Julie Mannell

Julie Mannell is an author of poetry, fiction, memoir and criticism, a performance artist, a Toronto Star columnist, as well as a PhD candidate in Creative Writing at the University of New Brunswick where she is the recipient of the Magee Postgraduate Merit Award and the Ross Leckie Poetry Prize. She is currently finishing her debut novel Little Girls, the first of a trilogy, and her debut poetry collection Niagara.

Julie Mannell’s work has been characterized as “Southern Ontario gothic with a spark of magical realism.” Her signature dark dramedies often feature hilarious through-lines that emphasize absurdity and leave readers laughing and crying simultaneously. Central to Julie Mannell’s writing is her use of elevated, maximalist modes to treat trivial or vulgar subjects. Beyond this, Julie Mannell generally gravitates towards themes of working-class struggles, pink-collar and blue-collar labour, rural and metropolitan antagonism, political divides, Christianity and Catholicism, and the opioid crisis. Much of Julie Mannell’s work is in conversation with the Niagara Peninsula where she is from.  

As a performance artist, rhapsodist, and oral storyteller, Julie Mannell has presented her work to audiences across North America, Europe, and Asia. Her lyrical poetry closely marries narrative and music, an ideal combination for translating to the stage. Pulling from her background as a child preacher, Julie Mannell’s unique and captivating performance style has made her an iconic feature at readings, shows, and art exhibitions for decades.   

In recent years, Julie Mannell was named as one of the Writers' Trust of Canada's "Rising Stars" and one of Niagara's Top 40 Under 40, and was a National Magazine Award finalist. In the past, she was selected as one of Canada’s Top 30 Poets Under 30, and was a recipient of the Lionel Shapiro Award for Excellency in Creative Writing, the Mona Adilman Poetry Prize, as well as a CBC Poetry Prize finalist and a Journey Prize nominee. Julie Mannell’s writing appears in After Realism: 24 Stories for the 21st Century, as well as numerous newspapers, magazines, and journals. Her conceptual project, a walking tour of Montreal titled This is You Here Now(Shape&Nature Press) was published in 2015. During her stint as guest editor at The Town Crier in January 2016, Mannell’s essay “Small Town Asshole” went viral. Then in 2017, her short story “Today is Cool” was the most-read piece in Joyland Magazine that year. In 2018, Julie Mannell collaborated with The New York Times to author two American history textbooks that were published by Rosen Publishing.

Julie Mannell has taught at several post-secondary institutions, notably redesigning the creative writing program at George Brown College where she taught for eight years. In 2020, she was the Visiting Writer/Guest Lecturer at the University of Nebraska at Omaha's MFA program. She was the 2020 Doris McCarthy Artist-in-Residence, and in 2023 she completed the Banff Winter Writers Residency (with Lisa Robertson and Nasser Hussain). Additionally, she was the head acquisitions editor at Dundurn Press where she founded the literary imprint “Rare Machines.” The titles that she acquired went on to be finalists for the Giller Prize, the Writers’ Trust of Canada prizes, the Governor General’s prizes, amongst many others. She has also edited for Goose Lane Editions, Poetry is Dead Magazine, Matrix Magazine, Scrivener Literary Review and The Town Crier.

Julie Mannell holds a BA in English literature and philosophy from McGill University and an MFA in creative writing from the University of Guelph where she received both the HarperCollins Scholarship and the Constance Rooke Scholarship. She is the founder of the McGill Creative Writing Society. In this role, she facilitated weekly workshops and organized panels with authors and editors. A highlight of this period was her panel with n+1 magazine.

She tentatively splits her time between Toronto and the Georgian Bay.