The Museum is pleased to introduce Claire Mulligan to the Haig-Brown House as the Writer in Residence for the 2025/2026 season.
Claire Mulligan holds an MFA in screenwriting with a focus on adaptation. As well, she has over fifteen years’ experience as a story consultant, creative writing teacher, and editor for screen and prose. Her historical novels, The Reckoning of Boston Jim and The Dark have been nominated for the Giller Prize, the BC Book prize and the Canadian Author’s award, and her short stories have won over a dozen awards. She has adapted several of her own short stories and those of others into short screenplays. Her first adaptation to be produced—The Still Life of Annika Myers was shot in 2019 and won audience favourite awards and awards for best acting. Her second short film script, Obscura, won the 2024 Leo award for screenwriting and best short film and the Director’s Guild of Canada funding award amongst others. She teaches online classes on the short story, historical fiction, and the Greek Classics. She also teaches at UVic Continuing Education.
During the Residency, Claire will be completing Not From Here, a linked short story collection following the lives of the scattered residents of a northern BC asbestos mining town (loosely inspired by Cassiar) that was abandoned in the 90s after a violent strike closed the mine and led to the total destruction of the town.
Claire will also be finishing the final draft of a children’s early chapter book titled Get Out, Couch, and developing the pilot and series outline for a limited TV drama called Holdouts, in collaboration with director Arnold Lim with whom Claire created the Leo Award–winning short film Obscura. The series (in some ways the reverse of Not From Here) follows a firefighter as she struggles to convince the denial-fueled holdouts—including her estranged father—to evacuate their Vancouver Island town before a deadly underground coal fire destroys it.
Finally, Claire has been researching the extraordinary women from Vancouver Island’s past. Especially drawn to the 19th-century photographer Hannah Maynard, an early innovator of surrealist photo techniques, Claire hopes to complete a longer, experimental short story about her. The aim is to evolve this project into an anthology series with other BC women writers contributing as well.
Events & Workshops
Claire will be hosting a number of multi-day writing workshops for locals as well as offering one-on-one consultations with local authors. To book a one-on-one consultation, please contact Claire directly at hb.writer ( @ ) crmuseum.ca . Other events and workshops listed below.
From Page to Screen – The Art of Adaptation
A hands-on workshop exploring how stories move from page to screen.
When: Wednesdays, January 21 & 28, 4–6 pm
Cost: $75 Non-Members / $65 Museum Members / $25 Youth (15–30)
> More info
Ephemera, Artifacts & Imagination – Stories from Forgotten Things
Writing sessions inspired by objects, ephemera, and sensory detail.
Saturdays, February 21 & 28, 10 am–12 pm
Cost: $75 Non-Members / $65 Museum Members / $25 Youth (15–30)
> More info
Story by Genre – Crafting Page-Turning Literary Fiction
Participants will write one complete short story (maximum 1,250 words).
Saturdays, March 21 & 28, 10 am–12 pm
Cost: $75 Non-Members / $65 Museum Members / $25 Youth (15–30)
> More info
Homer’s Epics & the Art of Story-Telling
An evening talk on how The Iliad and The Odyssey shaped Western narrative structure—from character arcs to interiority—and their influence on modern storytelling.
Saturdays, April 18, 7 pm–8 pm
Cost: $15 Non-Members / $12.50 Museum Members / $5 Youth (15–30)
> More info
