Prolific Canadian author Lawrence Hill visited Guelph Collegiate Vocational Institute (GCVI) on Monday, November 24, 2025, to share stories about his life and work with staff and students.
Best known for his 2007 book, The Book of Negroes, Hill met with Black Student Unions from GCVI, Norwell DHS, Wellington Heights SS, Centre Wellington DHS, Centennial CVI, and College Heights, did a Q&A with the Creative Writing and Africentric English classes, and did a Q&A with UGDSB staff.
“I do spend a lot of time in libraries and I spend a lot of time researching in university databases,” Hill said of his research and writing process.
One example he gave was when he was writing The Book of Negroes he needed to know how Black women in South Carolina in the 1750s were wearing their hair.
“It was hard to find a book on that subject, as you can imagine,” he said. “But I did find a series of articles about it by a writer from Australia named Shane White. His academic specialty was that very issue, so I could find articles about that which fed into my writing of the novel.”
Hill also gave his thoughts on racial discrimination in 2025, spoke about his next book, which is about African American soldiers who were sent to the Yukon to build the Alaska Highway during WWII, and his first career choice.
“My first [choice] was to become an Olympic champion in the 5000 metres and to win gold on the track. I ran and ran and ran and trained as hard as any person could ever train… but I wasn’t winning any major races,” he said. “I had to come to terms with that when I was about 17 that I was never going to reach that goal I set for myself.”
When Hill is not writing full-time he teaches creative writing at the University of Guelph. He also helped create "Gryphons Read," an annual reading program featuring BIPOC and queer writers at U of G.
To learn more about Lawrence Hill and his body of work, visit lawrencehill.com.