THEIR REMARKS TO US...

The Amazing Individuals Who Helped Us Get Past The Finish Line...

"Swan song. Mic drop. Read Exit Lines, the 2026 CWP Grad Anthology, and prepare to be amazed. It is rife with mystery, historical fiction, and elements of surprise. During precarious times, look to the emerging writers to see how the ideas flow, the conversations continue, and be filled with hope. These students’ resolve to keep finding the right words to describe the difficult things, to challenge themselves in writing and creativity is a balm for hard times. Enjoy! Fin."

- JENNIFER CHAMBERS

"Your growth over the last four years has been nothing short of remarkable. Having met many of you for the first time in Reading Like a Writer, seeing you through to Literary Journals and Zines, and enjoying your company at many Ampersand events in between, it has been a privilege to see your excitement, passion, creativity, and talent transform. As you write your next chapter beyond CW&P, carry all that you’ve learned with you, continue to support and show up for one another, fill blank pages with the stories you need to tell, and remember that there are no limits for how far you can—and will—go. Onwards!"

- TALI VORON-LEIDERMAN

"The world into which you are graduating has changed since you entered CW&P many years ago. In many ways it is more fractured, more volatile, and more uncertain of its own potential. It has never, in short, needed you more—you poets to sing truth in the face of lies, you storytellers to imagine the way forward into brightness, and you publishers to connect wanting readers with visions of the beautiful and the possible. Go, Class of 2026, with courage and conviction, show, don’t tell, and ply your hard-earned skills in service of the world you want to live in; this is how you make it so."

- OWEN PERCY

"This is no small thing. Amidst a world that feels hellbent on distracting us, on dividing us, on transmogrifying our creative work into slop that makes oligarchs richer, here these graduates have planted something new and real onto the planet. They have come together to write and publish their stories, these Exit Lines, and in doing so they are building a community, a culture of reading that holds all of us close. Their creativity is critical, which is to say, it is human. There is so much joy in these pages. Joy for the work. Joy for the language and its possibilities. Joy for each other. Pay attention—this is no small thing. " - ALEXANDER HOLLENBERG

"To the outgoing class of 2026, I would like to say the following: You've shown us what you're capable of—as writers, as editors, and as colleagues. Now get out there and show the world. Remember to never hold back. Your voices deserve to be heard, your work felt. Be proud of what you've accomplished here, and know this: you're only getting started. " - AGA WILMOT

"It's the students who have made Sheridan's Honours Bachelor of Creative Writing & Publishing the very best undergraduate program of its kind. Fortunately for us, these same outstanding students have written and published this remarkable anthology. This book is a living memory of their hard work, dedication, and creativity. It has been my honour to be included among their teachers. I can’t wait to see what they will do with their next chapter." - PAUL VERMEERSCH

"Serving as the CW&P Writer-in-Residence was truly a highlight of my writing career, and I feel endlessly grateful to have worked with so many of you, from conversations about your writing, to teaching (half of!) Poetics, and ongoing mentorships, I’ve been consistently impressed by your talent, hard work and vision for your writing, which is some of the most exciting and expansive poetry, fiction, and non-fiction I’ve read. I feel heartened that the future of Canadian publishing is in such capable and thoughtful hands, and I know that CanLit is a better place with all of you in it. I can’t wait to cheer you on as you publish more incredible writing, start presses of your own, and make daring and inventive contributions to publishing. I hope you know how valuable your voices are, that you have a place in CanLit and beyond, and your professors and mentors will always be rooting for you."

- CASSIDY MCFADZEAN

"With their commitment to craft, these students have created an incredible testament to the power of young writers' voices. These lines mark the start of many amazing writers' journeys."

- GLENN CLIFTON

"Exit Lines: the last words an actor speaks in a performance, while on stage. For our graduating, aspiring writers and publishers, this anthology contains the last words they will write in our program—I was going to add, and their first words in print. However, many of these students are published writers already: online and in print, or self-published, or in literary journals they started and ran themselves. These students do not shy away from tough subject matter, and they have claimed something joyful in collective collaboration about darkness. As a collection, Exit Lines demonstrates how they face it together and support each other as incredibly thoughtful, invested editors, promoters, and managers of each other’s work. There is a conscientiousness and sophistication to how the publishers in one class approached, cared for, and produced the capstone work of the authors in another class. Together, they have created a book that is more than just a document signifying their practice and progress as writers: it is a souvenir that threads together all the years of course work and accomplishments, their memories, first and last, that these students can carry away with them in book-form as they exit this program with pride."

- ROBYN READ