Photo Credit:
Photo credit
Marilyn Bowering
Michael Elcock
BIO
Biography

Michael Elcock was born in Forres, Scotland and grew up in Edinburgh and West Africa. He emigrated to Canada when he was twenty-one and worked in pulp mills, in the woods as a faller, on west coast fishing boats, and as a ski instructor. Along the way he earned a B.A. and M.Ed. in comparative studies at the University of Victoria - with post-graduate studies in Quebec, Sweden, Germany, Belgium and Scotland. He was Athletic Director at the University of Victoria for ten years, before going into the field of festivals and events. He was subsequently appointed founding CEO of Tourism Victoria, before moving some years later with his wife and daughter to Andalusia to work on developing Spain’s World Expo. He has broadcast for the BBC, and published many articles on a wide variety of subjects in periodicals, newspapers, magazines and anthologies in the UK, and Canada. Michael has served on TWUC's National Council, and on the Board of Directors of Access Copyright. He now lives in Victoria, BC.

ADDRESS
City: Victoria, Province/Territory: British Columbia
EMAIL
LANGUAGES
English
PUBLICATIONS
Publications
Title
Transactions with the Fallen (September 2024)
Publisher
Rocks Mills Press, Ontario
Year
2024
Title
Eyes of Rain and Ragged Dreams: Coming of Age in Edinburgh
Publisher
Muckle Knock
Year
2017
Title
The Gate: A Story of Love and War
Publisher
Oolichan Books
Year
2011
Title
Writing on Stone
Publisher
Oolichan Books
Year
2006
Title
A Perfectly Beautiful Place
Publisher
Oolichan Books
Year
2004
Title
Eyes of Rain and Ragged Dreams: Coming of Age in Edinburgh (Audiobook)
Publisher
Audible
Year
2017
Title
Transactions with the Fallen (Audiobook)
Publisher
Rocks Mills Press & Audible
Year
2024 (September)
AWARDS
Awards
Name
Radio Prague (Literary Essay)
Publication
by broadcast
Year
2009
PUBLIC PRESENTATIONS AND WORKSHOPS
Presentation details
Audience Size
Audience size
Any size
Presentation Genre
Travel & Anecdotal History, Sport/Recreation, The World of Urban Deer, Tourism, Scotland's Highland Clearances, Migration, Robert Louis Stevenson & the Lepers of Molokai, The Road to the Isles, Poaching, Brushes with Greatness, and much more.
Presentation Length
10 to 60 minutes - depending on audience and subject
Presentation Description
Presentation description

I have written books, magazine & newspaper articles, essays and stories (fiction & non-fiction) for anthologies, and given public presentations (some with PowerPoint) on subjects including Travel, Sport/Recreation, Living in Spain, the Internet ('21st Century Clearances'), Urban Renewal in the Third World, Scotland's strong women, Spirits of the Glens, Scotland's Diaspora, The Mounties' Great Trek, Map Reading, The Shepherd of Banbury (a gentle parable on Climate Change), Brushes with Greatness, Working with the Kichwa of Ecuador & the Macusi people of Guyana, and a wide range of other subjects.

School presentation details
Audience Size
Can be any size depending on school/teacher requrements
Intended Audience
6-18
Presentation Length
15 to 50 minutes
Presentation Description
Presentation description

Subject matter possibilities can be broad and varied or narrowly focused. They can be augmented by PowerPoint visuals if necessary. Subject talks or presentations can range from travel and tourism (upsides and downsides), to working with indigenous peoples in South America, to adapting non-fiction to fiction, to seeing the everyday (where we live) as exotic, to the difficulties of migration and life in an alien culture, to bringing alive the history of the places where we live, to event production and management (from experience of mounting festivals, working on World Expos, standard conventions and live shows with the Fruit Fly Circus, the McGarrigles, Stan Rogers, the Beatles). Any of it can be adapted to meet school & teaching requirements.

Presentation Fee(s)
TBD
Programs & Interests
Interested in participating Union’s Ontario Writers-in-the-Schools program:
All members are eligible for the Union’s Ontario Writers-in-the-Schools program. Are you interested in participating in this pro
Yes
Interested in participating in the Northern Ontario WITS program:
The Union’s Northern Ontario Writers-in-the-Schools program funds in-person visits to northern Ontario schools when possible. Ar
Yes