Lee Edward Fodi

Discipline: Interdisciplinary
Homebase: North Vancouver
Regions Available: Lower Mainland, Fraser Valley &, Howe Sound, Vancouver Island Lower, Vancouver Island Mid, Vancouver Island North, Interior, North, Remote, Kootenays, Virtual
Languages: English
Grant Eligibility: Eligible to apply for AIC

Lee Edward Fodi is a children's author, illustrator and educator who specializes in creativity workshops for young people. He is the author and illustrator of several books for children, including Spell Sweeper, The Secret of Zoone, The Guardians of Zoone, and the Kendra Kandlestar series. As a child, Lee was in an intensive gifted learning program, a foundational experience that he brings to the classroom. He is a funny and gifted storyteller, and has delivered presentations, craft workshops, and residencies to kids in Canada, the United States, South Korea, China, Thailand, and England. He has worked with the Vancouver School BoardGifted Learning Program and served as an art therapy teacher for at-risk teens. He is also the co-founder of The Creative Writing for Children Society (CWC), a not-for-profit program that was started to help immigrant and first-generation Canadians write their own books. Lee believes that nurturing a love of story is key to improving literacy. As an illustrator and prop-builder, he brings a highly visual approach to the craft of writing, and helps his students do the same. He graduated from the University of British Columbia with a degree in English Literature and has a diploma in Fine Arts from Thompson Rivers University. He is grateful to live, learn, and create in North Vancouver, on the unceded traditional territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Wautut) Nations.

Classroom Residency(ies)

Family stories - exploring our culture and past to connect with the present

School Year: 24-25

In this workshop series, Lee Edward Födi delivers a series of projects to help students explore creative writing through the lens of family. Students will explore their cultural and family identities, their family histories, and produce multiple projects, including memory poems, personal reflections, family recipes, retellings of famous family stories, creative short stories about the future, and descriptive paragraphs from the point of view of a family home. Students will also present on important family heirlooms or artifacts and engage in storytelling activities. Possible visual arts connections include designing and painting memory boxes that will serve as inspiration for writing pieces. As part of this program, Lee draws heavily on his own eastern European heritage and experiences as a godfather and adoptive father to provide examples of cultural and familial situations. Along the way, Lee will demonstrate how family relationships play an important part in his own published work and will also provide a recommended reading list of books that are written by a range of diverse voices.

The Dragon and the Thief

School Year: 24-25

In this workshop series, Lee Edward Födi helps students explore perspectives by creating two key characters: a thief who is trying to steal from a dragon, and the creature who is having something stolen. As part of the project, students participate in a discussion of these types of characters in literature, folklore, and film. This project can take shape in many forms, with typical outcomes including: mirror poems (showing the opposite perspectives of two characters in conflict), legends, fantasy mapping, and longer stories about the thief's quest. Art connections include making tea-stained maps, wanted posters, and character drawings. Students may also design and/or custom-build items such as dragon eggs, dragon scales, magical gems, and enchanted tools. Several handouts and worksheets, personally designed by Lee Edward Födi, are provided for the students throughout the sessions.This type of project has many possible deliverables, including poetry, stories, illustration, and fantasy props. Throughout this type of program, many fantasy books by a variety of diverse voices will be referred to and recommended as a way to guide students, and to encourage them to explore and be inspired by their own cultural identities.

Testimonials & Reviews

“This author residency was truly an amazing experience for our Grade 5 students. Lee, you more than sparked their creativity! The excitement level was more like an inferno! You suggested they “let their imaginations unravel” and they certainly did. Thank you for giving these students an exceptional experience they will never forget and hopefully will draw on for years to come.” Rachelle Eggerston, Teacher, Star-of-the-Sea School

Lee Edward Födi came in for 8 sessions to work with our vulnerable youth, creating hands-on individualized projects. The students were able to use these projects to really express their own unique interests and creative flare. Our students, who suffer from severe anxiety, really came alive during Lee's art workshops and really came to love Mr. Födi as a warm, energetic adult who gave them to opportunity to really be themselves in a safe and accepting environment. Margarita Asher, Coquitlam School District

A natural educator, Lee’s warm and playful style engages kids and creates community instantly. His thoughtful presentations and hands-on learning projects spark genuine curiosity and are perfectly calibrated to the needs and interests of gifted learners. Students remember him for his energy, creativity, and deep knowledge of the writing process. Above all, Lee makes writing fun. I hope to collaborate with him every year. Ahmed Rahim, District Resource Teacher, Gifted/Outreach Seminars, Vancouver School District

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