Intimate, frank, and revealing in tone, the Margaret Laurence Lecture Series invites Canada's most prominent authors to discuss the theme of “A Writer's Life." Award-winning writer, Member of the Order of Canada, and champion of the Canadian short story John Metcalf will share observations on what makes good writing work and how a remarkable intervention from Margaret Laurence inspired him to encourage and guide several generations of young Canadian writers. The lecture is part of the OnWords 2017 conference.