
support. Travel to site is acceptable/preferred.
Mail: Apt. 805, 71 Roslyn Road, Winnipeg, MB R3L 0G2
Phone: (204) 391- 3703 Email: petesarsfield@shaw.ca
Bio: Pete is from Nova Scotia, where he worked as a psychiatric hospital orderly, English and medical student, and bartender.
He has been writing since childhood and earned his keep otherwise, in recent years as a physician in Labrador, NWT, Manitoba and Ontario.
He lives in Winnipeg.
Professional Member Of: Writers' groups in Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, British Columbia,
and related national organizations.
Awards: Best Pete in the World, awarded by his daughters, 1986.
Selected Publications: Report to the Naskapi Montagnais Innu Association and the Labrador Inuit Association regarding the
health care delivery system in northern Labrador (Labrador: NMIA/LIA, 1977; Running with the Caribou, (Winnipeg: Turnstone Press, 1997);
Hollow Water (Winnipeg: Turnstone Press, 2000); Suspended (Pottersfield Press, 2003); Inspection report on the Pikangikum water and
sewage systems (Kenora: Northwestern Health Unit, 2006); glimpse, (Kenora: Self-published, 2007); Change of Venue,
(Winnipeg: Self-published, 2009).
Categories: Fiction, Non-fiction, Journalism, Reviews, Ghost-writing.
Available For: Workshops, readings, school visits, book group visits, copyediting, manuscript evaluation, and lectures. JoAnne is willing to travel.
Phone: (709) 579-1681 or 728-6628 Email: joannesopercook@hotmail.com
Bio: JoAnne Soper-Cook holds a B.A. (Honours) and an M.A. from Memorial and is currently pursuing a B.Ed. (Post-Secondary).
She is the author of six novels, various short fiction, essays, journalism, and ephemera.
Selected Publications: The Paragon of Animals (St John's: Brazen Books, 2006); A Cold Blooded Scoundrel (St John's: Flanker Press, 2005); Waterborne (Goose Lane Editions), The Opium Lady (Goose Lane Editions).
Nellie P. Strowbridge, Pasadena
Categories: Fiction, Non-fiction, Poetry, Journalism, Monologue.
Available For: Workshops, readings, school visits, and book group visits.
Mail: Box 243, Pasadena, NL A0L 1K0
Phone: (709) 686-5018 Email: nellie_strowbridge@yahoo.com
Bio: Nellie's children's book, Far From Home Dr. Grenfell's Little Orphan (Flanker imprint) sold out
its 2004 and 2006 printings and was short-listed for the Newfoundland and Labrador Historic and History Award in 2006.
Selected Awards: Canada's Stamp of Approval Award; 16 Newfoundland and Labrador Arts and Letters Competition Awards.
Selected Publications: The Tongue of a Newfoundlander-Labradorian ( St John's: Flanker Press, 2007); The Gift of Christmas ( St John's: Flanker Press, 2006); Dancing on Ochre Sands ( St John's: Jesperson Publishing, 2004).
Categories: Fiction, Plays, Non-fiction, Poetry, Grant-writing.
Available For: Workshops, readings, school visits, new play dramaturgy, manuscript evaluation, book-group visits, and grant-writing.
Mail: 64 Quidi Vidi Road, St. John's, NL A1A 1C1
Email: sara@saratilley.ca
Bio: Sara has written or co-written ten professionally produced plays. She is the author of a novel, Skin Room, and
has extensive experience as a successful grant-writer for a variety of not-for-profit initiatives. For detailed information on Sara and her
work, see her website at http://www.saratilley.ca/.
Awards: Fresh Fish Award for Emerging Writers, 2006; Percy Janes First Novel Award, 2004; Rhonda Payne Award, 2006.
Selected Publications: Novel: Skin Room (Toronto: Pedlar Press, 2008).
Claire Wilkshire, St. John's
Categories: Fiction, Non-fiction, Business, Technical Writing.
Available For: Writing, editing (all kinds), workshops on writing and grammar, French or English lessons, manuscript
evaluation, story editing. Available to travel.
Mail:71 Freshwater Road, St. John's, NL A1C 2N4
Phone: (709) 726-0614 Email: editor@nf.sympatico.ca
Bio: Claire Wilkshire has a Ph.D. in Canadian literature from the University of British Columbia and is an experienced teacher
of university-level language and literature courses. She is a current member of the Editors' Association of Canada.
Selected Publications: edited with John Metcalf: Writers Talking; short fiction published in a variety of literary magazines; numerous book reviews in journals.
Clients include: Bluedrop Performance Learning, Commission of Inquiry into Hormone Receptor Testing, Duo Concertante.
Kathleen Winter, Montreal
Categories: Short Fiction, Non-fiction, Poetry.
Available For: Readings and workshops anywhere.
Email: poetrypizza@gmail.com
Bio: Kathleen's award-winning short fiction has appeared in literary journals across Canada.
She writes about apparent opposites: earthly and unearthly, connection and loneliness, male and female, hilarity and doom.
Kathleen conducts sessional lectures on creative non-fiction at Memorial University.
Selected Awards: Metcalf Rooke Award, 2007.
Selected Publications: Short Fiction: boYs (Windsor: Biblioasis, 2007).
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