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Angela Misri

Photo: Photo by Eugene Choi, make-up by Michelle Cho 2014

Angela Misri is a Toronto author who writes detective fiction inspired by her birth country, Great Britain. The first book in her YA detective series is called Jewel of the Thames and follows her detective Portia Adams through her first three cases as she immigrates from 1930s Toronto to the bustling streets of London. Thrice Burned and No Matter How Improbable are the second and third books in the series. Misri has Masters degree in Journalism from the University of Western Ontario and has spent most of her career at the CBC in Toronto making CBC Radio extraterrestrial through podcasts, live streams and websites. She teaches journalism at the University of Toronto and Ryerson University.

E-mail: angela.misri@gmail.com
Phone number:
c/o Writers' Union of Canada

Publications

Jewel of the Thames. Fierce Ink Press, 2014
Thrice Burned. Fierce Ink Press, 2015
No Matter How Improbable. Fierce Ink Press, 2016
About Sixty. WildSide Press, 2016

Awards

CCBC Best Books of 2014 for Canadian Childrens Book News, 2014
TD Kids Book Week for CCBC Book Week, 2016
CFC EOne Adaptation Lab, 2016
Links:
Website
http://aportiaadamsadventure.com
,
Business
http://theplotgoesviral.com
,
Podcast
http://adassisters.com
Eligible for National Public Readings Program :
Yes

WITS

Presentation Description

IMAGINATION AND CREATION (Grades 5-12)

This is a 45-minute presentation. I talk about the path from imagination to creation (this is visualized for the class on the screen) and how too often artists can get stuck between the two. I take them through the steps from an idea to a produced piece - whether it's writing, or art or music. The point is to encourage that next step - actual creation - so I share some of my process in creating videos, books and art with an emphasis on the maxim that creativity takes courage and they all have it in them.

HISTORY TALKS: Research and Writing Fiction (Grades 10-12)
This is a half-hour presentation with half an hour of discussion. Tapping into the curriculum for high school in Canada, we focus our talk on Portia Adams' time - the 1930s in Canada and in London. This is a Prezi visualized presentation, giving the students a view into the culture, social mores and political ideals of the day with a particular focus on what it was like to be a woman in the time between the two world wars. 

After the presentation I open up the floor to Q&A about the time period. We wrap up the presentation with a discussion about research, sourcing and writing and how it pertains to both fiction and non-fiction writing. The class is encouraged to talk about their own experiences with researching history and I lead the discussion towards them trying some historical fiction of their own based on their interest in history.

Presentation Length:
45 minutes
Genre:
fiction, mystery, journalism, creative writing, history, historical fiction
Grades:
5-12
Audience size:
100
Workshop Description:

THE MYSTERY WORKSHOP (Grades 5-12)

This is an hour-long workshop with a half-hour presentation and then half an hour of classwork/ discussion. We talk about what makes a great mystery story - from the simple to the complex, breaking down the elements; this presentation uses a custom infographic as a visual aid. I do a brief reading of Portia 'deducing' something in a scene, as an example.
VARIATION A: We break into groups of 4 and start constructing a mystery story plot. Students receive a handout with questions that take them through the steps.
VARIATION B: We take a look at three detectives from fiction (Nancy Drew, Temperance Brennan, and Portia Adams) and talk about their characters and what makes them tick. This is a highly visual presentation with lots of interaction from the audience.

Northern OAC WITS:
No
One session:
$150
Two sessions:
$275 ($137 per session)
Three sessions:
$405 ($135 per session)
Four sessions:
$520 ($130 per session)
GST:
GST not applicable