As artists and their artworks co-inhere, as writers and their writings span the thresholds of seeing and saying, so do I wholly embrace the liminal journey of cultivating story.
Here lives the beating heart of my lifelong passion for bringing words and pictures and true stories together.
Many years ago, I met a woman who was en route from being a journalist in New York to being a novelist in Vermont. "How does a journalist on Friday become a novelist on Monday?" I wondered. "Well," she offered, "as a journalist I had to report the facts, but as a novelist I get to tell the truth."
“Life is not what one lived, but what one remembers and how one remembers it in order to recount it.” —Gabriel García Márquez, Living to Tell the Tale, 2003.
Facts and truths may, of course, unwind and intertwine, and elements of fiction and nonfiction may well cross paths. As a reader and a writer, I favour the smack and sizzle of a gut-punch of a true story written in literary style. This narrative nonfiction form differs from nonfiction when memoirists, for example, engage the literary tools of fiction to tell our true stories.
“The purpose of literature is to turn blood into ink.” —T.S. Eliot (1888–1965).
academic research papers
“The Risky Business of Translating Resiliency Research into Advocacy Practice, in The Newsletter of the BC Institute Against Family Violence, 7(3), 18–21. Winter 2001.
“The Risky Business of Translating Resiliency Research into Advocacy Practice,” in FOCUS on Children and Youth, 5(1), 9–12. 2000.
“Toward Participatory Pedagogy: From Targeting Childhood Risk and Resilience to Teaching Children’s Rights and Responsibilities,” in J. R. Epp (Ed.), Centering on the Margins: The Evaded Curriculum. The Canadian Association for the Study of Women and Education (CASWE), International Institute Proceedings, Vol. 73–80. Ottawa, ON: University of Ottawa. 1998.
“Reconstructing Childhood: Toward a Praxis of Inclusion,” in A. McGillivray (Ed.), Governing Childhood (pp. 225–49). Aldershot ENG: Dartmouth. 1997.
Review of "Interrogating Incest: Feminism, Foucault and the Law," in Canadian Journal of Law and Society, 11, 295–99. Spring, 1996.
“Dangerous Liaison: The Eugenics Movement and the Educational State,” in J. R. Epp, & A. M. Watkinson (Eds.), Systemic Violence: How Schools Hurt Children (pp. 27–49). London UK: The Falmer Press. 1996.
“Corporal Punishment in the Family: A Review of Psychology, Sociology, and Women’s Studies Abstracts,” for The Ontario Institute for the Prevention of Child Abuse. 1992.
doctoral dissertation
Rewriting Resilience: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Childhood Resilience and the Politics of Teaching Resilience to 'Kids at Risk.' (UBC, 1999). Sheila Martineau, Copyright 1999.
Abstract and Dissertation available at UBC Library Open Collections: Rewriting Resilience.
commissioned essays
"The Nature of Silk Creation | The Creation of Silk Culture," in La Vie en Soie II. Joanna Staniszkis, Textile Art Exhibit Catalogue. Provence, France: Dora Maar Foundation, L’hôtel de Tingry, Ménerbes. 2022.
"The Creative Spirit," in Patricia Gray: Pastels. Vancouver BC: Patricia Gray Inc., 5–9. 2016.
“The Dark Path of the Fairy Tale Forest: Journeying Deep into Lesley Richmond’s Tree Series,” in Surface Design Journal, 36(1), 12–15. 2011.
“From Alchemy to Art: Les Éditions Lucie Lambert,” in The wisdom of the imagination: The livres d’artiste of Lucie Lambert. Vancouver BC: Artistory®, 1–27. 2010.
“The Fruit of the Creative Spirit is the Work of Art Itself,” in Portfolio Collection: Lesley Richmond. (Vol. 40, M. Koumis, Ed.). London UK: Telos Art Publishing, 13–28. 2007.
“The Secret Life of Cocoons: The Silk Project of Textile Artist Joanna Staniszkis,” in NUVO Magazine, 9, 89–91. 2006.
“MetalMorphosis: Worlds Within Worlds with Joanna Staniszkis,” in Surface Design Journal, 29(4), 24–9. 2005.
“Les Éditions Lucie Lambert: Livres d’artiste and the Wisdom of the Imagination,” in Amphora, 139, 6–19. 2005. (Design/reprint, illustrated, Artistory®, 1–22. 2007.)
commissioned biographies
Jonathan Losee: Landscape Architecture. (Web Content). A career retrospective commissioned by Prospect & Refuse Landscape Architects Ltd., Vancouver BC. Jonathan Losee, Copyright 2019.
Finding A Good Fit: The Life and Work of Architect Rand Iredale. Vancouver BC: Granville Island Publishing. Co-authored with Kathryn Iredale, Copyright 2008.
HotMail: Notes from Abroad. "As dispatched to family and friends during my world tour." Charlotte Murray, Architect, Copyright 2004.
custom children's booklets:
words, pictures, & true stories
The Early Lego | Star Wars Adventures of a Future Jedi Master (2009)
A Colourful Collection of Characters & Costumes (2007)
The Story of My Huge Life so Far (2006)
Cookbook Tips & Treats (2005)
narrative nonfiction memoir
I wanted to tell you this: a memoir. My ten-years-in-the-works manuscript now being prepared for submission to potential publishers.
creative nonfiction essays
"In the Dying Room" (2025). 2nd place winner in the CNFC-Fiddlehead Canada-wide creative nonfiction competition (revised version of unpublished essay).
"There is a coy tenderness to the way the author ... offers her insights into her father’s passing, and her father’s life. A sort of shy reclamation of the man as his dying days brings him back to her life as a human, rather than the mythological figure he was before. The author’s sharp eyes zero in on the details that matter and dust away all the unnecessary excess. It’s hard to say no to the author’s strong voice; captivating, wistful and exciting all the same. A triumph of a non-fiction piece."
(Danny Ramadan, judge)
"In the Dying Room" (2022). One of eleven finalists (out of 482 submissions) in The Writers' Union of Canada annual short prose competition.
“Gripping, with evocative details that also conjure up a sense of rawness and the willingness to look on terrible things. The care the voice employs indicates a speaker ... finally coming to face what's unbearable, and the story brings the reader on this courageous journey.” (anonymous juror)
"In the Light of Day" (2022). Companion piece to "In the Dying Room," awaiting a re-write and a debut ...
"A Beautiful Beast." In D. Elza (Ed.), Emerge 14: The Writers Studio Anthology. Vancouver BC: Simon Fraser University, 84–89. 2014.
public readings / nonfiction excerpts
"Franny & Sparky: A True Story." Recorded for the Belight Series, Writers Radio, 2023.
"Smoke and Mirrors." Recorded for Writers Radio, 2022.
"Smoke and Mirrors." The Writers' Studio, SFU. Cottage Bistro, 2017.
"Dick Tracy: A True Story." The Writers' Studio, SFU. Cottage Bistro, 2016.
"The Master Plan." Vancouver Manuscript Intensive. Havana Café Theatre, 2015.
"The Assemblages." The Writers' Studio, SFU. Cottage Bistro, 2014.
creative nonfiction booklets
The Boys: Peter and Paul Martineau. Self-published, Copyright 2021. The antics and accomplishments of my deceased twin brothers while they were growing up (1948–67).
The Vignettes: Staying Home Alone with Maxine. Self-published, Copyright 2020. My series of personal vignettes written and photographed for fun during the 2020 Covid lockdown in BC.