The Excelsis Group

The Excelsis Group is a registered non-profit charitable organization dedicated to supporting writers, artists, ideas, and thought-provoking conversation through six educational forums/programs that advance creative excellence and engagement in the literary and visual arts across Canada:

Exile Quarterly
Mentoring and Workshops
Awards and Competitions
Exile in the Classroom
The Arts via Social Media
The Next Generation

The Excelsis Group’s Mission, and the six forums/programs:

  • To advance the public’s appreciation of the literary and visual arts through the publication and distribution of our 96-page, 8×10 inch colour magazine, EXILE Quarterly (aka ELQ 2011 to 2018)
  • To develop writing skills, and to advance publishing opportunities, through a Mentoring Program that each year pairs five emerging writers with established writers so they can gain invaluable experience through working toward readying a manuscript for full-book publication;
  • To provide a Writers Workshop Program for up to 10 writers in a year so they will receive one-on-one professional editorial instruction for works-in-progress, readying them for publication in EXILE Quarterly;
  • To promote excellence in literature with our $15,000 Short Fiction and $3,000 Poetry Competitions, with merit-based awards. Exile Editions publishes the fiction winners in its annual Carter V Cooper (CVC) Short Fiction Anthology, and selected writers from both appear in EXILE Quarterly;
  • To encourage high school and post-secondary school students to embrace new ways of looking at the world, to discover new ways of appreciating people, and to encourage discussions about individuality, differences, acceptance, and inclusion through the Exile in the Classroom program that through 2020 will make available to 1,000 students the exceptional works that appear in EXILE’s pages.
  • To advance literary and visual arts education through a uniquely branded Exile Social Media experience featuring six weekly postings featuring discussion on literature, visual arts, and contemporary arts-related topics;
  • To advance knowledge and/or abilities by way of the the Next Generation program that – through collaborations with elementary and high schools, colleges and universities – will introduce “soon-to-be young professionals” to traditional and digital publishing, online media, and non-profit initiatives;
  • To do all things ancillary and incidental to the carrying out all of the above charitable purposes.

The Excelsis Group’s Directors, Publishing Team, and Editorial Advisors oversee the administration and fulfillment of our objectives.

Patrick Gossage: Chairman
Vince Mancuso: Vice-chairman
Che Marville: Vice-chairwoman
George Bothwell: Deputy Chairman

Michael Callaghan: CEO, Publisher, Creative Director
Barry Callaghan: President, Editor-in-chief
Gabriela Campos: Administration and Accounts
Nina Callaghan: Copy Editing and Proofreading
Marsha Boulton: Copy Editing and Proofreading
Marilyn Di Florio: Secretary

Randall Perry: Fiction & LGBTQIA2+
Janet Somerville: Fiction & Nonfiction
Ayesha Chatterjee: Poetry
Richard Teleky: Poetry
Jirair (Jerry) Tutunjian: Nonfiction
Kathryn Gabinet-Kroo: French Translation
Stephen Urquhart: French Translation
Ray Ellenwood: Quebecois Culture & Art
Nathan Niigan Noodin Adler: Indigenous
Christine Miskonoodinkwe Smith: Indigenous
Daniel David Moses: Drama
Mónica Lavín: Latin American
Paul Vangelisti: United States
Francesca Valente: Europe

Our programs and initiatives are in primarily supported by the generous donations of The Excelsis Group’s Patrons and Supporters.

We also acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for our publishing activities, and look forward to support in 2020 from the Ontario Arts Council toward our educational activities.