About Elaine Hayes

​Elaine was raised in a suburb of Montreal. Her family fostered two children, and she found refuge from the household turmoil in books borrowed from a church's basement library.

Her first employment opportunity was a summer job in a Montreal hospital laundry, and that experience gave her a profound and long-lasting appreciation for both air conditioning and new linens. She subsequently attended O'Sullivan Business College, worked as a buyer's assistant for a major retailer, tutored adult students in Algebra and English Literature, and held positions in the Human Resources and Legal Departments at one of Canada's oldest transportation companies. She also owned and operated children's clothing stores. Currently, she is employed as an administrator in her family's tax consulting firm.  

When her eldest child graduated from university in 2001, Elaine started. She began part-time studies at the University of Calgary, and, under the mentorship of several remarkable professors and instructors, she discovered a desire to write. Following graduation, she was awarded an Alberta Foundation for the Arts grant, which funded her attendance at the Humber School for Writers. She has had short stories published in numerous anthologies and magazines, and she has completed her debut novel, White Margarine. She is now at work on the manuscript of her second novel, All Those Sample Pieces.

Elaine is a member of the Writers' Union of Canada. She is also an active community volunteer, a modern quilter, and an avid traveler. 
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