Our alumni are truly outstanding in their fields, and Langara authors are no exception. Take a look below to know more about their journey and what they are up to nowadays. An amazing display of their work is available at the Langara library for the month of November. If you are a Langara author or know one, please contact alumni@langara.ca so we can add those books to our growing collection at the library.
Arthur Wolak – Arts & Science
Arthur Wolak is an interdisciplinary historian and business executive. He is author, co-author, and editor of six books, including historical works, such as, Forced Out: The Fate of Polish Jewry in Communist Poland. His most recent book, Religion & Contemporary Management, is included in best-known international academic libraries like Oxford and Harvard. His academic articles have appeared in publications like the International Journal of Organizational Analysis, Australasian-Canadian Studies, Reviews in Australian Studies, and the Jewish Bible Quarterly. In September 2017, Dr. Wolak was elected to join the Board of Governors of Gratz College in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Charles Montgomery - Journalism
Charles Montgomery is a writer and photojournalist. His first book, The Last Heathen: Encounters with Ghosts and Ancestors in Melanesia, won the 2005 Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Nonfiction. Since 2001, he has won four Western Magazine Awards, a National Magazine Award, and the 2003 American Society of Travel Writer’s Lowell Thomas Silver Award for best North American travel story.
Dianne Jacob - Journalism
Author and co-author of various books, Dianne has been awarded internationally on several occasions. Her book Will Write for Food: The Complete Guide to Writing Cookbooks, Blogs, Memoir, Recipes, and More, now on its third edition, has won three international awards for excellence, including the Gourmand World Cookbook Award (2010). Will Write for Food has been translated into Korean, Chinese, and soon, Spanish. College and university professors use it as a textbook across the US. She is currently teaching food writing workshops around the world.
Gary Mason - Journalism
Gary Mason is a national affairs columnist for the Globe and Mail, based in Vancouver. Previously, Mason spent 19 years at the Vancouver Sun in various capacities, including a seven-year stint as a popular sports columnist. He has received the prestigious Jack Webster Award for journalism five times and has won two National Newspaper Awards.
Gaurav Sharma – Business Administration
Author and novelist Gaurav Sharma started his career in 2011, at the age of 19, when writing his first book Design and Graphics Redefined. He has authored three textbooks related to the field of journalism and mass communication. Today, he is best known for his semi-autobiographical fiction book Gone are the Days which he completed writing in ten months and in September 2018, he launched his new book, God of The Sullied, a historical fiction dated in the middle of the ninth century.
Joshua & Chris Hergesheimer – Journalism
Josh trained as a journalist at Langara College and attended crisis-zone training at Columbia University. His writing and photography have appeared in the Vancouver Sun, the Vancouver Observer, Al-Jazeera International, the Globe & Mail and the Georgia Straight. Since travelling to South Sudan, he was commissioned by the Overseas Press Club of America to write a guide for journalists visiting South Sudan. Chris is a consultant on issues surrounding food and farming and holds a PhD from the Faculty of Land and Food Systems at the University of British Columbia. The brothers are co-authors of the BC bestseller The Flour Peddler: A Global Journey into Local Food (2015) and they both co-teach Research Methodology at the Boucher Institute of Naturopathic Medicine.
Judie Steeves - Journalism
Judie Steeves is a freelance writer, specializing in outdoors, agricultural, environmental, and food & wine. She’s been writing since 1968 and is the proud author of the book Okanagan Trips and Trails, along with two other books. In addition to her writing skills, Judie is experienced in photography and editing. She’s currently an author for Okanagan Life magazine and has worked in newspapers and other magazines throughout British Columbia.
Leanne Prain - Publishing
Leanne is a Langara Publishing alumni and the author of three books: Strange Material: Storytelling Through Textiles; Hoopla: The Art of Unexpected Embroidery; and Yarn Bombing: The Art of Crochet and Knit Graffiti (co-authored with Mandy Moore). Leanne and her books have been included in major publications that include The New York Times, the Guardian UK, and the Globe and Mail. She has delivered lectures, panel discussions and workshops across North America. When she isn’t writing she serves at the BC Chapter President of the Society of Graphic Designers of Canada, and as the co-artistic director of The Imprint, a literary collective she founded with poet Laura Farina to explore participatory acts of writing in public.
Nicholas Read - Journalism
Nicholas is a Journalism alumnus and instructor at Langara College. He’s a former reporter for the Vancouver Sun and has collaborated on several children’s books. These include Wolf Island, A Bear's Life, The Seal Garden and The Great Bear Sea. He’s the author of City Critters: Wildlife in the Urban Jungle, a book about the untamed creatures in urban environments, and Saving Emily, a youth novel about two very different stories coming together in a life-and-death adventure.
Omar Mouallem - Film Arts
Omar Mouallem is a National Magazine Award-winning writer who lives in Edmonton. His work has appeared in many publications, including Wired, The Guardian, and Reader’s Digest. He also sits on the board of LitFest, Canada’s nonfiction book festival, and Eighteen Bridges magazine.
Wendy Long - Journalism
Wendy Long is an award-winning sports journalist. Over her thirty-year career, she blazed a trail for women sportswriters and advanced amateur sports coverage in Canada. She has covered multiple Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, Pan American Games, and World Championships. In 2016, she was inducted into the BC Sports Hall of Fame in the media category – the first female to receive this honour.
Ujjal Dosanjh - Arts & Science
Ujjal Dosanjh is the former Premier of British Columbia and a former Minister of Health for Canada. He became the Attorney General of British Columbia in 1995, and then Premier of British Columbia from February 2000 to June 2001 before he entered federal politics. He lives in Vancouver with his wife Rami.
Tracy Theemes - Early Childhood Education
Tracey is a business owner, published author, public speaker, lecturer, and advocate for financial literacy. In 2009, Tracey co-founded the Sophia Financial Group, a company that empowers clients through the power of financial knowledge. Since starting her firm, Tracey has delivered hundreds of educational seminars related to socially responsible investing and financial planning. Her book, The financially Empowered Woman, won the Bronze prize for the Living Now Awards for finance and economics and the Axiom Gold medal in personal finance.
If you are a Langara author or know one, please contact alumni@langara.ca so we can add those books to our growing collection at the library.