Meet KPU: Nicola Harwood

Harwood is an artist who teaches the Inside-Out Prison Exchange program at KPU

Nicola Harwood joined KPU in 2012. (Submitted)

Kwantlen Polytechnic University creative writing and interdisciplinary expressive arts instructor Nicola Harwood is an artist, author, playwright, and memoirist. 

Their most recent written publication, Flight Instructions for the Commitment Impaired: A Memoir About Family, Trauma, and Good Times, came out in 2016 and explores the idea of reinventing traditional family structures and their personal relationship with them. 

Harwood participated in the Writing Queer Lives panel moderated by author and KPU creative writing instructor Jen Currin at this past fall’s Word Vancouver Festival, where they talked about representation for queer women and transgender people in popular culture and media.  

While Harwood has an artistic background, they are also a theatre artist and writer, having worked as a director and performer for many years. As an artistic director, Harwood has dedicated a lot of time to producing art as well as fundraising. 

Their most recent project, THEY/THEM/US (2024), is a series of portraits of members of the queer, trans, and kink communities. 

On their website, they publish their creative projects, installations, and descriptions of the stories they tell.

At KPU, they are a part of the Inside-Out Prison Exchange steering committee and have co-taught the program. Students enrolled in the Inside-Out Prison Exchange program work with an equal number of incarcerated students at their facility, together exploring community-based alternatives to incarceration. 

When did you join the KPU community and why?

I got a job at KPU in 2012. I just love teaching, it’s fulfilled me a lot. So that’s been my main focus for the last 12 to 13 years. I came across an ad looking for teachers for creative writing, and I was like, “Oh, there we go. There’s a job for me.” So I applied and was put on the qualified-to-teach list, and started teaching as a sessional instructor, and then was hired in the department. It was a pretty lovely opportunity, and I took it.

What is your favourite story of your time at KPU?

There’s lots of stories. I think that a lot of it happens inside the classroom. My favourite thing to see in students is the kind of courage that it takes to really step into themselves and their own sense of authority and the knowledge that they’re acquiring. I teach in the interdisciplinary expressive arts, and we do a lot of physical exercises like moving around the room. So seeing people have courage is probably my favourite attribute when it comes to students — seeing them step forward and try something new. 

I also teach in the Inside-Out Prison Exchange program. It’s been very gratifying to work with folks who are incarcerated and see them also have the courage to be vulnerable in a way. Sometimes there’s an assignment where they have to memorize, write, and tell a story from their lives and tell it verbally without any kind of assistance. Seeing people really step into that and be willing to not only perform and speak publicly but also to share something of their lives with one another really enriches the entire room and everybody in there. 

What is something you’d like to say to people new to KPU?

Have the courage to speak up and participate in class. Sometimes helping others is a way to feel connected, so you don’t feel quite so shy and alone. “How can I help? Is there some way that I can participate in a helpful way in a classroom?” I think people don’t understand that often a way to build community is to serve and see if there’s some way that you can assist. Dig deep for that bit of courage that lets you be seen and be heard because it encourages other people in the room as well. 

If you’ve got a question and you’re not sure — you’re feeling a little afraid or uncertain — ask that question because there’s probably a whole bunch of other people in the room that might be feeling the same way. You will help others through your own courage. By asking questions and opening up dialogue, that helps others to go, “Yeah, I have a question, too, actually.” I would just really encourage students to speak up, ask questions, and offer to help others. Look around and see if there are people who need support and what you can do to be of service.

What are you working on right now? 

I’m working on a few different things. I’m building the Inside-Out Prison Exchange program. Part of my service work for KPU is to do outreach and building for that program. So I am trying to create a stronger structure for it to exist in the university because it’s still very young. 

In my personal artistic work, I’m working in visual art. That’s another part of my practice, and I’m painting, which is a big part of my world right now. 

What’s something you’d like people to know about you?

I think a lot of us are struggling with a lot of stress. I see an enormous amount of stress on the shoulders of students and teachers alike, and we tend to create a culture that creates stress and rushing. We’ve got a lot of issues as humans, like how we treat the environment and other political and environmental stresses upon us that sometimes feel overwhelming. 

I would say get outside, get out into nature, and look for the miracle of life, because life is filled with miracles everywhere. Take the time to look for it, be with it, and develop a relationship with the plants, the ocean, the trees, the sky, and the other humans who we are hanging out with. 

Look for the beauty and the miraculous in life, rather than letting our attention be dominated or co-opted by the tragedies. It’s important to pay attention to the tragedies and to do what work we can to alleviate suffering, but I think we also need to pay attention to the miraculous in life and give it the attention it deserves.

Pay attention to the places where you see the life force thriving, but also pay attention to your internal sense of joy and where it is, what it is teaching you, and where it is taking you. 

We always have practical concerns and family relationships to consider when we’re making decisions. But I really encourage people to pay attention to that peace inside of themselves that thrills with joy when they think about doing something or moving towards something in their life. That joy is a voice coming to us from inside, and pay attention to it because it’s a guide, I think, toward a happy life.