Biography

Biographical Note: W. F. Garrett-Petts, Professor, Thompson Rivers University CT 225, 805 TRU Way Kamloops, B.C. V2C0C8 Canada Email: petts@tru.ca Associate Researcher, University of Coimbra Centro de Estudos Sociais (CES) | Centre for Social Studies University of Coimbra Colégio S. Jerónimo, Ap. 3087 3000-995 Coimbra, Portugal Will Garrett-Petts is Professor of English at Thompson Rivers University. Between 2012-2023 he was Associate Vice-President and then Interim Vice-President of Research. He is former Research Director of a humanities-led national research program exploring the cultural future of smaller communities. His recent books include Cultural Mapping as Cultural Inquiry (Routledge 2015); Whose Culture is it, Anyway? Community Engagement in Small Cities (New Star Books 2014); Writing about Literature (Broadview Press 2013); Imaging Place (Textual Studies in Canada 2008); Artists' Statements and the Nature of Artistic Inquiry (Open Letter 2007); The Small Cities Book: On the Cultural Future of Small Cities (New Star Books 2005); and PhotoGraphic Encounters: The Edges and Edginess of Reading Prose Pictures and Visual Fictions (University of Alberta Press 2000). His most recent book is Artistic Approaches to Cultural Mapping: Activating Imaginaries and Ways of Knowing (Routledge 2019), co-edited with Nancy Duxbury and Alys Longley. He is currently engaged in exploring questions of artist-led research, cultural and vernacular mapping, and the artistic animation of small cities; and during the Spring, 2023, he held the Killam Visiting Professorship in Canadian Studies, Bridgewater State University. Throughout his career as a Canadian Studies specialist, discourse analyst, and writing teacher, he has balanced administrative responsibilities with editing, teaching and research:He was co-founder and co-editor of the academic journal Textual Studies in Canada; and currently serves as Series Editor with University of Calgary Press, for monographs and multiple-authored works on community and cultural engagement in small Canadian cities. He has developed and taught an array of Canadian literature and Canadian special studies courses over the last 20 years; and his research program has produced, to date, 18 books and catalogues, 47 book chapters and articles, 5 art exhibitions at major regional galleries, 6 video documentaries and 30 podcasts, and over 80 conference papers and workshops (including 21 invited and keynote addresses), 7 national and international conferences, and 30 town halls and community planning meetings associated with my work on cultural mapping and community-engaged research. In addition, he has chaired two departments, developed programming in both English Studies and Journalism, served as Associate Dean for the Faculty of Arts, and currently has principal leadership responsibility for the development and promotion of research and graduate studies at his home university. His work as a research director, editor, and conference organizer, has linked him to an extensive national and international community of interest and practice involving over 60 scholars, including research collaborators at the University of Coimbra.