I met Sarah Waisvisz in the fall of 1993 in Mrs. Zielinski’s homeroom class at Broadview Public School (Ottawa), where Sarah soon rose to the top of the class (a position she’s always held in pretty much any academic program she’s ever been a part of, with the exception of grade 11 math when she came last place- sorry, Sar!). She’s had an incredible career in the Canadian theatre as a writer, director, and actor, and she has also taken on roles at the National Arts Centre and Canada Council for the Arts. She is now a faculty member at one of Canada’s most prestigious universities. While her heart may live in Paris or Martinique, she’s made a lovely home for herself in Kingston as Maman to little Noah, who loves to ride his bike along the shores of Lake Ontario. She is the friend I love talking to the most because she is as wise as she is hilarious; she’s helped me move more times than I care to count because that’s what true friends do; and she is an absolute style icon! I am blessed to have had her in my corner for over 30 years, and I look forward to many more.
-Written by Christine Armstrong
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Which ’hood are you in?
I live in Portsmouth Village in Kingston. It is a historic part of the city and a hidden gem. I live in an apartment building that looks out over the lake; I can hear the waves crashing as I write this. I pretend it is the Atlantic Ocean, and that helps me stay connected to people and places I love.
What do you do?
I am a professor of Drama at Queen’s University. I am also a writer, theatre maker, and mother. That last part has become important and takes up most of my time and energy.
What are you currently working on?
I don’t have much writing time these days but I am currently working on three projects: a literary memoir about IVF and parenting called Dreambaby; a scholarly article related to Dionne Brand’s masterpiece A Map to the Door of No Return; and I am also revising an old play that I previously abandoned because the characters were telling me things I found too scary.
Where can we find your work?
My play Heartlines: A Love Story about the lives and love of Claude Cahun and Marcel Moore is out now with Talonbooks; you can find it wherever books are sold. In terms of other recent work, you can find my first published play, Monstrous, in the journal alt.theatre issue 13.3. A creative non-fiction piece I wrote about IVF was published last year by MUTHA Magazine here. A few years ago, I had the chance to write about race and the future of Canadian theatre in an essay entitled “We Are Holding Our Breath” in Theatre Research in Canada. I hope to find a publisher for that above-mentioned memoir so you can eventually read it too! In the meantime, I’m also hoping to make Substack my friend via @writingwhilemom
