About me
When it comes to working with the English language, I do it all and I do it well.
I write just about every kind of thing that can be written, from magazine and newspaper pieces to business and science web content to non-fiction books. Oh: also children’s books, songs in almost every genre, academic articles, and poetry. Glance a few inches to your right, and you’ll see that I’ve won or been a finalist for awards in a wide range of categories.
I edit articles, web content, and book manuscripts. I teach university English literature and composition, writing all my own textbooks in the process. I coach MBA students through their capstone research papers. I have a Master’s degree in English Literature, with a thesis on African American and Caribbean poetry, and a PhD in the same, with a dissertation on biophilia and non-Christian belief systems in children’s literature. I had three academic pieces published in peer-reviewed journals when I was just out of my PhD coursework.
See my full CV here.
Awards
Co-winner, 2024 US$25,000 Berggruen Essay Prize Competition, for “It’s Time To Give Up Hope For A Better Climate & Get Heroic.” Published in Noema magazine, October 2024.
Silver Medal (shared), National Magazine Awards, for “15 Ways of Looking at Vince Carter”, Saturday Night
Finalist, Western Magazine Awards, for “Bear Truths”, Vancouver magazine
Finalist, Western Magazine Awards, for “The Meanin’ of Keenan”, Vancouver magazine
Third-place prize, ARC magazine international poetry contest, for “How to Win at Rummy”
Winner, Graduate Essay Award, PhD Level, for “The Boondocks and the Symbolic Frontier”, Children’s Literature Association
Third-place prize, Aetna Critical Writing Awards, for “Music as Facing-Page Translation in Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo + Juliet“
Pamela Swanigan portfolio 