Emily-Jane Hills Orford

Many of Emily-Jane’s stories and novels reflect her national pride. She loves writing about Canada and the extra-ordinary Canadians who have made Canada a great nation. Emily-Jane’s stories have appeared in History Magazine, Canadian Stories Magazine, and Western People. She has written several fiction and non-fiction books: Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter, Ukulele Yukon, Letters From Inside, The Creative Spirit, It Happened in Canada (Books 1, 2, and 3), Personal Notes, The Whistling Bishop, Songs of the Voyageurs, F-Stop: A Life in Pictures, Still Delicious, Amazingly Extra-Ordinary Women and To Be a Duke. An award-winning author, she was named a Finalist for the 2009 Next Generation Indie Book Awards with her book, The Whistling Bishop (Baico), Finalist in the 2012 Next Generation Indie Book Awards with her book, F-Stop: A Life in Pictures (Baico), and again Finalist in the 2015 Next Generation Indie Book Awards with her book, as well as Honorable Mention in the 2015 Readers’ Favorite Book Award, To Be a Duke (Christine F. Anderson Publishing).

Emily-Jane has a Masters degree in Canadian Studies from Carleton University, and a strong academic background in Canadian music and art history. She has taught piano (Royal Conservatory of Music) to hundreds of students over the course of thirty years. The Creative Spirit, It Happened in Canada (Books 1, 2, and 3) all have valuable teacher’s guides, and are tools which are used to teach history at the elementary and high school levels. Emily-Jane is passionate about communicating our vibrant Canadian history and the achievements of exceptional Canadians and exceptional women to both students and adults. She is a sought after speaker who often draws upon her stories about extra-ordinary Canadians and extra-ordinary people around the world, particularly women.