Carrie Mac

Carrie Mac’s stable of more than a dozen YA novels include contemporary fiction, speculative fiction, and now with Zombie Apocalypse Running Club coming out from Knopf in 2024, horror too. Mac’s YA novels star misfits, queers and protagonists from the margins. She writes books she wants to read.

Her latest novel is the #1 best-selling adult literary novel, Last Winter, a story of one family’s collapse and a community’s grief in the face of tragedy. Mac is the winner of several awards, including a BC Book Prize and a CBC Non-Fiction Prize. She lives in East Vancouver with her homeschooled kids.

Carrie’s advice for Writer’s Studio applicants

What are you looking for in your workshop group?

I love working with writers who are excited about their stories; their characters, the worlds they’re building, the words and turns of phrase and twists they’re brewing. They can’t wait to talk about their work-in-progress, and they’re almost as excited to hear other writers talk about theirs. Two musts for anyone in my group: one is a willingness to give and receive feedback in a thoughtful and considerate way, and the other is a sense of humour. Those two qualities will help us get the most out of our time together. Also, your writing will be shinier because of it, and your cohort will be stronger and more supportive for it.

I look forward to a group of folks from diverse backgrounds and lived experience, with specific encouragement for Indigenous, Black and racialized folks, Queers of all sorts, and Neurodiverse peeps to submit their work. 

What do you look for when reading an applicant's submission?

First lines either draw me in, or kick me out. Craft those carefully. After that, I look for writing that does its best to show the story, with details and characters that pique my curiosity. I like to be lured into fiction and held there by writers who I can tell love the role of storyteller. We humans tell the same stories over and over, so it’s your unique voice that makes it new and exciting. I want to hear you in your work, even if it’s rough around the edges. Bring the story that’s hollering to get out, because those are the most captivating.