Department of English and Fine Arts

English students rehearse whisper poetry with instructor Jake Kennedy

Studying English at the post-secondary level isn’t all about Shakespeare and five-paragraph essays. It’s about learning to think critically and engage with the world as informed, rational, and skilled communicators. The Department of English and Fine Arts explores the ways that language and literature operate in our lives and communities, and how they ultimately shape our view of the world and our place within it. Our English faculty have diverse backgrounds with expertise and experiences that enrich the learning process. We are poets, novelists, scholars, playwrights, memoirists, artists, and designers, immersed in a range of research and creative interests outside of the classroom. 

Associate of Arts, English Emphasis

Diploma in Writing and Publishing

Courses

The Department of English offers an array of courses for students in various specialities: critical writing and reading, creative writing, literature, fine arts, publishing, and more.

Faculty

Dr. Sean Johnston

English - Chair
Office: E Building 419
Campus: Kelowna
Phone: 250-762-5445 ext. 4672
English instructor Sean Johnston

I joined the English Department at Okanagan College in 2007. I teach literature and creative writing. My interests include contemporary short fiction, graphic novels, and experimental novels. My current projects are a novel called Outside Harris and a short story collection called Multiplicanda Ah Um.

Credentials:
PhD, English and Creative Writing, University of South Dakota
MA, English, University of New Brunswick
BJ, Carleton University

www.seanjohnston.ca

Jeremy Beaulne

English
Office: Sunoka Building C12B
Campus: Penticton
Phone: 250-762-5445 ext. 3225
Headshot of Jeremy Beaulne

I have been a member of the Okanagan College Department of English since 2008. I teach courses in literature, composition, film, and acting. My scholarly interests include eighteenth-century satire, Jane Austen, and pop culture.

I am also the artistic director of the Red Dot Players, a theatre troupe for Okanagan College students and employees. I have directed several productions for the Red Dot Players, including AKA Fangirl, a comedy I wrote about comic books and cosplay.

An avid traveller, my favourite destinations are London, New York, and Stratford, ON—home of the Stratford Festival.

Credentials:
MA, English, UBC

www.reddotplayers.com

Dr. Norah Bowman

Interdisciplinary Studies
Office: C Building 265
Campus: Kelowna
Phone: 250-762-5445 ext. 4215
Interdisciplinary Studies instructor Norah Bowman

My recent research focuses on resource extraction on unceded Indigenous territory, feminist resistance movements, and quantum theory for social sciences and humanities.

Credentials:
PhD, English, University of Alberta
MA, English, University of Manitoba
BA Hons English, Okanagan University College

University of Toronto Press

Google Scholar Profile

Hannah Calder

English
Office: Portable 1 100
Campus: Kelowna
Phone: 250-762-5445 ext. 2237
English instructor Hannah Calder

I’ve been teaching in the English department at Okanagan College since 2012. I teach University Writing, Short Fiction and the Novel, Narrative, Creative Writing, and various second year literature classes. I am a published novelist and a budding filmmaker. Currently, I am working on my third novel and my first documentary film. I also write short stories, poems, and comics. At OC, I particularly value opportunities to work collaboratively with the scholars and artists in our community, whether they are students, faculty, or staff.

Credentials:
MA, English, Simon Fraser University

Craig Carpenter

English
Office: E Building 420
Campus: Kelowna
Phone: 250-762-5445

Corinna Chong

English
Office: C Building 272A
Campus: Kelowna
Phone: 250-762-5445 ext. 4632
Headshot of Corinna Chong

I studied both Fine Arts and English at the University of Calgary, and specialized in photography and creative writing. I worked as a graphic designer, backpacked around India, China, and Nepal, and earned my Master’s degree in English and Creative Writing at the University of New Brunswick before finally landing in the Okanagan in 2011. My first novel, Belinda’s Rings, was published by NeWest Press in 2013. When I'm not teaching, I'm working on freelance design projects and chipping away at short stories.

Credentials:
MA, English, University of New Brunswick
BFA, Fine Arts, University of Calgary
BA, English, University of Calgary

www.corinnachong.com

Jason Dewinetz

English
Office: Main Building C347
Campus: Vernon
Phone: 250-545-7291 ext. 2324
Headshot of Jason Dewinetz

I primarily teach courses in the English Department's Diploma in Writing & Publishing, focusing on typography and graphic design, including letterpress printing in "The Bunker," OC's print shop. In addition to teaching I also run Greenboathouse Press, designing, printing and publishing fine-press editions of both literary and typographic texts, while also doing freelance design work for a variety of trade and fine-press publishers across Canada and the US. I am a current board member and past North American Chair of the Fine Press Book Association, and the author of a handful of books of poetry.

Credentials:
MA, English, University of Alberta
BA, English, University of Victoria

www.greenboathouse.com

Kerry Gilbert

English
Office: Main Building D328
Campus: Vernon
Phone: 250-545-7291 ext. 2277
English instructor Kerry Gilbert

I joined Okanagan College in 2003. I teach in the English Department—introductory writing, literature, and creative writing classes. I am an award winning writer myself, having published three books of poetry. When not teaching, I balance my time between parenting, writing and going on all kinds of back country adventures (skiing, hiking, biking, kayaking and canoeing).

