About | Jessica Outram

Jessica has been writing about Georgian Bay since she was a child, often lying on warm granite by the Magnetawan River in summertime then, capturing stories about the lighthouse, landscape, and her ancestors in messy cursive. Now, she writes anywhere, still in cursive sometimes but mostly with her laptop. Expressing and making meaning through writing has become a way of life.

As her writing developed, her love of water, land, and family history expanded too. In poems, plays, and fiction, she often returns to these themes.

An award-winning author, poet laureate emeritus, and experienced educator, Jessica feels grateful for opportunities to write and teach.

Jessica's teaching experiences are diverse, including elementary, secondary, and post-secondary classrooms, adult learners in community, as well as one to one mentoring. She is happiest when she teaches about creative writing, arts and literature, or peace education.

Jessica is a citizen of the Métis Nation of Ontario. Her mother is a Lamondin, her family part of the Georgian Bay Métis Community from the MNO verified Métis family lines of Solomon and Berger/Beaudoin. Jessica's grandfather and great-grandfather grew up at the Gereaux Island Lighthouse, where their fathers were lighthouse keepers. Her father’s family (Outram) were settlers to the Britt, Ontario area in the early 1900s.

At two weeks old, Jessica Outram visited her grandparents on Georgian Bay and she has spent as much time there as possible ever since. She is the author of a novel for middle grade students, Bernice and the Georgian Bay Gold, and of the poetry collection The Thing with Feathers. Her play Once Upon a Rocking Chair has been produced twice to sold out audiences.

Jessica is a member of the League of Canadian Poets and the Playwrights Guild of Canada. She has a Master of Arts degree in Adult Education and Community Development from University of Toronto. As co-host of The Hummingbird Podcast with Catherine Graham, Jessica explores poetry, identity, place, and creativity.

In May 2024, the Georgian Bay Concert Choir performed the world premiere of 'Windblown Group of Seven,' composed by Dorothy de Val. Lyrics by Jessica Outram.

A full-time educator for over 25 years, she currently works as Superintendent of Education.

Featured Recognition

Bernice and the Georgian Bay Gold is the winner of The Geoffrey Bilson Award for Historical Fiction for Young People, 2024.
Recipient of the Gordon Johnston Award for Artistic Excellence, Trent University.
Recipient of two Ontario Arts Council Recommender Grants.
4th Poet Laureate of Cobourg, Ontario from 2019-2022.