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Kate Heartfield

Kate Heartfield

Photo: John W. MacDonald

Kate Heartfield writes novels, novellas, stories and games. Her works include the historical fantasy novel The Embroidered Book (2022), and the Alice Payne time travel novellas (2018/2019). Her debut novel Armed in Her Fashion (2018) won Canada’s Aurora Award. She also writes interactive fiction, including The Road to Canterbury and The Magician's Workshop, both published by Choice of Games. Kate’s work has been shortlisted for several awards, including the Nebula and Locus awards. A former opinion editor and columnist at the Ottawa Citizen, she is now a freelance editor and writer, and she teaches journalism and creative writing. Kate lives in Ottawa, Canada.

City:
Ottawa
Province:
Ontario

Publications

The Embroidered Book. 2022, HarperCollins
Assassin's Creed: The Magus Conspiracy. 2022, Aconyte Books
Alice Payne Rides. 2019, Tordotcom
Alice Payne Arrives. 2018, Tordotcom
The Course of True Love. 2016, Abaddon Books
Armed in Her Fashion. 2018, ChiZine Publications

Awards

Aurora Award for Best Novel for Armed in Her Fashion, 2019
Links:
Kate Heartfield's s website
https://heartfieldfiction.com/
,
Eligible for National Public Readings Program:
Yes

WITS

Presentation Description

Kate Heartfield will draw on her experience as a novelist, short-story writer, game writer and journalist to explain the basic elements that make a story resonate. She'll refer to her interactive novel based on Chaucer's Canterbury Tales to discuss how and why stories continue to matter, as methods of telling them evolve. Students will learn to identify what makes a character interesting and a plot compelling. Kate will encourage them to tell their own stories and discuss the importance of diverse representation, and will leave 20 minutes for questions at the end.

Kate is an experienced teacher who currently teaches journalism at Carleton University.

Presentation Length:
60 minutes (flexible)
Genre:
How Stories Matter
Grades:
7 to 12
Audience Size:
any

Equity Initiative

As part of the Union’s Equity Implementation Plan, we are committed to increasing awareness of authors who are Black, Indigenous, racialized, LGBTQI2S, or living with a disability. This author identifies as:

  • LGBTQI2S