You can listen to me share news about Don’t Lose Sight and read one of my recent poems here Iguana Books blog
Creative Writing
Robert Munsch is reported to have said that writing is like swimming; the more you do it, the better you get. In my case, knitting would be a better comparator, but the principle holds. That is why I continue to practise, take courses, and seek feedback from fellow writers and poets, published or unpublished. To date I have studied under authors Kim Echlin, Shaughnessy Bishop-Stall, and Marina Nemat as well as poet Catherine Graham. I am currently working with Allan Briesmaster, a member of the League of Canadian Poets, as my poetry mentor.
Here is some of my writing:
- Joan's Passing a poem to honour a woman who died alone
- Hermeneutical Injustice—A Fancy Term for Just Plain Wrong, a piece I wrote after learning how well that concept explained what happened to me when I complained about a licensed health care practitioner
- Chorus of Entitlement, a rant about human nature
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No Business Knitting, a short essay about the lingering prejudice against the craft of knitting
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If I Were God, a poem about persistent city noise
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Pilgrim's Petition, a short essay about what happened after I read No Friend But The Mountain
- Open Letter to Meng Wanzhou, a poem that connects Ms Meng to the Two Michaels.
Informational Writing
I love working with words and originally applied that love to the field of dispute resolution where my writing was informational in nature. The goal was to convey information in a clear, literal, and organized way. Little, if anything, was to be implied. The same word was to be used to describe the same concept; no careless substitutions or vague terminology were allowed.
As an informational writer, I developed reports, newsletters, course materials, case studies, and more for various people, groups, or organizations. Commissioned writing has included
- independent program reviews
- position papers
- program-specific materials such as FAQs, feedback instruments, information bulletins, intake guides, and standardized scripts & templates.
I have also published my own books, essays, and articles, including Bypass Court: A Dispute Resolution Handbook, (LexisNexis, 2015) and “Mediating Commercial Disputes: Exchanging ‘Power Over’ for ‘Power With,” in Rethinking Disputes: The Mediation Alternative edited by Dr. Julie Macfarlane (Cavendish Publishing, 1997).
Editing
Editing is about relationships. As an editor, I help writers clarify their thoughts and express themselves plainly to their intended audiences, while at the same time respecting their voice.
Currently, I serve as Editor-in-Chief of the Canadian Arbitration and Mediation Journal, an online publication of the ADR Institute of Canada. Past issues of the journal can be found here https://www.canlii.org/en/commentary/journals/43/.
I also serve as volunteer editor of Spiritus, the periodic newsletter of Christ Church Deer Park Anglican Church in Toronto. Past issues of the newsletter can be found here https://christchurchdeerpark.org/spiritus-archive/.
When I was an editorial intern at Colborne Communications in Toronto, I did an early structural edit of Erika Nielsen’s book Sound Mind: My Bipolar Journey from Chaos to Composure (Trigger Publishing, 2019). Now in its second printing, Erika’s book has since won several awards. See https://www.celloerika.com/author.
I have also edited works such as
- arbitration awards
- columns & opinion pieces
- committee decisions
- policies & procedures
- organizational profiles.
Radio
IDEAS is a CBC Radio One documentary show about contemporary issues. Over the years I have contributed to the following shows:
- The Trouble with Tolerance, a 3-part show, broadcast in 2015 as an “Ideas Classic.” Originally created in 2007, it wrestles with the nature and meaning of tolerance in a diverse society.
- When Families Start Talking, a 2-part show, that looks at the conversations families do and don’t have about money, inheritances, care-giving, death, and other hot-button topics.
- Changing the Workplace that examines what makes organizational change so compelling and why so many deliberate change initiatives fail.
- Dispute Resolution, a show created when alternative dispute resolution was in its infancy. It discusses the ideas behind the techniques and follows the mediation of issues between a chartered bank and one of its customers.