Patti Edgar’s writing can be found in books, newspapers, magazines and online. New creative non-fiction appearing in Queen’s Quarterly, Nashwaak Review, Blank Spaces and the Antigonish Review in 2024/2025.

No. 1 Calgary Herald Bestseller!

Teachers and parentsClick here to download a free study guide

Read an interview with the author in Prairie Books Now


Praise for Anna, Analyst

“Bossy, inventive Anna is authentic and endearing. Her dilemmas and struggles—when her creative solutions breed new problems—are convincing, at once familiar and fresh…A droll, deftly executed debut.”

Kirkus Reviews

“Discord between best friends is the emotional core of the book … The novel is concise and funny. Anna is an average kid—a flawed, funny, relatable character.
Patti Edgar excels at delving into Anna’s head, demonstrating how unpredictable the world appears from her perspective.”

Canadian Children’s Book News

“Anna is a relatable heroine … Highly Recommended.”

CM: Canadian Reviews of Materials

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Other Publications:

New creative non-fiction appearing in Queen’s Quarterly, Nashwaak Review, Blank Spaces and the Antigonish Review in 2024/2025. Previously published in The Dalhousie Review, Freefall, Grain Magazine, Prairie Fire and the anthology Waiting (University of Alberta Press, 2018). Nominated for best unpublished essay in 2023 and best short non-fiction in 2024 as part of the Alberta Literary Awards. ‘Life and Good Fortune’ was a finalist for the 2017 carte blanche/CNFC Creative Non-Fiction Prize. ‘Personal Flotation Devices’ won the Calgary Foundation’s Brenda Strathern Writing Prize. Ms. Edgar worked as a journalist at the Winnipeg Free Press and the Ottawa Citizen, as well as the CBC, where she helped create a project that won an Alberta Film and Television Award.

Teaching:

Ms. Edgar holds an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of British Columbia. She has taught at Mount Royal University and the Alexandra Writers’ Centre Society. Students have won several awards for projects created in her classroom, including the Canadian Association of Journalists Student Award of Excellence (2017, 2018 and 2020), the MRU Faculty of Business and Communications Student Research Days Award (2019, 2022, 2024), and the Emerge Media Award for Multimedia Production (2018 and 2020). She enjoys judging Alberta’s magazine awards and the International Regional Magazine Awards.

Patti Edgar would like to acknowledge the support of the Calgary Arts Foundation, the Alberta Foundation for the Arts and the Access Copyright Foundation.

Explore & Learn

Anna Analyst

Anna Analyst

Middle Grade Novel

On the last day of elementary school, eleven-year-old Anna finds a leather-bound book about handwriting analysis. Anna could use help deciphering people.

Waiting

Waiting

An Anthology of Essays

The verb esperar means to wait. It also means to hope. This collection of thirty-two personal essays is as much about hope as it is about waiting.

School Visits

School Visits

Available in 2024-2025

Ms. Edgar is an experienced teacher and guest speaker who brings creative digital storytelling into the classroom. She's worked with kids, teens and young adults.

Contact Me