Omar El Akkad

“I never believed I could make a life as a writer until I met Carolyn Smart. In addition to being an exceptional teacher and creator across multiple genres, in addition to being the founder of Canada’s most important award for early-career writers, in addition to being my first publisher, having gone well above and beyond her job requirements as a creative writing instructor to publish an anthology of student work that has since become a ten-volume institution – she is, quite simply, a master reader. Her ability to get to the heart of the work – to assess with precision, honesty and generosity what the writer is trying to convey, and how to best do it – is more refined than almost anyone I’ve ever worked with. More than two decades since I was a student in her class, I still turn to her for advice on pretty well every aspect of my writing life.”

~ Omar El Akkad, Author of “American War” (M&S, 2017); “What Strange Paradise” (M&S 2021).