About

David Hayes

David Hayes is an award winning Toronto-based freelance journalist who has written four nonfiction books as well as scores of articles and reviews for major publications, including Saturday Night, Report On Business, The Walrus, The New York Times Magazine, The Globe and Mail, Toronto Life (he was the magazine’s media columnist in the late 1980s), and National Post Business (he served as senior writer from August 2001 until April 2003.

A career freelance writer, Hayes has written on a wide range of subjects although his special areas of interest include culture and the arts — especially popular music — and media (in addition to award winning feature articles, his second book, Power and Influence: The Globe and Mail and the News Revolution, uses Canada’s national newspaper to trace the evolution of print journalism since the rise of television). He has also written extensively on business, especially marketing and advertising. In 2009 he won an Amnesty International Media Award for a feature story in Chatelaine on children from developing countries who arrive alone at Canadian airports seeking asylum.

He began teaching as a part-time instructor in the School of Journalism at Toronto’s Ryerson University in the late 1980s. He was an assistant professor on a limited-term faculty position from 1995 to 1999. He taught Advanced Magazine Writing in Ryerson’s Magazine and Web Publishing program (Continuing Education) from 2003 until 2018. Today, he is a mentor-advisor in the University of King’s College’s Master of Fine Arts in Creative Nonfiction.  He gives workshops and seminars and appears on panels relating to journalism in general, as well as researching, reporting and interviewing techniques. He is considered an authority on literary journalism (the use of dramatic fictional techniques in nonfiction).

Consulting/Mentoring

Review and critique of nonfiction prose (queries, articles, book proposals, book-length manuscripts, etc)
Ghostwriting
Strategies for revising nonfiction manuscripts
Detailed top editing
Assistance in writing cover letters, applications, artist’s statements, etc.

Curriculum Vitae

Books

The Little Gypsy: The Life and Mysterious Death of Jazz Legend Lenny Breau
(ECW Press) Forthcoming.

The Lost Squadron
Hyperion/Madison Press (U.S.); Little, Brown & Co (Canada); Bloomsbury Publishing (UK); Ein Ullstein: (Germany). Hardcover, published October 1994.

Power and Influence: The Globe and Mail and The News Revolution
(Key Porter Books Ltd.) Hardcover, published October 1992
1993 Toronto Historical Board Award of Merit (nonfiction)

No Easy Answers: The Trial and Conviction of Bruce Curtis
(Penguin Books Canada Ltd.) Hardcover, published October, 1986
1986 Arthur Ellis Award, Honourable Mention, nonfiction (Crime Writers of Canada)

• Canadian paperback, published October 1987
U.S. paper, pub April 1988 as Blood Knot: The Trial and Conviction of Bruce Curtis
(St. Martin’s Press)

• TV movie of the week:
CBC (Canada): Journey Into Darkness (November 1991)
NBC (U.S.): Deadly Betrayal (February 1992)

Co-Writing, Ghost Writing, Editing

Disaster Proof: Scenario Planning for a Post-Pandemic Future
by Lance Mortlock (edited by David Hayes)
(Barlow Books, Scheduled for Publication: April 2021)

The Zero Dollar Car: How the Revolution in Big Data Will Change Your Life
by John Ellis
(Barlow Books, November 2017)

Food Junkies: The Truth About Food Addiction
by Vera Tarman (edited by David Hayes)
(Dundurn Press, published  November 2014)

Don’t Listen To Everyone With An Opinion: 20 Lessons Over 20 Years of Investing
by Wayne Deans with David Hayes
(Echo Memoirs, published  April 2013)

Ever Loving: The Don and Marion Wheaton Story
by Joanne Blain (edited by David Hayes)
(Echo Memoirs, published December 2012)

True North: A Life in the Music Business
By Bernie Finkelstein (edited by David Hayes)
(McClelland & Stewart)
Hadrcover, published April 2012

On Equal Terms: Redefining China’s Relationship with America and the West
By Zheng Mingxun (edited by David Hayes)
(John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)
Hardcover, published November 2011

Race Against Time
By Stephen Lewis (edited by David Hayes)
(House of Anansi Press Inc.)
Softcover, published October 2005

The Passion to Skate: An Intimate View of Figure Skating
By Sandra Bezic, with David Hayes
(Turner Publishing Inc./Opus Productions Inc.)
Hardcover, published October 1996

Anthologies

Critical Insights: In Cold Blood
Edited by Nicolas Tredell (Grey House Publishingers, 2020)
“Truman Capote and the Legacy of In Cold Blood

What I Meant to Say: 25 Essays on the Private Lives of Men
Edited by Ian Brown (Thomas Allen Publishers, 2005)
“My Father’s Secret”

Taking Risks: Literary Journalism From the Edge
Introduction: Michael Ignatieff; Edited by Barbara Moon and Don Obe (Banff Centre Press, 1998)
“The Little Gypsy: The Jazz Legend of Lenny Breau”

Canadian Politics Through Press Reports
Edited by Donald C. Wallace and Frederick J. Fletcher
(Oxford University Press, 1984)
“Lobbyists: A Word From the Wise”

Magazines & Newspapers

Articles and essays have appeared in major publications, including: Saturday Night, Toronto Life, Report on Business magazine, The Globe and Mail, The New York Times Magazine, National Post Business, Toro, The Walrus, Chatelaine, Canadian Business, Maclean’s, Azure, and others. He wrote a renters’ column in The Toronto Star from 2006 to 2013.

