Curriculum Vitae
Work History
Instructor of Creative Writing, York University, 2008.
Faculty Member at Humber College. Instructor and Mentor in Creative Non-Fiction, Fiction, and Poetry. Humber School of Writing, Toronto.
Writer-in-Residence, Green College, University of British Columbia, from September 2002 --February, 2003. Seminars, readings, workshops, and lectures on creative writing, poetics, and border-crossing. Active consultant with academics and writers in the inter-disciplinary atmosphere of Green College.
Workshop Leader for Global Source Network, Seattle, U.S.A., an organization which promotes the instruction of global justice issues and citizenship in U.S. high schools. Highly interactive workshop with teachers: The Writer as Witness. Taught during the third week of July, 2001.
Writer-in-Residence, Douglas College, New Westminster, B.C. March/2001. Responsible for public readings, workshops, lectures to the Douglas College student population.
Workshop Leader, “The Vital Writer”, highly interactive workshop, for the Kootenay School of Writers in Nelson, B.C. Weekend workshop, March/2001.
Juror for the Governor General’s Awards, Non-Fiction Category, Ottawa, September, 2000.
Lecturer at the York University Millenium Symposium, Toronto. January, 2000.
Participant in the Cultural Journalism Program at the Banff Centre, Banff, Alberta. July, 1999.
Writer-in-Residence, Okanagan University College, Penticton Campus, B.C. October-January, 1998-99; responsible for public readings, lectures, and consulting work with creative writers in the college and Okanagan community.
Regular grant adjudicator for the Canadian Heritage Commission/Department of Multiculturalism Grant Program, Ottawa. 1995-96.
Documentary film writer, Asia Works Broadcasting, Bangkok, Thailand, 1996.
Visiting Scholar, Green College, UBC, Vancouver, B.C., 1996.
Workshop Leader, poetry and prose, for the Yukon Book Festival, April, 1994.
Regular contributor to CBC Radio (Morningside, Arts Tonight, Alberta Anthology), 1993-1997. Commentaries, letters, interviews about Greece, Burma, rural New Brunswick, Montreal.
Writer-in-Residence, University of New Brunswick, September 1992 to March, l993; responsible for three public readings, two seminars on the content and/or development of my work; consultant for interested creative writers in the Maritime community
Workshop Leader; creative writing for young adults, The Alexander Writer's Centre, l990-91, Calgary.
Workshop Leader, The Alexander Writer's Centre, 1990, 1991, Calgary. Workshops included "Using the journal as a writer's tool", "How to create dynamic characters", "An introduction to creating poetry" and "Using poetic techniques in prose".
Creative Writing Tutor for Gifted Students (GATE) Program at Queen Elizabeth School in Calgary, l990-91.
Participant in Canada Council-funded elementary, junior high and high school readings/ workshops/discussions in Calgary, spring, l990. (Also in 1992) (In conjunction with National Book Week.)
Poetry Workshop Leader, St. Thomas University, Frederiction, N.B., l991.
English-as-a-second-language teacher, The Behal Academy, Algorta, Vizcaya, Spain, l989-1990.
Languages spoken: proficient to fluent Thai, Greek, French, Spanish, Burmese.
Awards, Grants, Prizes
**Winner, The Orange Broadband Prize for New Writers, 2007, for The Lizard Cage
**Shortlisted, The Kiriyama Prize, for The Lizard Cage, 2005.
Longlisted, The Impac Dublin Award, for The Lizard Cage, 2006,
Recipient of a 2005 Ontario Arts Council Grant for work on Burmese Lessons
**New York Times Notable Travel Book of the Year, 2002, for Touch The Dragon (published as Dream of a Thousand Lives in the U.S.)
**Gold National Magazine Award, for “City of Nations”, an essay about Toronto in Toronto Life. 2000.
Recipient of a Grant in Professional Writers Category from Canada Council, for work on The Lizard Cage . Spring 2000.
Recipient of a Senior Writers’ Grant, Alberta Foundation for the Arts, for work on a novel set in Burma, 1998.
Recipient of a Canada Council Grant for a book of essays, 1996.
Invited artist-in-residence at the Varuna Writers' Colony, Katoomba, N.S.W. Australia, 1996
**Recipient of Canada’s highest literary honour for non-fiction writing, the Governor General's Award for Touch The Dragon , l994.
Recipient of an intermediate writer's grant from the Alberta Foundation for the Arts, to continue work on One Room In A Castle, 1993.
Recipient of an Arts Grant B from Canada Council, l991, to fund writing of One Room In A Castle.
**Winner of the Pat Lowther Award, l991, for best book of poetry published by a Canadian woman in the preceding year, for The Small Words In My Body , Kalamalka Press, l990.
Recipient of an Intermediate Writer's Grant, l991, The Alberta Foundation for Literary Arts, to fund a new book of poetry.
**Winner of the National Kalamalka New Writers Contest, l990, book publication (The Small Words In My Body , poetry) and tour.
Recipient of a Junior Writer's Grant, l988, The Alberta Foundation for Literary Arts, to fund the writing of Touch The Dragon .
**Winner of the Air Canada Award, for the Most Promising Young Writer in Canada under 35, l986, from the Canadian Authors Association.
History of Literary Publications/Works in Progress (publishers are Canadian unless otherwise indicated)
The Lizard Cage , Random House Canada, Fall, 2005
Doubleday/Nan A. Talese 2007
Harvill and Secker, Britain 2007
Buchet-Chastel, France 2007
Querido, Holland, 2006
Frassinelli, Italy, 2006
Grace and Poison ; essay and new edition of poetry, Turnstone Press, 2001
The Border Surrounds Us ; poetry, McClelland and Stewart Publishers, 2000.
The Disorder of Love ; poetry/photographs. Gutter Press, 1997.
One Room In A Castle, Letters from Spain, France, and Greece; Turnstone Press, 1995. Published in Australia (HarperCollins) and the U.K. (Black Swan) in 1997.
Touch The Dragon, A Thai Journal; creative non-fiction-travel, Turnstone Press, l992.
Published in the U.S. as A Dream of a Thousand Lives, by Seal Press.
English language publication in Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia in 1994. (Silkworm Books)
Translated and published in Chinese in Taipei, Taiwan, 1995. (Perfect Wisdom Publishing)
Australia (HarperCollins) and the U.K. (Black Swan) in 1996.
Published in German translation (Bastei-Lubbe) in 1998.
This Brighter Prison , A Book of Journeys; poetry/fiction, Brick Books, l993.
The Small Words In My Body, poetry; Kalamalka Press, l990. New edition by Gutter Press, 1995. New edition by Turnstone Press, 2001.
In-progress
The memoir Burmese Lessons about her time among revolutionaries, dissidents, and refugees in Burma and on the Thai-Burma border. Slated for publication with Random House Canada 2008.
Group Portrait by Starlight, a new collection of poetry
A new novel.
A collections of essays about Canada.