Formal Education:
- BA, Wilfred Laurier University, Waterloo, Ontario (formerly Waterloo Lutheran University) Major: English Literature; Minor: Psychology
- Canadian University Services Overseas: CUSO teacher training and orientation program, St. Francis Xavier University, Antigonish, Nova Scotia. (Ten additional days of study were led by a number of well-known Caribbean authors, actors and artists on the campuses of the University of the West Indies in Kingston, Jamaica and in Port of Spain, Trinidad.)
Audited Courses:
- “Children’s Literature and Media Interests” (MLIS Program, Dalhousie University School of Library and Information Studies, Halifax, N.S.)
- “A History of Children’s Literature, 19th Century” (Saint Mary’s University Extension Services)
Fee-based Courses and Workshops:
- “Writing for Children and Young Adults” (Writers’ Federation of Nova Scotia; Course Instructor: Vicki Grant)
- One-Day Workshops sponsored by the Writer’s Federation of Nova Scotia: Leaders have included: Kathy Lowinger, Barbara Greenwood, Deborah Ellis, Marthe Jocelyn, Frieda Wishinsky
- Attended lectures presented over the course of a month by the late children’s and YA author Mollie Hunter while she was Writer-In-Residence at Dalhousie University’s School of Information and Library Sciences
Recent Activity:
- Attended webinars sponsored by The Writer’s Federation of Nova Scotia (WFNS) These included “Taking Back the Business” sessions in the fall of 2020, and spring and fall 2021 and 2022 (four per season) ; attended selected webinars offered by The Writer’s Union of Canada (TWUC) ; attended monthly online meetings of the Canadian Society of Children’s Authors, Illustrators and Performers CANSCAIP) (The pandemic of Covid-19 moved all these sessions online, opening up opportunities for writers across Canada to attend.)
Other:
- Honourable Mention for YA Novel, All Shook Up (32nd annual Atlantic Writing Competition)
- 3rd Place, YA Novel, The Tale of the Tenth Planet (11th annual Atlantic Writing Competition)
- Honourable Mentions for Book I of En Route to Orbus (Novel), and for The Tenth Planet. The latter was a short story submitted to the Writing for Children Category of the above competition, which I later expanded into the YA novel mentioned in bullet #3 above.
- Prince Nicolai and the Empty Box storybook text long-listed in the 2018 Canadian Society of Children’s Authors, Illustrators and Performers (CANSCAIP) “Writing for Children Competition” (500 entrants)
- Prince Nicolai and the Empty Box long-listed from among close to nine hundred entries submitted to a TWUC sponsored “Writing for Children Competition.” (874 entrants)
- I was short-listed from among fifty-five applicants for the WFNS Mentorship Program in 2007
Employment History:
- 1980-1998; 1975-1977: Patrick Power Library, Saint Mary’s University, Halifax, Nova Scotia
- 1967-1969: Teacher of English Language and Literature in Guyana and Jamaica under the auspices of Canadian University Services Overseas (CUSO)
Memberships:
- Writers’ Federation of Nova Scotia
- Associate Member of CANSCAIP (Canadian Society of Children’s Authors, Illustrators and Performers)
M.E. Pilkey (Peggy) 