Sophie Kohn
BIO
Biography

Hi! My name is Sophie. I’ve been a longtime writer for CBC Radio in Toronto, where I’ve written for radio shows like q, Because News, GO! with Brent Bambury, and television shows like George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight.

My humour writing has appeared in The New Yorker, McSweeney’s and Reader’s Digest. One of those humour pieces, “If You Ever Hurt My Daughter, I Swear To God I’ll Let Her Navigate Her Own Emotional Growth”, was turned into a short film voiced by Jon Hamm. I’ve contributed personal essays to HazlittChatelaineOutpostToday’s Parent, and The Globe and Mail, and I was a 2018 finalist at Canada’s National Magazine Awards for my personal essay “A Body in Motion”, which is about how a major spinal deformity derailed my dance career. In 2023, I adapted the story into an audio piece that aired on NPR’s Snap Judgment. That same year, my personal essay “The Almost-Dad” was the runner-up for The International Amy MacRae Award for Memoir.

I’m currently writing and editing for Dr. Britt Wray, an author, researcher, and activist with Stanford University whose work focuses on the intersection of climate crisis and mental health. I write a weekly newsletter called Generation Dread, which helps people cultivate resilience, community, and adaptive coping strategies in the face of escalating climate change.

I hold a B.A. in English from the University of Toronto and a post-graduate journalism degree from Toronto Metropolitan University. I’m a graduate of Second City’s conservatory program in improv and sketch comedy.

I currently teach satire and humour writing for Second City Toronto and Los Angeles. Pre-pandemic, I performed stand-up comedy at local venues all over Toronto and produced a monthly show called Forever Jung where stand-up comedians do a set and then get analyzed by a therapist live on the stage.

My first children’s book, Katrina Hyena, about a laughing hyena who laughs at the wrong times, will be published with Owlkids in 2024.

I’m represented by Andrea Cascardi and Carolyn Forde at Transatlantic literary agency, and I live in Nelson, British Columbia with my partner and our son.

ADDRESS
City: Nelson, Province/Territory: British Columbia
EMAIL
GENRE
Creative non-fiction, humour and satire, children's books
LANGUAGES
English
AWARDS
Awards
Name
National Magazine Award finalist
Publication
Hazlitt
Year
2018
Name
The International Amy MacRae Award for Memoir (runner-up)
Year
2023
LINKS
Programs & Interests
Interested in participating Union’s Ontario Writers-in-the-Schools program:
All members are eligible for the Union’s Ontario Writers-in-the-Schools program. Are you interested in participating in this pro
No
Interested in participating in the Northern Ontario WITS program:
The Union’s Northern Ontario Writers-in-the-Schools program funds in-person visits to northern Ontario schools when possible. Ar
No