Erika Ritter: UPEI Writer in Residence

Erika Ritter, a celebrated playwright, humourist, essayist, fiction writer, and CBC Radio writer and host, is UPEI's Writer in Residence from September 30-October 11. Ritter's published works include: Automatic Pilot (play); the humorous essay collections Urban Scrawl and Ritter in Residence; The Hidden Life of Humans (novel); The Great Big Book of Guys: Alphabetical Encounters with Men; and, most recently, The Dog by the Cradle, The Serpent Beneath: Some Paradoxes of Human-Animal Relationships. The radio adaptation of Automatic Pilot won an ACTRA Award for Best Radio Drama.

She has been a humour columnist, social satirist, and travel writer for newspapers and magazines. With CBC Radio, she hosted a daily national two-hour interview program, for which she won an ACTRA Award as Best Host, a weekly author-interview program, and most recently 'Ontario Morning.' Ritter has been a guest host of numerous CBC Radio programs. She has also written a bi-monthly humour column 'Unmuzzled' for Dogs in Canada, and is a frequent public speaker on such subjects as gender relationships, comedy, and the interior lives of animals.

Ritter lives in Toronto, but contrives to be out of town, especially on PEI, whenever she can, and takes her writer's block with her wherever she goes. Her Writer in Residency is sponsored by the UPEI English Department.

Ritter will give a public reading on Tuesday, October 8, at 7:30 pm in the Confederation Centre Art Gallery. Her reading is co-sponsored by the UPEI English Department and the Gallery. Admission is free and all are welcome to attend!