Nancy Dutra

I am a Toronto-based music journalist, writer, essayist, editor, and educator. I love to read, write, (and occasionally sing) about culture and the human condition.

I am a contributing author to SOCAN Words and Music magazine and work as a freelance journalist, content writer, copywriter, editor, proofreader, educator, and mentor. Of my editing work, I joke that I was born to point out other people’s mistakes.

I am currently completing an MFA in Creative Nonfiction from the University of King’s College in conjunction with Dalhousie University. I am proud to have graduated with a BA Hons HD from The University of Toronto at the tender age of 42, and to have won an award for best essay for Country Music and The Performance of Authenticity: Hank Williams and Luke the Drifter. 

I am certified by The Royal Conservatory of Music as an Artist Educator and Mentor Artist. I have delivered dozens of workshops in schools across Ontario, where I partner with teachers to deliver curriculum through the art forms of songwriting and creative writing. I have extensive experience instructing artists on how to deliver dynamic workshops in the classroom effectively.

I previously worked as a performing singer-songwriter. My album, Time Will Tell, charted on the Euro Americana Chart and received favourable reviews and writeups from CBC, Exclaim, NOW, No Depression, The Whole Note, Roots Music Canada, and BlogTO. I was fortunate to work with some of Canada’s finest musicians. 

I am a proud member of the Creative Nonfiction Collective. I serve as Chair for their marketing and communications committee. 

I am not the Brazilian journalist of the same name. She is younger, thinner, and far more attractive, and I’m good, fine, okay with that.