One of Saskatchewan’s most prolific authors, Edward Willett, is looking forward to sharing his expertise and passion for prose with the Saskatoon-and-area writing community through Saskatoon Public Library’s Writer-in-Residence program.
An award-winning author based in Regina, Willett has published more than 60 books of science fiction, fantasy and non-fiction for children, teens and adults. Willett also hosts The Worldshapers podcast, which focuses on the creative processes of other fantasy and science fiction writers.
“I’m thrilled to have the opportunity serve as writer-in-residence at SPL,” said Willett. “Over the years I’ve taught creative writing, mentored writers, and worked as an editor, and I look forward to helping Saskatoon-area writers in any way I can, from discussing ideas to offering advice based on my experience as a published writer to helping edit and improve manuscripts. It’s going to be a great few months and I can’t wait to get started.”
Willett’s novel Marseguro (published by DAW Books in New York) won the 2009 Aurora Award for best English-language science fiction or fantasy book by a Canadian author. He also won a Saskatchewan Book Award for his young-adult fantasy novel Spirit Singer, which was just re-released through Willett’s own recently established publishing company, Shadowpaw Press. He has won or been shortlisted for numerous other awards and his next novel, Master of the World (book number two in his Worldshapers fantasy series), will be released in Sept. 2019. He served as the Writer in Residence at Regina Public Library in 2011/12.
“The Writer-in-Residence program has deep roots in Saskatoon and is always an extremely popular service at SPL,” said Carol Cooley, SPL’s Director of Libraries and CEO. “As one of Saskatchewan’s most productive authors who has published such a wide array of work for all demographics, we very excited to be welcoming Edward Willett to this position. I am confident he will be a valuable resource for our writing community over the coming months.”
Willett’s term as SPL’s Writer in Residence begins in September 2019 and will run until April 2020. He will be SPL’s 39thWriter in Residence since the program was established in 1981. For more information, visit: www.saskatoonlibrary.ca/wir.
