Authors in the Schools
The Authors in the Schools program brings award-winning, diverse Canadian authors to local elementary and secondary schools in Squamish, Whistler, Pemberton, Mount Currie and D’Arcy to engage with students. At the beginning of the school year, and prior to the guest author presentations, the AITS program buys class and reading sets of their current books, and gives them to the schools for study in the classroom. In 2020 and 2021, the AITS program was offered to all 700 middle and high schools in British Columbia via video recording on our YouTube channel.
The purpose of the Author in the Schools program is to inspire students about the process of writing and storytelling, through engagement with diverse Canadian authors. We hope that by offering these cultural perspectives, youth will be encouraged to write from their own lives, about ideas that matter to them.
Program authors have included: Tanya Boteju, Joseph Boyden, Cherie Dimaline, Penny Draper, Deborah Ellis, Ann Eriksson, Cary Fagan, Katherine Fawcett, Jen Ferguson, Darren Groth, Simon Groth, Stella Harvey, Patti Laboucane-Benson, Sara Leach, Kelly Mellings, Lisa Moore, Susin Nielsin, Susan Oakey-Baker, Kenneth Oppel, Kit Pearson, Zalika Reid-Benta, David Robertson, Eden Robinson, Jamal Saeed, Tanya Talaga, Drew Hayden Taylor, Richard Van Camp, Katherena Vermette, Richard Wagamese, Eric Walters, Rebecca Wood Barrett and Xiran Jay Zhao.
To find out more about the program, please contact Writers@WhistlerWritersFest.com.
This program is made possible through the generous support of Armchair Books, B.C. Arts Council, Libby McKeever, Province of British Columbia, Rotary Club of Whistler, Rotary Club of Whistler Millennium, Whistler Blackcomb Foundation, Whistler Community Foundation, and Whistler Public Library.
Authors in the Schools 2022:
This year we are thrilled to welcome authors Ann Eriksson (Urgent Message from a Hot Planet: Navigating the Climate Crisis), Jen Ferguson (Summer of Bitter and Sweet), and Jamal Saeed (Yara’s Spring), who will give presentations to students in Sea to Sky schools from Squamish, Whistler, Pemberton, and Mount Currie, and schools throughout British Columbia. Over 1500 students from Grade 5 to Grade 12 participate in the program each year. We are grateful for the generous support of Armchair Books, B.C. Arts Council, Whistler Blackcomb Foundation, Whistler Community Foundation, The Province of British Columbia, Libby McKeever, Rotary Club of Whistler, Rotary Club of Whistler Millennium, Whistler Public Library and The Whistler Writing Society.
