Meet Our Team And Their Chapbooks
We are all book dragons here
Tamara Thompson
Head of Management, Tamara Thompson is the founder of Whispering Wick. Her journey to Whispering Wick began at a young age. Growing up, Tamara was always interested in writing her own stories and to this day delves out of her comfort zone trying poetry and other forms of writing. Gaining her inspiration from her father’s wise words, “Don’t worry about what others think of ya. Learn and move forward,” she has a particular talent for turning dark and melancholic subject matter into one of fantasy and adventure. She strives to build worlds that any reader can enjoy regardless of it dealing with political and controversial topics. It was through this passion for writing that she was able to meet all of us at Whispering Wick through our college program, Creative Writing & Publishing at Sheridan college, and it is this bond that allowed her to form this group of creative minds.
Nathaniel (Nate) Boulard-Patterson
As Chief Editor of Whispering Wick, Nate has 5 years of experience in editing literature. Originally pursuing a career in social sciences, mainly psychology, he changed career paths when he happened upon a presentation for the Creative Writing & Publishing program. Initially Nate had no interest in writing and knew nothing about editing but simply felt drawn to the program. After his first semester, Nate quickly learned he had a passion for editing and has been growing as an editor ever since, even starting his own freelance editing business, B-P editing. What’s more, he won a writing contest for a poem titled A Swamp Like Shrek’s, which was featured in Alchemy. While being Métis and having come out as bisexual when he was 16 and transgender at the end of 2019, Nate has a passion for inclusivity of everyone no matter their background.
David Stevens
Head of our Production department, David Stevens has an incredibly creative mind. As Paul Vermeersch, one of Whispering Wick’s own mentors once said, “To be a great author, one must first be a great reader.” As such, like many of his kind, David Stevens spent his childhood devouring all books that met his gaze. However, unlike many, he gained his passion for authorship when almost 20 years of age. Never straying far from home, Stevens learned to create his own mythical worlds in which his characters faced challenge after challenge, throwing themselves into their tasks and growing as characters in unique ways. He an author inspired by every small detail in life, any of which could spark a new idea to which he could throw himself into. As an author, he has a particular knack for the science fiction genre along with all other subgenres of fiction.
Rebecca Gruszka
Rebecca Gruszka is a queer poet, editor, fiction writer, and works professionally as a Child and Youth Worker in Halton while also working as the head of Promotions for Whispering Wick. Her poetry focuses on mental health, living with chronic illness, and her many overwhelming feelings. She writes fantasy and mystical young adult fiction with authentic LGBTQ+ characters and feelings. Her self-published poetry chapbook, "Return to Sender" sparked her love for small press publishing with handmade touches. She came to join our team when she discovered the Creative Writing & Publishing program 3 years ago through a co-worker who is now a fellow classmate.
Grace Regan
Grace Regan is head of our Design department and ensures our images, logos, and website look clean, professional, and beautiful. Originally a fan of the DIY, scissors-and-glue approach to chapbook making, she’s transitioned her skills and passion to digital design. When she’s not doing design work for Whispering Wick, she can usually be found binge-reading young adult fantasy novels, researching obscure folklore, or playing The Sims. She is also a writer whose work has appeared in The Bangor Literary Journal, Savant Garde, Stone of Madness Press, and is forthcoming in Versification. It is thanks to a gloomy day and a lonely bench featuring an ad for the Creative Writing & Publishing program that we are graced with Grace.
Faizal Eidoo
The newest member of our team, Faizal Eidoo joined us as our Website Content Creator. Finding his place in the Creative Writing & Publishing program while applying for Animation, his passion for writing stems from his love of Fantasy, Sci-fi, and poetry. While he isn’t working on his fantasy novel, Faizal loves writing poetry that speaks to his identity as a South-Asian Canadian. His goal is to further diversify Canadian Literature so that young brown children see themselves being represented in the stories they love.
