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Elizabeth Withey

Elizabeth Withey is a Canadian author, journalist, and visual artist.
Her first children's book, The One with the Scraggly Beard (2020 / Orca Books) is a story about homelessness inspired by family experiences. The book is illustrated by Lynn Scurfield. Her second picture book, In. Out. (forthcoming 2025 / Orca Books) is an illustration-heavy story on the power and joy of shifting perspectives.
Elizabeth grew up in northern Saskatchewan. She studied German and Environmental Studies at the University of Victoria, then completed a master's degree in Environmental Change and Management at the University of Oxford before returning to UVic to study professional writing.
Based in Calgary, Elizabeth works as a story producer for CBC Radio. Her journalism and creative writing have been recognized with numerous awards, including a 2021 Shining Willow Award for children's literature, the 2019 Alberta Magazine Award for profile writing, the 2016 Jon Whyte Memorial Essay Prize at the Alberta Literary Awards, three Radio-Television News Directors Association awards for sound editing, continued coverage, and data journalism, a National Newspaper Award for A&E writing, and numerous writing awards from the U.S.-based Society for Feature Journalism.
In 2015, during her tenure as Writer in Residence at the Edmonton Public Library, Elizabeth wore the same black dress ("Laverne") every day for a year. Part fashion experiment, part writing prompt, the project Frock Around the Clock garnered national media attention.
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