We are pleased to introduce you to the Block A Fall  2023 cohort. These 12 writers will work with mentors David Geary and Nicola Harwood for ten weeks starting this October.

Join us in welcoming Tanya Banerjee, Véronique Darwin, Cara DiGirolamo, Chloe Edbrooke, Randi Edmundson, Araceli Ferrara, Tristen Foy, Winona Gillera, Alex Masse, Teddy Ngkaion, Peihwen J. Tai, and Leysan Timirboulatova.

The content and flow of Block A depends on the varied interests of the writers and the playwright mentor, who integrates their own practices and inspirations into the sessions. They learn from each other and get a sense of the collaborative nature of theatre-making.  Block A provides a supportive environment, offering resources to develop a socially-conscious theatre practice

Mentor Bios:

David Geary (Taranaki Māori) is a playwright, screen writer, fiction writer, director, LMDA dramaturg and educator. He teaches in the IDF Indigenous Digital Filmmaking, Documentary and Communications programs at Capilano University and has led Block A cohorts since 2012. He collaborated on The Julius Caesar Project with PTC, The Cultch and Western Gold. He’s been the Senior Lecturer in Scriptwriting at Te Herenga Waka University in Wellington, Aotearoa New Zealand; and was a dramaturg/director for the UBC Bryan Wade Brave New Play Rites Festival in 2023. His latest short fiction appears in the Penguin anthology: Hiwa: Contemporary Māori Short Stories. David believes storytelling and scriptwriting are muscles that are best developed through exercises that take us into new territory. His yogic mantra is – Life is short, stretch it – and he writes haiku on twitter @gearsgeary.

Nicola Harwood (she/they) is an Anglo queer writer, theatre and interdisciplinary artist. Her plays, performances and installation projects have been produced in Canada, Europe and the USA and she has facilitated many art, writing and theatre projects with youth, elders and community members. Writing projects under construction include Blue Monkey, a play, and Bitten, a mixed genre book. Recent installation projects include Summoning, No Words, (2017) an interactive sound installation built out of the female voice and High Muck-a-Muck: Playing Chinese (2014) an artist / programmer collaboration which won the 2015 UK New Media Writing Prize. Her memoir about queer family, Flight Instructions for the Commitment Impaired, was published by Caitlin Press in 2016. She is grateful to live and love on the ancestral and unceded territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations. nicolaharwood.com

Photo – Top row, left to right: Tristen Foy, Leysan Timirboulatova, Cara DiGirolamo, Véronique Darwin, Winona Gillera, Randi Edmundson. Middle Row: Peihwen J. Tai, Alex Masse, Araceli Ferrara, Teddy Ngkaion, Tanya Banerjee, Chloe Edbrooke. Bottom Row: David Geary, Nicola Harwood.

Find out more about the artists and the program on our Block A page!