About – Lauren Kirshner

Lauren Kirshner is a fiction and non-fiction writer and Assistant Professor of English at Toronto Metropolitan University.

Her novel, Where We Have to Go (M&S), which the Globe and Mail called “a very strong original debut,” was a finalist for the City of Toronto Book Award. It has been translated into Dutch and German and also earned her “Toronto’s Best Emerging Author” award from NOW magazine.

Lauren’s forthcoming book is Sex Work in Popular Culture (UTP). Her journalism, short fiction, and memoir have appeared in many publications across North America including The Globe and Mail, Fiction International, Hazlitt, Chatelaine, PRISM International, The Toronto Star, The National Post, ELLE, THIS, Carousel and Room.

One of Lauren’s first writing assignments was an interview with late great Clash guitarist and singer Joe Strummer for NOW magazine. Her non-fiction work about the maquiladora workers of Juarez, Mexico, “Twenty Poems about Claudia,” appeared in the paper documentary I Live Here.

Among her accolades are the Arthur Irwin Award for Distinction in Journalism, the Eden Mills Literary Festival Prize, two Hart House Poetry Awards, the Victoria College Emerging Leader Award, and an Arts Bridges Award for Achievement in Community Arts. In 2020, she received the Toronto Metropolitan University New Faculty Teaching Award. In 2024, she won the Faculty of Arts Dean’s Service Award.

Lauren is a graduate of The University of Toronto’s Masters of English in the Field of Creative Writing, where she was mentored by Margaret Atwood.

As an arts educator, Lauren has facilitated hundreds of creative writing workshops in the community and designed programming for organizations including Luminato, Harbourfront Centre and The Toronto Public Library. She is the Founding Creative Director of Sister Writes, an award winning creative writing program lauded by The Toronto Star and CBC where at-risk women receive mentorship from acclaimed women writers.

Lauren Kirshner is a writer, arts educator and Assistant Professor of English at Toronto Metropolitan University.

Her journalism, short fiction, and memoir have appeared in publications across North America including The Globe and Mail, Hazlitt, Chatelaine, PRISM International, The Toronto Star, The National Post, ELLE, THIS, Carousel and Room. Her non-fiction work about the maquiladora workers of Juarez, Mexico, “Twenty Poems about Claudia,” appeared in the paper documentary I Live Here.

One of her first writing assignments was an interview with late great Clash guitarist and singer Joe Strummer for NOW.

Lauren is a graduate of The University of Toronto’s Masters of English in the Field of Creative Writing, where she was mentored by Margaret Atwood. In 2019, she received her PhD from the York-Ryerson Joint Program in Communication and Culture, where her dissertation was nominated for a Governor General’s Gold Medal.

As a leading arts educator, Lauren has made significant contributions to the arts and community engagement. She has led hundreds of community workshops and designed programming for organizations such as Luminato, Harbourfront Centre, The Toronto Public Library, and The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health. Her Young Authors Project was a finalist for the Ontario Government Minister’s Award for Innovation in Arts.

She is most widely known as the founder of Sister Writes, an acclaimed creative writing program that empowers marginalized women by offering free creative writing classes and mentorship from celebrated female writers. Lauded by The Toronto Star and CBC for its innovative approach, Sister Writes is dedicated to honouring the wisdom and experience of women and amplifying their voices.