Poet and novelist Nancy Jo Cullen, known for her moving poetry is Queen’s’ new Writer in Residence.
Author of The Western Alienation Merit Badge (2019) and Nothing Will Save Your Life (2022), Nancy Jo Cullen is beginning her term as Writer in Residence, where she’ll offer valuable mentorship to creative writing students at Queen’s. She holds an MFA from the University of Guelph Humber and was awarded the Dayne Ogilvie Prize for LGBTQ2S+ Emerging Writers in 2010.
The Writer in Residence program at Queen’s was established in 2009 by Professor Carolyn Smart, who mentored over 1,000 aspiring authors. Each year, the Department of English welcomes a writer in residence to engage with the literary scene on campus as well as offer advice and mentorship to creative writing students. Notable past Writers in Residence include Kaie Kellough, Catherine Hernandez, and, former Editor in Chief of The Journal, Omar El Akkad.
READ MORE: Omar El Akkad reflects on his writing journey
In an interview with The Journal, Cullen expressed her excitement to read the work of other writers and offer her advice. When discussing her office hours, Cullen expressed wanting to be both helpful, as well as igniting ion in young writers.
“I hope they leave excited about their own projects,” Cullen said.
While at Queen’s, Cullen is working towards completing a longer, reflective poetry project as well as starting her new novel.
The novel is in the early stages but will be a satirical story of an older woman, with elements of murder or horror. She hopes to work on the project, as well as offer her mentorship to students and writers in the Kingston community.
Cullen shared she’s not a fan of outlining but prefers a different journey of discovery, drafting her work in stages and trying not to overwrite the same copy. The author prefers to think about her projects, make notes, and work towards her end goal in a more abstract way.
“That’s the hard part about writing,” Cullen said. “To read your bad writing and then try and fix it.”
She believes each writer’s process of discovery is different, and she hopes to help individuals “work with the mind they have.”
Cullen’s first novel The Western Alienation Merit Badge (2019) tackles themes of family, grief, and queerness set in Calgary, Alta. The novel follows these characters and the turbulence that comes with being queer in 1982 in a Catholic family. She discusses how Alberta is often seen as hyper-conservative but, in her experience, Calgary is full of progressive and creative communities. She wanted to highlight the people in Calgary working on building these spaces.
“I wanted to talk about the city [Calgary] the way I knew it, as a place that’s also very progressive,” Cullen said.
Cullen expressed her ambitions with the novel, wanting to take on discussions of Alberta’s Reform Party and the National Energy Program.
“I wanted to start there,” said Cullen. “I ended up with this simple story of women; two sisters and a father who’ve come together because some things have gone wrong in their lives.”
Cullen’s most recent work Nothing Will Save Your Life dives into femininity, pop culture, and motherhood. Cullen expressed her affinity for poetry and the excitement of “looking for that very exacting expression.”
When discussing her work, Cullen expressed a desire that “they [the reader] go along for the ride of the story and they have an experience of enjoying the story, hopefully laughing a little bit, and also being moved.”
Cullen wants to take her experience into the residency, offering students advice on how to work in various forms. Regardless of each student’s creative process, she hopes to share her love of literature and ion for writing.
When offering her mentorship, Cullen wants students leave her office ready to work and inspired by the potential of their creative pursuits.
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