Story Teller | Myra Lee Virgil

WORK IN PROGRESS

BIO

Myra Virgil is a foundation executive and recovered civil servant. A social worker by profession, born, raised, educated and trained in Canada, Myra now lives and writes from Bermuda.

She was longlisted for the 2022 Commonwealth Short Story Prize and named a finalist of The Fiddlehead 2022 Creative Nonfiction Prize. Her nonfiction short story, The Real Canadian Superstore was shortlisted for the 2023 Letter Review Prize. Her memoir I Thought You’d Never Ask is her first book-length venture into creative writing.

Honoured in 2023 by His Majesty The King, Charles III, with King Certificate for services to Bermuda, she is also the recipient of an Outstanding Service to Community Award from the Volunteer Bureau of Montreal, the 1987 Black Theatre West Jr. Black Achievement Award for Visual Arts (Vancouver) and in her very early days, an honourable mention for the Emily Carr Art Award (Vancouver).

Myra's storytelling draws from her experiences of growing up and coming of age in Vancouver, Richmond and Montreal - and then moving to her father's birthplace, Bermuda's island community.

Married and a proud mother of two young women, Myra holds a Bachelor of Arts (Sociology), Bachelor of Social Work and Master of Social Work degrees from McGill University and a Ph.D. in Social Science with a concentration in Organisational Behaviour and Psychology from Tilburg University (Netherlands).

Myra tells stories of growing up in a family of six, as a daughter of two black professionals who emigrate to Canada from Bermuda and the United States. The Virgils were one of few black families in the community of Richmond, British Columbia. Myra’s stories chart the growth of Vancouver, its black community and her own personal growth as she reflects on the qualities (their superpowers) that people bring to relationships and life.

Myra has penned many professional and trade publications with a focus on social equity, the state of philanthropy and race relations. She hopes her work and her life stories grow social consciousness and inspire a passion in people to explore their own voices and super qualities.