Editorial Positions

National Post Business, Senior Correspondent (Aug 2001-April 2003)

Toronto Life, Contributing Editor, 1986-96; Media Columnist, 1987-89; 1992-93

Ryerson Review of Journalism, Consulting Editor, 1987-2001

T.O. Magazine, Consulting Editor, 1987

enRoute, Editorial Assistant, June-August, 1979

Awards & Fellowships

2014 – Kenneth R. Wilson Memorial Award
• HONOURABLE MENTION (Best One-of-a-Kind Article)
“A Peek Inside Trent’s Forensic Wildlife DNA Lab” (University Affairs, April 2014)

2009 – Amnesty International Media Award 
• LOCAL ALTERNATIVE PRINT category
“Abandoned in Canada” (Chatelaine, Sept. 2009)

2008 – National Magazine Award
• HONOURABLE MENTION (Society)
“The Sins of the Mother” (Chatelaine, Sept. 2008)
• HONOURABLE MENTION (Investigative Reporting)
“The Sins of the Mother” (Chatelaine, Sept. 2008)
• HONOURABLE MENTION (Arts & Entertainment)
“Who’s the Boss?” (Toronto Life, February 2008)

2007 – National Magazine Award
• HONOURABLE MENTION (Investigative Reporting)
“Notes on a Scandal” (Toronto Life, May 2007)

2006 – National Magazine Award
• HONOURABLE MENTION (One of a Kind)
“The Prisoner” (Toronto Life, April 2006)

2002 – National Magazine Award
• GOLD (Business)
“Song Corpse” (Toronto Life, Feb. 2002)
• HONOURABLE MENTION (Arts & Entertainment)
“The Boys in the Brand” (National Post Business, March 2002)
• HONOURABLE MENTION (Words & Pictures)
“Little Kabul” (Toronto Life, Oct. 2002)

2001 – National Magazine Award
• HONOURABLE MENTION (Arts & Entertainment)
“Riding the Next Wave” (Saturday Night, Jan. 20, 2001)

1998 – National Magazine Award
• HONOURABLE MENTION (Business)
“Fear Itself” (Toronto Life, Oct. 1998)

1993 – National Magazine Award
• HONOURABLE MENTION (Society)
“The Dance, the Firebombs and the Clash of Cultures” (Toronto Life, Oct. 1992)

1987 – National Magazine Award
• SILVER (Business)
“What’s Black and White and May or May Not Be Read All Over?” (Toronto Life, Dec. 1987)

1984 – Author’s Award – Canadian Periodical Publishers’ Association
• GOLD (Business)
“Who Killed Cockfield Brown?” (Saturday Night, Feb. 1984)

Resident, Arts Journalism Fellowship Program
The Banff Centre: School of Fine Arts; Banff, Alta (June 1993)

Teaching

University of King’s College
Master of Fine Arts in Creative Nonfiction
• Mentor/Advisor (2013-present)
• Advisory Board member (2011-present)

Ryerson University
Faculty of Continuing Education
• Instructor, Advanced Magazine Writing: 2003-2018
• Instructor, Magazine Writing: 1986-87

Ryerson University
School of Journalism
• Limited Term Faculty appointment: 1995-1999
• Instructor: 1987-1995

(I have taught a variety of courses, including Advanced Magazine Writing, Magazine Reporting, Introduction to Magazine Writing, Magazine Fundamentals and Freelance Writing.)

Banff School of Fine Arts
Magazine Publishing Workshop
• Writer in Residence: 1985-88

Workshops
• I have led a variety of workshops and participated on panels related to feature writing and/or literary journalism for organizations such as Rogers Communications; Canadian Business Press; Canadian Association of Journalists (CAJ); Editors’ Association of Canada; Canadian Magazine Publishers’ Association (CMPA) Publishing Program; Periodical Writers Association of Canada (PWAC); Atlantic Magazines Conference (Magazines East); the U.S.-based Association of Educators in Journalism and Mass Communications (AEJMC); The Hamilton Spectator, and others.

Board Memberships

• National Magazine Awards Foundation (NMAF) board member: 2011-2017
• University of King’s College MFA in Creative Nonfiction; Advisory Board member: 2011-present

Education

Ryerson University
• School of Journalism, Bachelor of Applied Arts: 1981