Participants in the 2007 Literary Journalism program at The Banff Centre will have the opportunity to work with one of Canada’s most respected non-fiction writers. Currently senior editor at The Walrus magazine, and a writer whose features, columns, and books have earned her multiple awards, Marni Jackson is the Centre’s newly appointed Rogers Communications Chair in Literary Journalism.
“Marni Jackson has a long-standing relationship with the Centre as both a participant and as faculty,” says Sarah Iley, vice-president, programming at The Banff Centre. “She is a highly skilled and insightful Canadian writer and we are thrilled that she has agreed to direct the Literary Journalism program. She joins an illustrious line of chairs who have ensured that this program has made a real contribution to the field of non-fiction writing in Canada over its 19-year history.”
Jackson’s writing has appeared in every major Canadian magazine as well as in Outside, Rolling Stone, Maclean’s, The Globe and Mail, and The London Times. In 2002, Vintage Books re-issued her Canadian bestseller The Mother Zone. Her most recent book, Pain: The Science and Culture of Why We Hurt, became a finalist for the Writers' Trust Pearson Award for Nonfiction. A former columnist for the Globe and Mail’s Books section, she is also a sought-after teacher and lecturer.
Winner of multiple National Magazine Awards for her columns, humour, and travel writing, Jackson has written extensively about hidden or off-the-map cultures - everything from the world of big game fishermen to the myths surrounding family life and motherhood. The former host of TVO’s Imprint, she has also worked on successful theatre and film projects.
“Writing is always a precarious undertaking,” Jackson says. “I’m grateful for the work I’ve been able to do in the past, as a resident at The Banff Centre, and I’m delighted to be returning in this new role.”
The Banff Centre’s Literary Journalism program (formerly Creative Non-Fiction and Cultural Journalism) was established in 1988 with an endowment from the government of Alberta and Maclean Hunter Limited. Rogers Communications acquired Maclean Hunter in 1994, acquiring the naming rights to the Chair. Past chairs of the program include Robert Fulford from 1988 to 1991, Alberto Manguel from 1992 to 1996, Michael Ignatieff from 1997 to 2000, Alberto Ruy Sanchez from 2001 to 2003, and Rosemary Sullivan from 2004 to 2006.
The program brings established non-fiction writers together to develop their creative capacity in criticism, social issues-based essays, and long-form journalism. Each writer receives a commission and is provided with one of the architecturally designed studios in the Centre’s Leighton Artists Colony. Residency participants work on their draft manuscripts in consultation with the program chair and with faculty editors.
The 2007 Literary Journalism program runs from July 9 to August 4, 2007 during the Banff Summer Arts Festival, and includes a popular series of public readings by distinguished Canadian and international non-fiction authors and essayists.
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For information about the Literary Journalism at The Banff Centre:
http://www.banffcentre.ca/programs/program.aspx?id=598