Betty Jane Wylie, is a Canadian writer and playwright. Born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, she received a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1951 and a Master of Arts degree in 1952 from the University of Manitoba. In her book "The Write Track" she discusses how to succeed as a freelance writer in Canada. Bettyjane Wylie was a published poet first, then a puppet playwright, then a live-stage playwright for both children and adults, then an author, and then a screenwriter for TV and film. She concentrates now on screenplays and books. Her stage plays have been produced at the Manitoba Theatre Centre, St. Lawrence Centre, National Arts Centre, Stratford Third Stage, Factory Theatre, Theatre Passe Muraille and Theatre Direct in Toronto, and other theatres in Canada, Minneapolis and Waterloo, Iowa, and in New Zealand, London, England, and South Africa. She has had 36 stage plays produced and published about 40 books of non-fiction, biography, belles letters, poetry and cooking. Her first TV movie won two Geminis. She was a Bunting Fellow at Radcliffe, has been named a Woman of Distinction by the YWCA, and given an Alumni Jubilee Award by the University of Manitoba where she received an honorary doctorate in May 2003. In 2003, she was made a Member of the Order of Canada, Canada's highest civilian honor.
Selected bibliography
PUBLICATIONS
NON-FICTION Letters to Icelanders: Exploring the Northern Soul Enough: Lifestyle and Financial Planning for Simpler Living Family: An Exploration Beginnings: A Book for Widows The Best Is Yet to Come - Enjoying a Financially Secure Retirement Life's Losses Everywoman's Money book New Beginnings: Living Through Loss and Grief All in the Family: A Survival Guide for Living and Loving in a Changing World Successfully Single COOKBOOKS Solo Chef: Recipes, Tips, Advice and Encourage for Single Cooks The Betty Jane Wylie Cheese Cookbook Encore: The Leftovers Cookbook POETRY The Better Half: Women's Voices Something Might Happen The Second Shepherds' Play BELLES LETTRES Reading Between the Lines: The Diaries of Women Men! A Collection of Quotations About Men by Women BIOGRAPHY The Book of Matthew The Horsburgh Scandal INSPIRATIONAL Betty Jane's Diary: Lessons Children Taught Me Betty Jane's Diary: Passages Betty Jane's Diary: Holidays and Celebrations No Two Alike CHILDREN'S BOOKS John of a Thousand Faces Tecumseh PLAYS Veranda Time Bomb Double Vision The Horsburgh Scandal Mark Jason Androgyne Angel Speculum Grace Under Pressure The Second Shepherds' Play Steps How to Speak Male Help Is on the Way A Day In the Life A Place on Earth Double Swap Size Ten I See You An Enemy of the People PLAYS FOR CHILDREN Don't Just Stand There - Jiggle! Kingsayer The Old Woman and the Pedlar RADIO PLAYS Memories of Canada How to Speak Male Sybil: A Novel for Radio Mountain Woman Victorian Spice \ Betty Jane's Diary MUSICALS/OPERA Beowulf Soap Bubbles Boy in a Cage 4 five-minute operas for Tapestry New Opera Works Gotcha RECORDINGS Beowulf Beowulf, and a CD TELEVISION AND FILM Women, Lifestyle, and Money 13-part series- writer/narrator host) Coming of Age CrossTalk Shadow Lake became Paradise Falls JOURNALISM Published in Canadian magazines and newspapers including MacLean's, Chatelaine, Homemakers, Toronto Life, Miss Chatelaine, Calgary Magazine, Canadian Living, Performing Arts, Canadian Theatre Review, Recipes Only, Fiddlehead, Forum, Fifty Plus, Gourmet, Today, The Canadian, The Icelandic Canadian, Prairie Fire, Quest, City Woman, City Magazine, Ontario Living, Leisureways, the Globe and Mail, the Toronto Star, the Winnipeg Free Press, the Boston Globe SPECIAL NEWSPAPER ASSIGNMENTS "The Old Lady Caper" and "The Psycho Trip" "Summer Soap BOOKS ABOUT HER WORK Female Parts: The Art and Politics of Female Playwrights, by Yvonne Hodkinson The Canadian Dramatist, volume Two, by Diane Bessai ANTHOLOGIES WHERE HER WORK HAS APPEARED Dropped Threads: What We Aren't Told Inter S E C T I O N S: Fiction and Poetry from the Banff Centre for the Arts Going Some Place Six Fantasy Plays for Children Unexpected Fictions Recipes Only First Class Acts The Perfect Piece Another Perfect Piece AND DESCRIBED, REFERRED TO IN Pierre Berton's book about writing, and a collection of essays by Jane Rule