Renée Harper

Instructor, English

"I’ve long wanted to return to these valleys and to contribute to the region’s vibrant academic and literary culture. Now that I'm here, I'm continuously inspired by the immense creativity and talent of my students and colleagues."  – Renée Harper, Instructor, English

Renée Harper, B.A. (University of Toronto), M.A. (York University), is a PhD candidate at York University and a faculty member in the department of English and Creative Writing at Selkirk College.

Her creative work has appeared in numerous literary magazines, including Event Magazine, The Literary Review of Canada, and Prism International. Her work was longlisted for the CBC Poetry Prize, shortlisted for the Prism International Poetry Contest, and was the 2017 recipient of Contemporary Verse 2’s Lina Chartrand Poetry Prize for emerging poets. Her scholarly work has been published in Studies in Canadian Literature; Pivot: A Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies and Thought; and in Canadian Literature.

Renée got her academic start at Kootenay School of the Arts, in the Creative Writing and Mixed Media programs. It was there that she fell in love with the Kootenays and grew to value the small class sizes and the invaluable one-on-one contact with faculty and staff. In addition to pursuing her educational goals, over the past 20 years, Renée has been working in publishing in various forms. She has worked as a small press publisher of literary 'zines, as an arts reporter, a graphic designer, as an archival research assistant for scholarly publications, and as a letterpress printer operating antique printing presses.

Renée looks forwards to continuing to support Selkirk College's students as they pursue their own adventures in learning.

Creative and Scholarly Publications

"Forests, Clearings, and the Spaces in Between: Reading Land Claims and the Actuality of Context in Ana Historic." Studies in Canadian Literature/Études en littérature canadienne 40.2 (2015).

“re-council” The Puritan (2017)

“Fruit-Coyote-Distractions” and “Crowsnest Hwy” Contemporary Verse 2 (2017)

“(Re)Orchards: Work Shirts or Eden:” Prism International (2016)

“nature walk” and “chinook” Prism International (2014)

“Other” The Trinity Review. University of Toronto (2008)

“Willing” WTF Magazine. (2007)

“Sweet Lemons” A Verse to Summer, Daybreak South, CBC Radio One (18 and 22 July, 2007)

Conference Proceedings

(May 2017) “Masculine Settler Narratives from British Columbia’s Okanagan.” Association for Canadian and Quebecois Literature (ACQL), Annual Conference, Congress 2017, Ryerson University, Toronto.

(September 2016) “Lyrics of Settling or Staying: Nancy Holmes and Ethics of Writing Place.” Peace and Justice Studies Association, Annual Conference, Selkirk College, Nelson, B.C.

(April 2015) “Imagining Canada's Future.” SSHRC and CAGS sponsored roundtable. York University, Faculty of Graduate Studies, Toronto.

(April 2015) “Intertexts and Intersections: Charting Anne Carson’s Work.” Panel Chair/Organizer, with Sarah Jensen. North East Modern Language Association (NEMLA), Annual Conference, Ryerson University, Toronto.

(March 2015) “‘It was the Wild West’: ‘Settler Narratives from British Columbia.” American Comparative Literature Association (ACLA), Annual Conference, Washington University, Seattle.

(April 2014) “From Charred Stumps and Rude Clearings: An Ecocritical Reading of Configurations of Canadian Identity in 19^th Century Essays, Editorials and Manifestos.” Place, Space and the Politics of Identity, Robarts Centre for Canadian Studies, York University, Toronto.

(May 2014) “Difficult Topography: Contemporary Narratives of Becoming from British Columbia’s Interior Valleys.” Border Rhetorics, RSA14, 16^th Biennial Rhetoric Society of America Conference (RSA). San Antonio, Texas.

(August 2014) “Harvesting an Uncultivated Wilderness: Reading Early Configurations of Canadian Identity.” Culture, Justice, and Environment, Biennial Association for Literature, Environment, and Culture in Canada (ALECC) Conference. Lakehead University, Thunder Bay, Ontario.