After publishing her first poem in a Saskatchewan-based literary magazine at the age of 18, Lauren's work - both poetry and fiction- has gone on to appear in Grain, Prairie Fire, Contemporary Verse 2 and several other journals and anthologies. In 2001 one of her short-stories was short-listed for THIS Magazine's Great Canadian Literary Hunt and in 2002, she made the short-list again in their Best New Writer - Creative Non-Fiction contest. That same year, she received a scholarship from the Writers' Trust of Canada to complete the Creative Writing correspondence program at the Humber School for Writers.

Written with the help of an Ontario Arts Council grant, Lauren's first collection of poetry, Lichen Bright, was published in 2005 by Your Scrivener Press and is, in the words of her publisher, "thoughtful, subtle, and emotionally charged." Click on the cover image -which features a painting by her mother, Laura J. Carter - at right to visit her publisher's page, read more about the book and order a copy (c'mon, it's only $12.00). Lichen Bright was also long listed for the ReLit Award

Lauren is currently completing graduate studies towards a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) degree in Creative Writing through the University of Guelph-Humber. Her thesis, SWARM, is a novel which was written under the advisement of writer Susan Swan. Apart from finishing Swarm, she is also working on her second collection of poetry, Following Sea, with the assistance of an Ontario Arts Council grant. Her work has most recently appeared in Descant 149: Summer and Smoke and is forthcoming in ROOM and other publications. 

Read a couple of her poems here:

Fish Story, published in the Danforth Review
Rosetta, published by Leaf Press's Monday Poem