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Mary Lou Dickinson

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

marylou.dickinson@gmail.com

 

Mary Lou Dickinson. My Journey as an Author.

Mary Lou Dickinson is a feminist author who emerged from the “Silent Generation” (a child during World War II) to a long struggle to find her voice. Told what women could not do, she was determined to find a path through the noise to achieve different goals than those available. Among many jobs over the years to support herself, her children and her writing, she worked as a counsellor on a crisis line for women in situations where they experienced violence (emotional, physical, sexual, etc.) against them. She writes thoughful, insightful fiction that often highlights social justice issues.


I have been writing since I was a young child. I grew up in northern Quebec and migrated to Toronto via Montreal and Michigan. I studied Arts at McGill University and Library Science at University of Toronto before discovering workshops and residencies in creative writing. I have been able to participate in such opportunities at:

  • York University. Glendon Campus. Writing Workshop. Summer 1973. Austin Clarke was the facilitator of this group,

  • Banff Centre for the Arts. Writing Studio. Spring 1992. Edna Alford and Marilyn Bowerlng were the two writers I worked with over a six-week period. I also was privileged during that Studio to meet with Mavis Gallant (the program guest) for an hour.

  • Maritime Writers Workshop. Summer 1997.

  • Humber School for Writers. Summer 2006. Alistair McLeod’s group (where I discovered that he had accepted two of my stories for the University of Windsor Review over the years).

I was a member of the Moosemeat Writers Group for over ten years and now work with two smaller writing groups for discussion and critique.

During my career, I also worked in information centres and consulted on the collection and organization of information and resources. When I retired from the regular workforce it was after fifteen years as a telephone crisis counsellor in the area of violence against women.

In 2023, I began working on a new novel with the working title: “My Name is Lyndsay Wright..” A memoir was slated for publication in 2024 by Inanna Publications and although I had a contract, Inanna suspended operations and the fate of that book is now uncertain. I have recently completed a new collection of short stories and work on the novel progresses.