Danielle Metcalfe-Chenail is a multi-genre and multi-passionate author, coach, editor and consultant. She's probably best known for her inclusive aviation histories and picture books - but she's also working on memoir and book club fiction. She's traditionally published six books and self-published or ghostwritten several others. Danielle was general editor of the critically-acclaimed Canadian bestseller, In This Together: Fifteen Stories of Truth and Reconciliation. Her latest co-authored picture book, Freddie the Flyer, was selected by Dolly Parton's Imagination Library and the TD Summer Reading Program, and is currently shortlisted for the Atlantic Book Awards - Readers' Choice Award.
Danielle was writer-in-residence at Berton House in Dawson City, Yukon; Edmonton's Historian Laureate; and Chatelaine's Maverick of the Year. She's lived all over North American and loves getting lost in research, travelling, and going on adventures with her little family. It makes it all the sweeter when she's reading fireside (or seaside) in her Nova Scotia/Mi'kma'ki home.
I have significant experience emceeing, moderating panels, speaking as a panelist, and giving presentations and workshops on the craft and business of writing, as well as historical topics. I love channelling my inner Shelagh Rogers interviewing other authors on-air or in front of a live audience, and work very hard to put speakers and audience members alike at ease. As an author of both children's and adult books, I am used to speaking to very diverse groups in terms of age, grades, background, demographic, language, reading level, and so on. I have training as a facilitator as well as in the areas of reconciliation, anti-racism, equity, diversity and inclusivity, and neurodiversity. I am also functually bilingual (French/English) and am a novice level in Spanish.
Speaking credits include: Canada's History Forum and Gala, LitFest, WriteFest, STARFest, Afterwords Literary Festival, Booktoberfest, and the Creative Nonfiction Collective conferences.
I have several presentations and workshops I've created over the years for in-person and virtual visits that I would be thrilled to deliver to your group. Please visit www.daniellemc.com/school-visits to see what I offer, and please reach out to tailor a session to your needs.
I have done short storytimes and activities for wiggly littles all the way up to Powerpoints and workshops for grades 4-5 (and even up to grade 8!). I do Writers in the Schools (WITS) through the Writers' Federation of Nova Scotia and was selected as a touring author for Canadian Children's Book Week in 2024.
Here are just a few of my popular session titles:
- Flying High into Books
- Wonder-Full Writing
- Five Top Tips for Researching & Creating Nonfiction
- The Care and Feeding of Creatives
