Author of The Book of Negroes Laurence Hill is starting a new chapter in his life: professor of creative writing in the College of Arts at the University of Guelph.
“I have always loved to teach, mentor and encourage developing writers and I can’t think of a more exciting way to embrace that passion and to support the world of Canadian letters than to join the School of English and Theatre Studies at the University of Guelph,” said Order of Canada holder Hill.
Among his 10 books of fiction and non-fiction, Hill’s best-known work is The Book of Negroes. Since its publication in Canada in 2007, it has been translated into 10 languages and published around the world.
The novel received numerous accolades, including the Rogers Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize, the Commonwealth Writer’s Prize and CBC’s Canada Reads and its French-Canada equivalent, Le Combat des Livres. It was made into an award-winning TV miniseries co-written by Hill.
His 2015 novel The Illegal was inspired by stories of refugees around the world and is the running for Canada Reads for this year. Hill is adapting the novel for another TV miniseries.
“When I told Olympian Clara Hughes (who is defending The Illegal for Canada Reads) that our family was working to bring a refugee family to Hamilton, Ontario, she immediately wanted to help. So come March 7, at 7:30 p.m., Clara and I will be on stage at Hillfield College in Hamilton to talk about our new books, her strategies for Canada Reads and about what keeps us moving – personally and professionally.
“Please join us. Proceeds go to Longer Table Refugee Support and to our sponsorship agreement holder, the Anglican Diocese of Niagara,” Hill said.
Hill has taught fiction and mentored writers in the Booming Ground program at the University of British Columbia, Ryerson University, Humber School for Writers, the Banff Centre and Johns Hopkins University, where he earned his master’s degree in creative writing.
The former reporter for the Globe and Mail and Winnipeg Free Press, chairs the jury for the 2016 Scotiabank Giller Prize, viewed as Canada’s top literary award.