Member Review
The Union was begun because, in the early '70s, writers had no way of comparing experiences. But the results have been much greater than expected: Public Lending Right, benefits for the institutional copying of our work through Access Copyright, informed contract advice, a network to draw upon, and a collective voice. All writers in Canada have benefited — not only those who have joined the Union and pay their dues.
Member Profile
Please note: All profiles are member-generated.
Peter Midgley
Peter Midgley writes poetry, fiction, nonfiction, plays, and children’s literature. He also edits, translates and tells stories (folk tales, children's stories, stories for adults, huge whoppers). He wrote his first book when he was twelve. It was awful, and he hopes his writing has improved since then. When he is not writing, he imagines the past life of his parrot—he thinks it may have been a pirate. He gets lost in his own city. Best to avoid travel with him entirely.
In the course of thirty years working as a festival director, freelance editor, university lecturer, managing editor, acquisitions editor, clerk of court, bartender, janitor and door-to-door salesman, he has acquired an honours degree in Afrikaans and Dutch literature, and an MA and PhD in English. It’s astounding what people leave in the garbage.
He has opined about Writing, Editing, Creativity, African Literature and Politics, the TRC and other topics in far-flung places—from Botswana, Canada, Namibia, South Africa, Switzerland and Tanzania, to the United Kingdom and the United States of America. He is working on the rest of the alphabet.
