Lauren is Assistant Professor in the Department of English at Toronto Metropolitan University, and the winner of the 2020 New Faculty Teaching Award.
Lauren’s courses focus on helping students find their unique writing voices, hone a range of creative writing skills, and read and edit like writers. Her scaffolded classes break the writing process down into manageable parts, and many of her students say they completed her courses as stronger, more confident writers, with a tried-and-tested practice of their own.
Lauren’s courses are interactive and provide a balance of writing practice and instruction in creative writing craft and theory. Students can expect to learn theories of fiction writing, including what authors have said about their process and motivation; fundamental creative writing tools like free writing; craft techniques such as characterization, scene development, and dialogue; and how to polish work through three stages of editing.
Lauren’s courses also focus on reading from the perspective of a creative writer. Through close readings and discussions of fiction and non-fiction—from a range of authors including Lucia Berlin, Roxane Gay, Raymond Carver, Amy Hempel, Maya Angelou, James Joyce, Anton Chekhov, and Grace Paley, as well as poetry and selections from graphic novels—students explore how writers achieve certain effects in their work. By examining these craft elements, they find inspiration and apply this knowledge to their own writing.
Want to see a syllabus?
Hailed by The Toronto Star as a groundbreaking program, Sister Writes is now in its twelfth year.
Lauren’s Community Arts Leadership in the Press
University Teaching
Lauren is Assistant Professor in the Department of English at Toronto Metropolitan University, and the winner of the 2020 New Faculty Teaching Award.
Lauren’s courses focus on helping students find their unique writing voices, hone a range of creative writing skills, and read and edit like writers. Her scaffolded classes break the writing process down into manageable parts, and many of her students say they completed her courses as stronger, more confident writers, with a tried-and-tested practice of their own.
Lauren’s courses are interactive and provide a balance of writing practice and instruction in creative writing craft and theory. Students can expect to learn theories of fiction writing, including what authors have said about their process and motivation; fundamental creative writing tools like free writing; craft techniques such as characterization, scene development, and dialogue; and how to polish work through three stages of editing.
Lauren’s courses also focus on reading from the perspective of a creative writer. Through close readings and discussions of fiction and non-fiction—from a range of authors including Lucia Berlin, Roxane Gay, Raymond Carver, Amy Hempel, Maya Angelou, James Joyce, Anton Chekhov, and Grace Paley, as well as poetry and selections from graphic novels—students explore how writers achieve certain effects in their work. By examining these craft elements, they find inspiration and apply this knowledge to their own writing.
Want to see a syllabus?
Community Arts Leadership
Hailed by The Toronto Star as a groundbreaking program, Sister Writes is now in its twelfth year.