Audrey Thomas
Audrey Thomas | |
|---|---|
| Born | Audrey Grace Callahan November 17, 1935 Binghamton, New York |
| Occupation | Novelist and short story writer |
| Nationality | Canadian |
| Education |
|
| Years active | 1965–2014 |
| Notable awards | Marian Engel Award (1987)
Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize (1984, 1990, 1995) |
Audrey Grace Thomas, OC (née Callahan; born 17 November 1935)[1][2] is a Canadian novelist and short story writer who lives on Galiano Island, British Columbia. Her stories often have feminist themes and include exotic settings.[3] She is a recipient of the Marian Engel Award.
Biography
[edit]Thomas was born 17 November 1935 in Binghamton, New York.[2] She received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Smith College in Massachusetts in 1957,[4] then studied at St. Andrews University in Scotland before teaching in England.[2] In 1959, she immigrated to Canada,[5] where she received a Master of Arts degree from University of British Columbia in 1963.[2][4] In 1994, she received an honorary doctorate from Simon Fraser University.[4]
From 1964 to 1966, Thomas lived in Ghana, and some of her stories are set there and in other distant places.[6][7]
She published her first story, "If One Green Bottle...", in 1967.[2]
Thomas lived in Edinburgh, Scotland in the 1980s, and wrote articles for Saturday Night Magazine.[8]
Beginning in 1990, Thomas was a visiting professor at Concordia University in Montreal.[4] She also spent time as writer-in-residence at the University of Victoria, University of British Columbia, Simon Fraser University, and David Thompson University Centre.[4]
In 2014, she published her eighteenth book, Local Customs.[9]
Awards and honours
[edit]From 1984 to 1986, Thomas received the Canada-Scotland Writer's Literary Fellowship,[2] and in 1987, she won the Marian Engel Award for her body of work.[2] In 1989, she receive the Canada-Australia Literary Prize.[2] In 2003, she won the Terasen Lifetime Achievement Award,[2] and in 2008, she was made an Officer of the Order of Canada.[10]
| Year | Title | Award | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1966 | "If One Green Bottle..." | Atlantic First Award | Winner | [2] |
| 1984 | Intertidal Life | Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize | Winner | [2][11] |
| 1984 | Intertidal Life | Governor General's Award for English-language fiction | Finalist | [2][12] |
| 1990 | Wild Blue Yonder | Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize | Winner | [2] |
| 1995 | Coming Down from Wa | Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize | Winner | [2] |
| 1996 | Coming Down from Wa | Governor General's Award for English-language fiction | Finalist | [2][13] |
| 2006 | Tattycoram | Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize | Shortlist |
Bibliography
[edit]Novels
[edit]- Mrs. Blood – 1970
- Munchmeyer and Prospero on the Island – 1971
- Songs My Mother Taught Me – 1973
- Blown Figures – 1974
- Latakia – 1979
- Intertidal Life – 1984
- Graven Images – 1993
- Coming Down from Wa – 1995
- Isobel Gunn – 1999[14]
- Tattycoram
- Local Customs – 2014
Short stories
[edit]- Ten Green Bottles – 1967
- ladies and escorts – 1977
- Real Mothers – 1981
- Two in the Bush and Other Stories – 1981
- Goodbye Harold, Good Luck – 1986
- The Wild Blue Yonder – 1990
- The Path of Totality – 2001
References
[edit]- ^ Nischik, Reingard M. (2007). The Canadian Short Story: Interpretations. Camden House. ISBN 978-1-57113-127-0.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Thompson, Veronica (2013-12-16). "Audrey Grace Thomas". The Canadian Encyclopedia. Archived from the original on 2023-02-11. Retrieved 2023-05-21.
- ^ Reingard M. Nischik. History of Literature in Canada: English-Canadian and French-Canadian. Camden House; 2008. ISBN 978-1-57113-359-5. p. 318–.
- ^ a b c d e "Thomas, Audrey (Grace)". Encyclopedia.com. Archived from the original on 2022-12-08. Retrieved 2023-05-21.
- ^ Benson, Eugene; Toye, William, eds. (1997). The Oxford Companion to Canadian Literature. Toronto: Oxford University Press. p. 1113.
- ^ "Local Customs, by Audrey Thomas: Review". National Post, February 21, 2014
- ^ "Audrey Thomas" Archived 2020-09-26 at the Wayback Machine | Room Magazine.
- ^ Linda L. Richards, "Audrey Thomas" Archived 2023-02-09 at the Wayback Machine, January Magazine.
- ^ "Local Customs: A take on 19th Century woman's death no so much a work of historical fiction as an act of channelling". Review by SARA O'LEARY, The Globe and Mail, 21 March 2014.
- ^ "Governor General Announces New Appointments to the Order of Canada". Archived from the original on 8 September 2009.
- ^ Rosenthal, Caroline (2003). Narrative Deconstructions of Gender in Works by Audrey Thomas, Daphne Marlatt, and Louise Erdrich. Camden House. ISBN 978-1-57113-267-3.
- ^ James Adams, "Local writers nominated for award". Edmonton Journal, May 16, 1985.
- ^ Judy Stoffman, "It's Atwood ahead again in book race". Toronto Star, October 18, 1996.
- ^ "Isobel Gunn". Quill and Quire. 2004-02-22. Archived from the original on 2022-08-08. Retrieved 2023-05-21.
External links
[edit]- Audrey Thomas's entry in The Canadian Encyclopedia
- The archives of Audrey Thomas (Thomas Audrey fonds, R11818) are held at Library and Archives Canada
- 1935 births
- Living people
- Canadian women novelists
- Canadian people of American descent
- Officers of the Order of Canada
- 20th-century Canadian novelists
- 21st-century Canadian novelists
- Canadian women short story writers
- 20th-century Canadian women writers
- 21st-century Canadian women writers
- 20th-century Canadian short story writers
- 21st-century Canadian short story writers
- Smith College alumni
- University of British Columbia alumni
- Alumni of the University of St Andrews