Carolyne
Van Der Meer,
M.A.
Graduate Certificate
Creative Writing
Expertise
English editing
Research
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Working Languages
English
Carolyne Van Der Meer holds a B.A. in English Literature from University of Ottawa, an M.A. in English Literature from Concordia University, as well as a Graduate Certificate in Creative Writing from the Humber School for Writers. She is the Deputy Editor/Reviews Editor of Brontë Studies, the only journal that is wholly dedicated to the study of the Brontë family, their biography, their history and their literary works. She is a regular sessional lecturer in McGill University’s Public Relations and Marketing Communications program, where she has been teaching for a decade. Carolyne has been working in journalism and public relations/communications for 30 years and runs a small consultancy practice that focuses on strategic storytelling. Her journalistic and creative work has been featured in more than 100 different publications internationally, including in translation in Germany and Italy. She has three published books: Motherlode: A Mosaic of Dutch Wartime Experience (Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 2014); Journeywoman (Inanna, 2017) and Heart of Goodness: The Life of Marguerite Bourgeoys in 30 Poems | Du coeur à l’âme : La vie de Marguerite Bourgeoys en 30 poèmes, for which she translated her original English poems into French. Her fourth book, a collection of poetry entitled Sensorial, is forthcoming from Inanna in 2021. She also the co-author, with Dave Scholz, of “Research Methods,” a chapter in the university-level textbook, Fundamentals of Public Relations and Marketing Communications in Canada, published by University of Alberta Press.
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Carolyne has worked as an editor for a variety of publications in the corporate environment, as Books Editor for Accenti Magazine and as a copy editor for Wilfrid Laurier University Press. She has won awards for her journalism, her public relations work and her short fiction. She has also won mentorships in young adult fiction through the Association of Writers and Writing Programs (AWP) and the Quebec Writers’ Federation.