The Writer-in-residence program is an introduction to the University and Faculty of Arts to someone with a wealth of talent in the arts. The focus of creative writing develops our students for their future — it gives them direct access to accomplished writers who share their methods and challenges with writing and publishing. They have a first-hand opportunity to learn writing practices from professionals. Learn more about the Writer-in-residence program.
Event details
“I’m a writer” — How to build a career writing for movies, video games, virtual reality, and a lot of corporate gigs
Wed, Feb. 5 | 12 - 2:30 p.m.
Ideas Lounge | EL1270
At this event, our writer-in-residence, Shaun Crawford, will speak on how generating an income and making a living as a writer is possible! All it takes is writing for dozens of different genres, platforms, industries, mediums, and clients. The good news is: if you can write, you can write. You can write web content, social media, articles, radio, commercials, corporate videos, virtual reality, augmented reality, video games, plays, short films, feature films, and more! The fundamentals of writing — story, characters, themes, emotions — make it a valuable skill to build a career upon. The best part? When someone asks you what you do for a living, you get to say, “I’m a writer.”
About Shaun Crawford
Shaun Crawford writes content that likes to jump in the puddles — a product of his own Peter Pan syndrome. From Calgary, Alberta, Canada, Shaun has written for multiple industries and genres including film, video games, augmented and virtual reality, as well as print, digital, web, social media, radio, and more. Shaun’s feature films A Miracle on Christmas Lake, Everfall, and his directorial debut Here & After collectively received worldwide distribution through Sony, HBO, Prime Video, Showtime, Colombia Tristar, and more. Shaun also wrote six episodes for the true crime docudramas, The Friends Speak and Deadly Standoff airing on Reelz network in the U.S. His short and feature films have won awards and exhibited at festivals around the world including Canada, the U.S., London, Paris, and Tokyo. He also wrote and directed dozens of AR/VR experiences, ultimately garnering an invitation from Meta to the Facebook/Oculus headquarters to present on his work. Along the way, Shaun worked for years in youth programs and homeless shelters, informing his humanist approach to his writing. Shaun’s Peter Pan syndrome endures, allowing him to continue seeing the world through enchanted glasses.
More on-campus opportunities to meet Shaun
The Writer-in-Residence program explores opportunities for authors, students and faculty to meet, exchange ideas and increase awareness of scholarly and artistic endeavours. Want to be involved? Here are a couple of ways you can participate:
- MRU Faculty find out more about how you can bring Shaun into one of your classes during her week-long residency. For booking information, contact Natalie Meisner.
- MRU Students submit your manuscripts (7–10 pages/1,700 words of creative writing any genre) for Shaun's review. You'll get a chance to have a follow-up one-on-one working session. Deadline to submit is January 17.