faith and the art

Posted on 3 June 2010by Laurie MacFayden

gillian willans painting

About Me

I’m an award-winning writer, visual artist and journalist who has lived in Edmonton since 1984. My writing has appeared in The New Quarterly, FreeFall, Queering the Way and Alberta Views. My short story, Haircut, won the Howard O’Hagan prize at the 2017 Alberta Literary Awards. My work has been performed in Edmonton’s Loud & Queer Cabaret, the Skirts Afire Festival, and Calgary’s Q the Arts cultural festival. My latest book, Walking Through Turquoise (Frontenac House, September 2017), continues to explore the flirtations and secrets mined in my first two titles, White Shirt and Kissing Keeps Us Afloat.

Visual arts exhibition highlights include Fighting Normal, a multi-discipline installation with Amy Willans exploring the stigma of mental illness (Winter 2013, Visual Arts Alberta Gallery; September, 2019, St Albert Library) and The Poetry of Water (August 2012; solo exhibition, Kaasa Gallery, Jubilee Auditorium, Edmonton). My paintings have shown in other public spaces in Edmonton including Harcourt House; the Gallery at Milner; Woodcroft Library, Walterdale Playhouse; Enterprise Square; Blue Plate Diner; Grant MacEwan Gray Gallery; and Bohemia Cafe.