Course description
An introduction to creative writing techniques and various forms of creative nonfiction (personal essay, biographical essay, flash nonfiction, lyric essay, visual essay, and other experimental forms) through which students will explore and develop their conscious connection to the natural-urban landscape. The course will include activities such as field trips, readings, interviews, and journaling to generate the material for essays on engagement with nature in the city.
Anna is a writer, creative writing instructor, and editor. Her poetry collection, Empires of the Everyday (McClelland & Stewart), examines how life is defined by the city, with specific attention to Toronto. Her writing has been first runner-up in PRISM international’s Pacific Poetry Prize; shortlisted for The Fiddlehead Creative Nonfiction Contest and Room‘s Poetry Contest; longlisted for CBC’s nonfiction prize; and published in Arc, Brick, Canthius, Riddle Fence, Autostraddle, and others.
Anna holds an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Guelph, and she is a graduate of Simon Fraser University’s Writer’s Studio and University of Toronto’s School of Continuing Education Creative Writing Certificate, where she received the Janice Colbert Poetry Award. Anna teaches creative writing at University of Toronto and University of Guelph.
Get to know your professor
Anna Lee-Popham
You can call me…
Anna, Professor Anna, or Professor Lee-Popham (your choice!)
I just can't live without…
Very small amounts of coffee
I just can't live without…
Very small amounts of coffee
My hometown is…
Toronto, Ontario
For my undergraduate degree…
Applied Human Sciences, Concordia University
I am surprisingly good at…
Feeding manatees (water)
Fun fact:
I once installed a slackline in my house.
If I wasn't teaching, I would be a…
A marine biologist (or a professional dancer)
What I'm working on now is…
a novel told in four voices that take on the roles of instruments in a quartet.
Lately, something that has been exciting me about my research/scholarship is…
the ways that writing creatively, across different genres, opens up new ways of understanding ourselves and society.
A fun fact about my field of study is…
that there is a type of writing called a hermit crab essay, which uses the form of a non-literary text (like a recipe, a letter, or a product review) as its structure.
I was inspired to get into this field because…
I realized that my writing has a place in the world (and yours does to!)
My first-year seminar in five words:
Join a creative writing community!
In a sentence, what you’ll learn in my course:
how to use literary techniques to write true stories.
One of my favourite things about teaching first-year students is…
the chance to welcome you into the beginning of your undergraduate experience.
My best advice for those starting their first year…
get to know your peers!