Teaching
→ MFA IN CREATIVE NONFICTION
I am part of the faculty of the MFA in Creative Nonfiction program, offered jointly by the University of King’s College and Dalhousie University’s Faculty of Graduate Studies. It’s a limited residency program so, over two years, students combine short, intense residencies (in-person in Halifax for nine days in June; online in Toronto and New York in alternating years, for six days in January) with living and working wherever they choose while having ongoing, one-on-one communication with their “mentor/advisors” (professional nonfiction writer-instructors). I’ve been one of the mentor/advisors since the program launched in 2013, working with MFA students on their book projects.
My mentoring philosophy is to try to understand a student’s overall goals for their project and help them achieve them. An MFA mentor isn’t an editor at a publishing house who must meet the expectations of the publisher and push the book inevitably toward publication. A mentor is a colleague, a fellow writer, albeit one who has had more experience coping with the challenges and frustrations of writing books so can offer advice and support. I’m mainly interested in how the writers I work with are growing and improving, and in providing some constructive suggestions about the structure of the book, including developing themes (for the book, overall, as well as individual chapters). Although a mentor’s role is not to be a copy editor, I usually offer some technical advice on issues like pacing, character development, and even structure at the paragraph or sentence level, if I think it will be helpful.
Here’s a link to information about the MFA in Creative Nonfiction program:
https://ukings.ca/area-of-study/master-of-fine-arts-in-creative-nonfiction/
And a video that captures the spirit:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0uL2MF3huJU
TESTIMONIALS
SHERRI WISE (Class of 2025)
The ability to imagine your audience as you write is profoundly generative. To give you the confidence to make a start with your inchoate idea you need to picture a reader who will be receptive, wise and understanding – one who will both “get” you and guide you. During two of my semesters at the University of King’s College’s M.F.A in Creative Nonfiction program, I was fortunate enough to have such a reader in David Hayes. Knowing that he was on the other side of my writing gave me the courage to take chances and go in new directions. David was deft with his line edits and unflagging in his enthusiasm. As someone new to the world of publishing, I appreciated David’s ability to draw from a lifetime of working as a professional writer. He was generous with his time and his expertise. I will continue to imagine him as my reader!
LYNNE PATTERSON (Class of 2025)
I had David as a mentor for my first year in the MFA for Creative Nonfiction program. David’s expertise was evident from the start, with his revision notes cleverly reminding me to step back from the story and create the world around the main events. This taught me to consider the universal theme of my book, which has undoubtedly made my writing stronger. In addition to his technical knowledge, David’s interest and enthusiasm for his students’ work is a gift. By sharing his emotional reactions to the scenes in my manuscript, he fuelled my confidence that I was on the right track. When I started working with him, I had a 1500-word draft of what I hope will be a book one day. His kindness, along with his skills, made me forget my anxiety as I added chapter after chapter under his guidance. As part of my introduction to the literary community, he made me feel like a member of the club.
DEBORAH DUNDAS (Class of 2023)
David Hayes was my mentor for two semesters during my MFA in Creative Nonfiction at King’s College in Halifax. I had applied for the program with one book project in mind and, by the time the program started, I had a contract for a completely different book. David offered invaluable help to me as a first-time author ushering a book to publication, something neither of us expected. His vast experience in the industry was invaluable for me in getting a proposal written quickly, writing the first chapters to submit to my editor, and helping me through the editing process with patience and consideration. He always had his students in mind – sending articles that might help in our work or might interest us, pointing us in the right direction, or simply offering his ear to bounce off ideas. His care and deep experience has continued long after the program ended, and I now consider David a friend.
JOHN LARSEN (Class of 2023)
David was my creative nonfiction writing mentor at King’s. The program was great, but the mentors, David in particular, brought it all together. He was consistently supportive, yet incisive and accurate with his suggestions. He prodded me to consider the motivation of my writing, and he offered a detective’s ability to rout out the verbose, the inconsistent, and the occasional lapses in narrative arc. Beyond his stellar ability to coach fledgling writers, David is an insightful, encouraging, and caring person. His unique style allowed me to see new angles and to internalize important lessons. I had a real sense that David cared about my future as a writer.
MELANIE CHANBERS (Class of 2023)
David Hayes taught me how to be a journalist; then, he taught me how to be a writer. The distinction is huge. As my former feature writing instructor at Ryerson in 2000, David introduced me to great writing—I fell in love with Joan Didion’s emotional memoirs that revealed her vulnerability and Sebastian Junger’s vivid scene recreations that made me hang onto to every life and death moment.
When I saw his name as a mentor in the University of King’s College’s MFA in Creative Nonfiction, he was a huge reason I applied to the program. As my book mentor at King’s in 2023, David understood what my memoir needed. He encouraged me to lean into some of the absurd and funny moments to help lighten the heavy subject matter. He taught me how to take a moment and slow it down—that these moments need the space to build the sensations, the feelings. David is the kind of teacher you see in the movies — the one who is always there for support and advice, but above all, he’s the one who says, keep going. Keep writing.
ANGUS MacCAULL (Class of 2023)
During my MFA at King’s, David was a very generous mentor. His lessons helped sharpen my research and interviewing skills. He provided insight around technical matters of the writing craft, such as the many ways writers create successful transitions between paragraphs. In addition, he modelled how to approach editors with professional, confident, and honest pitches. Since I graduated, he’s continued to be a champion for my career, reading my published work and keeping an eye out for opportunities that might fit my voice. I’m grateful that his mentorship has continued informally beyond the program.
