I am currently a faculty member at Vermont College in their
wonderful MFA in Writing for Children & Young Adults program.
For the past five years, I have been a core-lecturer at Children's Literature
New England annual summer institute. Another wonderful group of people.
I was lucky enough to be one of two authors (Ken Oppel was the other)
to appear with J.K. Rowling at the Sky Dome in Toronto, October, 2000.
There
was an audience of 20,000. The event is recorded in the Guinness Book
of Records as the largest reading in history.
I wrote a dozen radio dramas for CBC, and won a 1988 Actra Award for
St. Anthony’s Man, which I adapted from my short story of the same
name.
I wrote the lyrics for sixteen songs with composer Phil Balsam for the
Jim Henson/CBC TV show, Fraggle Rock
I wrote the book and lyrics for the musical Mischief City with composer
John Roby, for Toronto Young People’s Theatre, April-May, 1990. (See “Stuff
to Buy” if you are interested in the audiotape.)
I wrote the book and performed as the narrator for Once There Was Only
Sky, a piece written for the percussion ensemble Nexus and The Toronto
Children's Dance Theatre and produced by Chamber Concerts Canada at Young
People's Theatre, December, 1989
I wrote the book and libretto for the opera, A Midwinter Night's Dream,
with composer Harry Somers. The piece was commissioned by the Canadian
Children's Opera Chorus. The first performance was at The Toronto International
Children's Festival, 1988. It was subsequently recorded by CBC Radio,
and remounted in 2003 at the Bluma Appel Theatre in Toronto, produced
by Soundstreams,
Canada
I wrote the theme song lyrics for the YTV shows: YTV Hits and YTV Rocks,
with composer, Phil Balsam
I wrote the text for the Christmas anthem, The Gist of Time, with composer
Eric Robertson. It was premiered by the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir.
I wrote the lyrics and performed as lead vocals for the CD, A Boat out
of Paper, recorded by The Suspects, 1997. (See “Stuff
to Buy” if
you are interested in purchasing the CD).
I have written round about forty songs for the band Louis the Dreamer
of which I am the lead singer
I was the children’s book reviewer for the Toronto Globe and Mail
from 1985 to 1988.
I have been a writing instructor, from time to time, at The Banff School
Of Fine Arts, Red Deer College, St. Lawrence College, Algonquin College,
University of
Ottawa, and the University of New Brunswick's Maritime Workshop
I was an instructor in visual arts at the University of Waterloo from
1974-1978 and at York University from 1978-1980
I was writer-in-residence at the Perth and District Public Library, Perth,
Ontario in 1988. (That’s why we moved up to this great town in the first
place). Then I held the same position for a year at the Nepean Public Library,
Nepean,
Ontario in 1993
I was the children's book editor at Red Deer College Press from 1990-96
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