About Amy
Edmonton author Amy Willans was a university student and elite-level athlete on the Canadian National Precision Skating Team when mental illness forced her to leave the team and quit school at age 22. The next five years of her life was a cycle of hospitals, medications, invasive treatments and the shocking reality of isolation and stigma.
After years of learning to manage her illness, Amy has dedicated her life to fighting stigma, educating the general public around mental illness, and supporting those living with brain illnesses.
Amy was the first peer support worker on an Alberta Health Services (AHS) Addiction and Mental Health clinical team and worked on the Assertive Community Treatment Team from 2012 – 2016. She is currently a community education presenter and peer support worker for the Schizophrenia Society of Alberta (SSA).
Amy has had the privilege of speaking to thousands of people across Canada, using her personal story to affect social change. She has done public speaking for the SSA, the Canadian Mental Health Association, and The Mental Health Commission of Canada. She’s been a presenter at the Adult Psychiatry Grand Rounds at the University of Alberta Hospital, Alberta Hospital Edmonton, and the University of Calgary Hospital. Amy was featured on CBC’s Radio One show, White Coat, Black Art; and has been a guest on Global news and Bell Media. At their invitation, Amy has met with leaders in municipal, provincial and federal governments, to make recommendations on programs and services for those living with schizophrenia and related illnesses.
Amy was a recipient of the 2015 Partner in Health award, presented by The College and Association of Registered Nurses of Alberta (CARNA) for her work in bringing Peer Support to clinical teams in AHS, and is the recent recipient of The Edmonton Mayor’s 2019 Ewen Nelson award for Self-Advocacy, and the 2019 Momentum Mental Health Leader Award, presented by Momentum Walk-in Counselling.
Her written work has been published in The Globe and Mail, Standing Together: Women Speak Out about Violence and Abuse (Brindle and Glass, 2005, edited by Linda Goyette and sponsored by the Alberta Council on Women’s Shelters); Transition magazine, published by the Canadian Mental Health Association in 2007; and in various journals and anthologies. Her spoken word poetry is featured on The Raving Poets’ CDs Mumbo Jumbo, Pig Poetry and The Raving Poets Remixed. Amy is a past participant in the Iowa Writers’ Workshop graduate program at the University of Iowa.
In collaboration with visual artist and poet, Laurie MacFayden, Amy co-created the installation Fighting Normal, a multi-discipline collaboration, exploring the stigma of mental illness, which was on display at Visual Arts Alberta Gallery in 2013, and in 2019, at The Edmonton Poetry Festival and the St. Albert Public Library.
Amy is currently writing full time, and is a member at Roundhouse, a coworking space at MacEwan University. Roundhouse is a community of changemakers with a belief that real social change starts with collaboration.