Maggie Helwig
Maggie Helwig was appointed as priest-in-charge at St. Stephen’s Anglican Church in Toronto in 2013 before being appointed rector 2015. She chairs the diocesan Social Justice and Advocacy Committee, and before her ordination worked as a writer, editor, and arts organizer. Helwig has published thirteen books of poetry, fiction, and nonfiction. Her novel, Girls Fall Down, was shortlisted for the Toronto Book Award in 2009 and chosen as the Toronto Public Library’s One Book Community Read in 2012. Her latest book, Encampment: Resistance, Grace, and an Unhoused Community, won the 2025 Toronto Book Award. Helwig lives in Toronto.
Writers & Books
Award History
2026 - Finalist
Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing
forEncampment: Resistance, Grace, and an Unhoused Community
Jury Citation
“A necessary, on-the-ground view of Canada’s homelessness crisis, Encampment succeeds where much of political handwringing and wishful thinking around housing and poverty consistently fail. Maggie Helwig never lets compassion impede lucidity, and her book avoids both cynicism and battle fatigue. The result: a clear-eyed call to not look away, but to deepen understanding of the issue. As more and more of our neighbours find themselves living unsheltered, this book is essential reading.”—2026 Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing Jury (Norma Dunning, Chantal Hébert, Paul Wells)Works Recognized by WT