Michael Springate is the author of the novel The Beautiful West & The Beloved of God (Guernica Editions, 2014), translated and published in French as L’engrenage des apparences (Les éditions Sémaphore 2017). His collection, Revolt/Compassion: Six Scripts for Contemporary Performance (Guernica Editions) was published in 2019 with a forward by Erin Hurley. He wrote the screenplay for Carolyn Combs’ debut feature, Acts of Imagination (2006), as well as for her most recent feature, Bella Ciao! (2018). Michael is a past Artistic Director of Playwrights Workshop Montreal, Prairie Theatre Exchange in Winnipeg, Factory Theatre in Toronto, and Dramaturg and Artistic Associate with Full Circle: First Nations Performance in Vancouver. He has taught acting, directing, and play development at both Simon Fraser and Concordia Universities, and was invited as Researcher/Lecturer to Gwangju National University in South Korea. He is a founding member of the Vancouver Latin American Cultural Centre, as well as of the film group Commercial Drive Productions, and is active in issues related to cooperative housing. He considers writing a life-long discipline rooted in independent research and reflection.