Born on “The Rock” (Newfoundland) and raised in Toronto, Carl Cashin abandoned corporate life in 1976 to open a summer resort on the Trent-Severn Waterway, near the town of Stirling, Ontario.  Life at the resort provided the background for twenty-five published anecdotes dealing with “life in a campground” entitled The Janitor.

His love of theatre was kindled while working backstage at the Belleville Theatre Guild on productions of Angel Street, Harvey, and The Stone Angel, where lighting, sound and stage management were his main focus.  Bitten by the stage, he studied playwriting under well-known author and playwright Linda Hudsell-Manning.  His first two plays, Pathways and Yesterday’s Hero, won several awards and praise at the Eastern Ontario Drama League Festival.His main success, Mail-Order Annie, originally a one-act play, won Best Production at the EODL Festival held in Kingston in 1999.  It was later published by Playwrights Canada Press in Seven Short Plays from Theatre Ontario.  Pressed by many people to know “The rest of the story”, Carl added twenty-three years and another act to complete the saga of “John & Annie”. The completed version won the prestigious Theatre BC’s Canadian National P laywriting Competition and followed soon after with a sweep of 10 of the 13 awards at the 2003 Vancouver Play Festival.  It has since enjoyed many productions across Ontario.

Carl’s poetry and short stories have been published in the QAC Umbrella,  Region of Durham ARTSforum, and several other literary publications.  Carl is a member of The Playwrights Guild of Canada and Theatre Ontario.