Fall writer-in-residence poet Gustave Morin at the University of Windsor in Windsor, Ont. on Thursday, Nov. 13, 2025. (LINDSAY CHARLTON/ The University of Windsor)
By Lindsay Charlton
Walking through the halls of Chrysler Hall North, you might hear the melodious notes of opera music alongside the click-clack of a typewriter ringing from a corner office as poet Gustave Morin gets to work on his latest piece.
The celebrated Windsor author has spent the last month in the University of Windsor’s creative writing department helping the next generation of writers hone their craft and sharing his insight and experience as the fall Pat Sturn writer-in-residence.
“I'm here to just give friendly advice,” Morin said.
“In taking on this position and dealing with young people, I decided from the beginning I was going to do what I needed to be encouraging of whatever they were doing as artists or as would-be writers.
“You're still a little green around the gills at say 20, but you're fired up. You have that enthusiasm, you can't let people dissuade you from that enthusiasm, and you have to also recognize that there is a process there.”
A longtime presence in Windsor’s arts community, Morin has written 16 books — among them Gongo Dodan, Clean Sails and A Penny Dreadful — and has spent more than 36 years publishing poetry and literary works while exhibiting his art.
“My role here is to just demonstrate by example. How do you go about being a writer? What does it mean to be a writer?” he said.
“I want to see what people are doing. I want to find out about them. They send me the writing, and I look at it, but when they come in, their writing stays there in that little box for about half an hour. I give them a job interview almost and feel them out. Because how else will I be able to help them if I don't know anything about them?”
As writer-in-residence, Morin has held solo and group art shows, offered public readings, visited classes to speak about their art, and held one-on-one appointments for budding writers seeking feedback.
Theft Under 37 Cents, a flash installation by writer-in-residence Gustave Morin, will be displayed for the remainder of the semester in Chrysler Hall North in Windsor, Ont. on Thursday, Nov. 13, 2025. (LINDSAY CHARLTON/ The University of Windsor)
During one of his readings, Morin put together a flash display of a collection of prints something he decided to expand by coating the walls near his office for a concrete poetry installation, which will stay in Chrysler Hall North for the rest of the semester.
“I put up the pieces that I had brought with me initially and started with those. I went through archives, dug things out and had copies generated. It will be interesting to see if it gets any graffiti or anything like that and what happens with it,” he said.
“Nothing is what you would call an original except for the funny little games I’m playing. I called it Theft Under 37 Cents, because in other words, I don’t owe anyone more than 36 cents for this work.”
During his time at the University, he has been working on new compositions, playing with sonnets, haikus and maxims. A fan of analogue, Morin almost exclusively uses a typewriter, creating images along with the written word for his poem.
His one piece of practical advice for writers?
“Take your writing off the cloud,” Morin said.
“Print it out, get a three-hole binder, put it in, and see it as a first draft – get it off the glass. There is something to seeing the tactility of a poem on a page.”
A free multidisciplinary reading and flash exhibition will mark the end of Morin’s residency on Friday, Nov. 21, featuring Morin with Charlene Dushime, Nawal Jasey and Jaksyn Peacock at the SoCA Armouries Amphitheatre, 37 University Ave. E., at 7:30 p.m.
Students interested in making an appointment with Morin will still be able to do so until Nov. 28 between 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday to Friday by emailing morin.mister.g@proton.me.