Born in London, England, Will Garrett-Petts arrived in Canada in 1957. He writes about Canadian literature and the visual arts, image/text relations, and the cultural future of small cities. As Chair of English and Modern Languages at the University College of the Cariboo, his writing has been linked to his role as principal researcher with the Centre for the Study of Multiple Literacies, as Co-director for the "Cultural Future of Small Cities" CURA, and his collaborative work with The Image & Identity Research Collective (McGill University). The collaborators of IIRC share an interest in developing interdisciplinary, image-based research methodologies and artistic forms of representation for the Humanities and Social Sciences. Garrett-Petts' interest in visual literacy has led to numerous curatorial initiatives, one on photography and literature, two on memory mapping and the small city, and one called "Proximities: Artists' Statements and their Works" (Kamloops Art Gallery, October 2005). He has co-authored Photographing Encounters: The Edges and Edginess of Reading Prose Pictures and Visual Fictions (University of Alberta Press, 2000) and edited The Small Cities Book: On the Cultural Future of Small Cities (New Star, 2005), a compendium that localizes questions of globalization and cultural identity at the municipal level using Kamloops and its surrounding region as a 'living laboratory'.

The Last Best West (2009) is an exploration of myth and identity pertaining to Western Canada. It arose from the Last Best West Conference in September of 2007, organized by the Centre for the Study of Canada at Thompson Rivers University, directed by Anne Gagnon.

Review of the author's work by BC Studies:
The Last Best West: An Exploration of Myth, Identity and Quality of Life in Western Canada

BOOKS:

Whose Culture Is It, Anyway?: Community Engagement in Small Cities Ed. W.F. Garrett-Petts, James Hoffman, Ginny Ratsoy (New Star Books 2014) $35.00 978-1-55420-087-0

The Last Best West (New Star, 2009), with Anne Gagnon and James Hoffman.

The Small Cities Book: On the Cultural Future of Small Cities. Ed. W.F. Garrett-Petts. Vancouver: New Star Books, 2005.

Relocating the Homeless Mind: Memory, Landscape, The Small City and Rural Community. Garrett-Petts, W.F., Donna Mattila, and Donald Lawrence. Courtenay: Comox Valley Art Gallery, 2004.

The Homeless Mind: an Exploration through Memory Mapping. Ed. W.F. Garrett-Petts, Donald Lawrence, and David MacLennan. Kamloops: Cariboo Bookworks Press, 2003.

Garrett-Petts, W.F. and Donald Lawrence. PhotoGraphic Encounters: The Edges and Edginess of Reading Verbal and Visual Narratives. Edmonton: University of Alberta Press, 2000.

Garrett-Petts, W. F. Writing About Literature: A Guide for the Student Critic. Peterborough, Ont.: Broadview Press, 2000.

The Heritage Fair Documentation Project. Ed. W.F. Garrett-Petts. Kamloops: The Centre for Multiple Literacies Research, 2000.

Integrating Visual and Verbal Literacies. Eds. W.F. Garrett-Petts and Donald Lawrence. Winnipeg: Inkshed Publications, 1996.

[BCBW 2009] "Photography" "Art"