Credentials:
MA, Creative Writing, Griffith University, Australia
BA, English, Malaspina University

www.kerrygilbert.ca

Frances Greenslade

English
Office: Ashnola Building 112
Campus: Penticton
Phone: 250-492-4305 ext. 3221
English instructor Frances Greenslade

I've taught English literature, composition and creative writing at the Penticton campus since 2005. Before turning to teaching, I wrote for TV Guide, trade magazines, non-profit organizations, and government. In my courses, I especially love to explore quest literature, about journeys and adventures. My first book, A Pilgrim in Ireland: A Quest for Home, was published by Penguin in 2002. By the Secret Ladder: A Mother's Initiation came out in 2007. In 2011, Shelter, a novel, was published by Random House, Canada. It has since been released in the US, UK and Australia, Germany, the Netherlands, Italy and France. Red Fox Road, a novel for young readers, was published by Penguin in 2020. The sequel, Green Mountain Academy, will appear in fall 2022.

Credentials:
MFA, Creative Writing, University of British Columbia
BA, English, University of Winnipeg

www.francesgreenslade.com

Dr. Shona Harrison

English
Office: E Building 418
Campus: Kelowna
Phone: 250-762-5445 ext. 4960
Harrison, Shona photo

I joined the English Department at Okanagan College in 2010.  My area of specialization focuses on late-medieval manuscripts, particularly household miscellanies.  I teach British Survey, Women, Children, Canadian, and Introductory Literature classes, as well as Composition at OC.  My current project is to publish a book based on my Old Kelowna Facebook page. When I am not busy with academics, I will be found at the barn flying over jumps with my lovely horse.

Credentials:
PhD, English, UBC
MA, English, UVic
BA, English and Women's Studies, UVic

Sasha Johnston

English
Office: C Building 169
Campus: Kelowna
Phone: 250-762-5445 ext. 6304
Headshot of Sasha Johnston

Credentials:
MA, Interdisciplinary Studies, UBCO

Matt Kavanagh

English
Office: E Building 420
Campus: Kelowna
Phone: 250-762-5445 ext. 4819

Jake Kennedy

English
Office: C Building 169
Campus: Kelowna
Phone: 250-762-5445 ext. 4270

Write your life using a maximum of 100 words. Now you only have 87 left. 86. 85 now, fool. Go, Jake. No? Okay--you are born in Woodstock, Ontario, in 1972. Your parents are Marilyn June Anderson and William George Kennedy. Your mother was and is a Yes and your father was and is a Hmm. The earliest telephone number you can remember is 826-3850. You once played t-ball, you once listened to the Doors, you once drew pictures of the sea, you once failed better on a history exam, you once slept in the grass. Now look at you.

Credentials:
MA, English, University of Calgary
BA, English, York University
V2, Bouldering, Gneiss Institute

Jeremy Lanaway

English
Office: Main Building C323
Campus: Vernon
Phone: 250-762-5445 ext. 2214
Headshot of Jeremy Ianaway

I’ve taught English courses at Okanagan College; English and Creative Writing classes at high schools in Canada and Hong Kong; and advanced English grammar at an ESL college in Vancouver. In my free time, I write fiction and non-fiction, having published stories and articles in journals and magazines in Canada, the United States, Hong Kong and the UK. I also work as a freelance writer / editor for Pearson Hong Kong, Canada and UK, which has enabled me to author, co-author and edit dozens of English Language Teaching textbooks. I live in Vernon with my wife and two daughters.

Credentials:
MFA, Creative Writing, University of British Columbia
BA, Creative Writing and English Literature, University of British Columbia
B.Ed, Secondary English, University of British Columbia

Cole Mash

English
Office: Portable 1 100
Campus: Kelowna
Phone: 250-762-5445 ext. 6314

Kevin McPherson

English
Office: Main Building D330
Campus: Vernon
Phone: 250-545-7291 ext. 2278
English - Kevin McPherson

kevin mcpherson sometimes adds "eckhoff" to his name, and writes the whole kablooey in lowercase because he's humble af. The Globe & Mail described his book—their biography (BookThug)—as “wide-ranging” and “incredibly playful.” His very-star bff is Jake Kennedy, #pooetry! He plays one of the lead characters in Sean Braune’s eventual feature film Nuptials. By day, kevin hangs around the OC; by night, he gets tucked into bed by a Laurel and two beastie boys.

Credentials:
MA, English, University of Calgary
BA, English, Okanagan University College

www.kevinmcphersoneckhoff.com

Krista Paquin

Distance Ed/On-line Programs
Office: Portable 1 100
Campus: Kelowna
Phone: 250-762-5445 ext. 4096
Headshot of Krista Paquin

Terry Scarborough

English
Office: C Building 281
Campus: Kelowna
Phone: 250-762-5445 ext. 4798
Headshot of Terry Scarborough

Tim Walters

English
Office: Salmon Arm Building 110
Campus: Salmon Arm
Phone: 250-832-2126 ext. 8251
Headshot of Tim Walters

Tim was raised in Middlesbrough, a failing industrial town in the North East of England, and moved to Canada during the 'difficult' teenage years, a transition from which he has never fully recovered, and which in part explains his peculiar accent. He was educated at McMaster University in Hamilton, a failing industrial town in Southern Ontario, where he received a PhD in English and Cultural Studies (2004). In 2006, Tim moved to Salmon Arm, a town that is neither failing nor industrial, where he teaches, walks around, and writes about the climate emergency, Slavoj Žižek, football, film, radical politics, and late-capitalism from a Marxist perspective

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