About

Gillian is the Director of Writing and Publishing at the University of King’s College and author of Sonic Booms: Making Music in an Oil Town. Her new book, Bad Artist: Creating in a Productivity-Obsessed World, co-edited with Nellwyn Lampert, Pamela Oakley, and Christian Smith, is out Oct. 1, 2024 with Brindle & Glass. Gillian holds a PhD in Ethnomusicology from York University and an MFA in Creative Nonfiction from the University of King’s College. She taught pop music and culture courses at Toronto Metropolitan University for 17 years, and was a faculty mentor in the Creative Nonfiction MFA program at King’s. She hosted the first two seasons of the King’s MFA podcast, Further Reading. She is part of the writing collective Penizen.

Gillian is a writer and editor and has worked in the music and broadcast industries. A contributor to The Walrus, The National Post, and Hazlitt, Gillian has also written for Chatelaine, Maisonneuve, The Puritan, The Conversation, Atlantic Books Today, VUE Weekly, BC Musician, Penguin Eggs, and No Depression. Her work on No Depression, where she was the Toronto correspondent for five years, featureed interviews with some of Canada’s best-known musicians. Gillian is also the former editor of Canadian Folk Music and former editorial assistant for MUSICultures, and has served on multiple music industry and academic society boards.

Gillian’s work has been featured on the CBC Radio program Ideas and in documentaries on roots and country music, including the PBS American Masters feature Loretta Lynn: Still a Mountain Girl. She is the former host of radio programs in Edmonton and Toronto. Gillian is a Canada Council Award and Chalmers Development Grant recipient.

Her music industry work includes venue programming, music criticism, and festival work. She is the co-founder of the popular Wide Cut Weekend roots music festival in Calgary.

Gillian also loves her cats, Emily, Martie, and Geddy, each named after her favourite musicians.