Wendy McGrath 2023/2024 Alberta

Wendy McGrath is a poet, writer, and visual artist living in amiskwacîwâskahikan (Edmonton) on Treaty 6 Territory. McGrath’s writing practice embraces multiple genres—fiction, poetry, spoken word, and creative non-fiction. McGrath describes her writing as “Prairie Gothic,” and gives voice to working class stories.

McGrath has published six books—four novels and two books of poetry. Broke City (NeWest Press), the final book in her Santa Rosa Trilogy (which includes North East and Santa Rosa), is a prairie gothic novel. Her two books of poetry, a Revision of Forward (NeWest Press), and common place ecstasies (Beach Holme Publishing) explore a range of poetic forms and approaches. Her work has been widely published in literary magazines such as Grain, and Prairie Fire, and anthologies such as Beyond the Food Court (Laberinto Press), You Look Good for Your Age (UofA Press), Waiting (UofA Press), Sweet Water: Poems for the Watershed (Caitlin Press), and Heartwood: Poems for the Love of Trees (League of Canadian Poets).

McGrath’s most recent spoken word project, “Before We Knew” (Entity Records), is her second collaboration with musician and producer, Sascha Liebrand. Her first spoken word project, “BOX,” is an adaptation of McGrath’s eponymous long poem with the group Quarto & Sound. “Movement 1” was nominated for a 2018 City of Edmonton Music Award in the Jazz Recording of the Year category.

Her work in the visual arts includes print making and artists books. Collaborations with other visual artists, include “Avebury,” an artist’s book produced by Penrose Press, inspired by McGrath’s poems, and “A Revision of Forward,” which was a print and poetry collaboration with renowned Edmonton-based print maker Walter Jule exhibited in Houston, Texas and Edmonton. She is an established member of the writing community, enriching it through mentoring, teaching, and engaging in literary events.

She has a Masters’ Degree, English, from York University, and a Bachelor of Arts, English (with Distinction), from the University of Alberta. Her scholarly work has explored the Prairie Gothic genre.

Currently, McGrath is working on a new novel and completing other projects.