JENN THORNHILL VERMA (Class of 2019)
When I set out to pursue my MFA in Creative Nonfiction (2017-2019) at the University of King’s College, I was as interested in getting back into journalism as I was writing my first book. Working with David as one of my mentors and instructors helped me to achieve both. It was David’s pitch writing workshop during the first year of the program that helped me to secure my first long-form magazine article, published in Maisonneuve. I followed his pitch advice, including his clever idea of including in my bio at the end of the essay that the piece was extracted from my ongoing book project. As it turned out, my publisher of choice saw that bio and emailed me to ask if I had lined up a publisher. One thing led to another and I had secured a publisher halfway through the program. David was one of two mentors who pored over my manuscript, offering the feedback this newbie author needed. Now, as a freelance reporter, I still consult David’s advice and we’ve stayed in touch ever since.
AMANDA LESLIE (Class of 2017)
As one of my mentors during the MFA program at the University of King’s College, David played an important role in strengthening my craft as a writer. He provided thoughtful and encouraging feedback on my manuscript — prompting me to reflect more deeply on structure, characters and themes, while simultaneously developing my writing voice, style and tone. His knowledge of the publishing landscape —including magazine features — helped prepare me to successfully pitch my story ideas. David brings a wealth of talent and experience to his role as a teacher and you couldn’t ask for a better (or more capable) writing mentor. I am immensely grateful for his support and guidance throughout my career!
→ ADVANCED FEATURE WRITING
For 14 years, from 1988 until 2002, I taught in Ryerson University’s School of Journalism in Toronto. (Now Toronto Metropolitan University) From 2003 until 2019, I taught Advanced Feature Writing in the Magazine Publishing program in Ryerson’s G. Raymond Chang School of Continuing Education.
TESTIMONIALS
Angela Boyd, Advanced Feature Writing, Spring 2017
I enrolled in David Hayes’ course on the recommendation of several friends. They said he was interesting, informative, a bit demanding but enthusiastic and fair. He was all of that. But I also found that his course influenced me in unexpected ways. I now read more widely and better; I have come to appreciate and identify structure in feature pieces; I listen for “voice” and try to clarify my own, and I have learned to target and craft a pitch. He also brought in speakers who had left his course to move into appealing jobs in the field and supplied a steady stream of suggestions, connections and concrete examples of how to write and get paid for it. He made me feel I could do it too. But most of all I appreciate his enthusiasm, unfailing confidence in our abilities and his hard work that was so evident every week. This was one of the best courses I have taken.
Marina Kamalova, Advanced Feature Writing, Fall 2015
I took David’s class in the fall of 2015 and now feel so much more confident about my writing and researching, especially on longer pieces. The classes were engaging and spurred lots of discussion so I always looked forward to going. David also invited guest speakers who work in the industry, giving us exposure to experts in their field, like interview expert Paul McLaughlin and editors at local publications. David was always very quick to reply to questions and gave feedback right away. He even met with me for coffee on a weekend to give me specific feedback on my feature article and personal essay. I would recommend this class to anyone looking to develop their writing, whether seasoned writers or those who are new to journalism, like I was.
Nancy Fornasiero, Advanced Feature Writing, Winter 2015
I almost didn’t enroll in David Hayes’ Feature Writing Course at Ryerson because the tuition was a bit outside my budget, but am I ever happy that I did. Thanks to David’s coaching and edits, my classroom assignments turned out to be ready to publish. I sold all three of them, allowing me to recover all of my tuition fees, plus the cost of my commute every week from the ‘burbs. The best part is that I established relationships with a number of magazine editors with whom I’ve been doing ongoing work ever since. Frankly, though, even without all that, the course was worth every penny. I highly recommend it to anyone serious about improving their writing.
Jennifer Lee, Advanced Feature Writing, Winter 2014
David Hayes’ course, Advanced Feature Writing, is probably the best course I’ve taken at Ryerson University’s Chang School of Continuing Education. He takes a nice approach by using a variety of writing examples–from iconic articles to published stories by his former students. I used to think that the magazine industry would be very hard to break into, but within a few months of taking his class, I was able to publish pieces in magazines and newspapers. Even after the course ended, David provided encouragement and advice to help me get my pieces across the finish line. He is honest, open-minded and willing to share his ideas and opinions. The freelance writing market (and journalism in general) is very competitive at the moment and it’s refreshing to work with someone like David.
Sue Bowness, Advanced Feature Writing, Winter 2013
I’d already been freelancing for several years when I took Advanced Feature Writing, but I had heard good things about it and also had an intriguing personal story (about my mother’s adoption and reunion with her birth family in her late 60s) that I’d wanted to write my way rather than immediately pitching to an editor. I took the course and now the feature’s scheduled to be published this fall. So that can be another reason to take it, to force you to work on that special feature in the bottom drawer.
SUGGESTED READING LIST
On Writing Well: William Zinsser (Harper & Row)
Storycraft: The Complete Guide to Narrative Nonfiction: Jack Hart (U of Chicago Press)
Tell It Slant: Creating, Refining, and Publishing Creative Nonfiction: Brenda Miller & Suzanne Paola (McGraw Hill)
Draft No. 4: John McPhee (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)
The Art of Memoir: Mary Karr
The Sense of Style: The Thinking Person’s Guide to Writing in the 21st Century: Steven Pinker (Viking)
The Elements of Style: William Strunk & E.B. White (Macmillan)
Asking the Best Questsions: A Comprehensive Interviewing Handbook for Journalists, Podcasters, Vloggers, Influencers, and Anyone Who Asks Questions Under Pressure: Paul McLaughlin (Centennial College Press) https://www.amazon.ca/Asking-Best-Questions-comprehensive-interviewing/dp/0919852858
The Bigger Picture: Elements of Feature Writing: Edited by Ivor Shapiro
The Business of Being a Writer: Jane Friedman
→ WORKSHOPS, LECTURES, etc.
I also give workshops and lectures, as well as appear at conferences and on panels.