Cecil Burns was born in Toronto and raised in the Georgian Bay tourist community of Wasaga Beach, Ontario. Cecil and his wife, Theresa, moved to Kenora in 1979 and though they moved around a lot for Cecil’s work as an environmental professional, Kenora was home for most of that time, having moved here three times. Kenora has been their permanent home since 2002.
Writing has always been a part of Cecil’s life. He has authored or co-authored numerous scientific and technical papers, but his passion has been writing fiction, non-fiction and songs. One of Cecil’s short stories, “Blind Panic”, was published in the 2013 Burning Book Press Anthology “Fuel”. He has had his work published in NOWW’s quarterly magazine and is a regular contributor to the Area News magazine, with articles on subjects ranging from building cedar strip kayaks to abandoned mines to home and cottage energy management.
He is an active member of NOWW, the Kenora Writers Group and the Kenora Novel Writers Group. He is currently working on three novels and the production and release of his first album of original songs.
Cecil is also an accomplished singer and songwriter and regularly posts rough mixes from his upcoming album. You can listen to Cecil’s latest musical creations here.
Cecil also has a love of motorcycles and can be seen riding around town on his vintage ’79 650 Yamaha Special II or out on the highway on his ’09 BMW K1200LT. He also has a passion for building wooden boats and with his buddies has built five cedar strip-epoxy canoes and six cedar strip-epoxy kayaks.
You can contact Cecil at cecil.burns451@gmail.com or phone (807) 468-5542.