Tara McGuire is a writer, moderator, speaker, voice-over actor, and former broadcaster. She is a graduate of The Writer’s Studio at Simon Fraser University and holds an MFA from The School of Creative Writing at The University of British Columbia. She also holds an Honours Diploma in Radio Journalism from the British Columbia Institute of Technology.
Tara’s first volume-length work: Holden After and Before – Love Letter for a Son Lost to Overdose, is a hybrid work in memoir and fiction exploring grief and the overdose crisis in the aftermath of the death of her son, Holden. It was published by Arsenal Pulp Press in September 2022. The book was recognized by The Walrus as one of the favourite books of 2022 as chosen by Canadian authors (Ivan Coyote), a finalist for the 2023 City of Vancouver Book Award, one of CBC Books to watch for, and featured in the Vancouver Sun’s “Must Read List” for 2022. She has work forthcoming with Book*hug Press in 2027.
Tara’s personal essay I Can Feel Him Breathing was shortlisted for Room Magazine’s 2020 Creative Nonfiction contest. Her essay “Hook an Anger” was shortlisted for the 2018 Writers’ Union of Canada Short Prose Competition for Emerging Writers, and her essay “Short Term” was shortlisted in 2020. Her work has been shortlisted for TNQ Edna Staebler Personal Essay Contest. Her short stories have been broadcast on CBC Radio and published in: The Ex-Puritan, Chateleine, The Globe and Mail, Geist, The Tyee, Montecristo Magazine, and more.
Tara lives on Bowen Island, BC, and is represented by Marilyn Biderman at Transatlantic Agency.