Andrew Neil Gray (born 1968) is a Scottish-born
Canadian short story writer[1] and novelist. In 2014, he was the Creative Writing Program Coordinator at the
University of British Columbia,[2] and founder and director of the university's low-residency Master of Fine Arts program.[3][4]
Early life and education
Born in
Glasgow,
Scotland, Gray moved with his family to
Canada at the age of eight.[5] While completing an MFA in creative writing from the
University of British Columbia he served as executive editor of the periodical Prism. He graduated in 1996.[6]
Career
Gray's short story, "Heart of the Land", was included in The Journey Prize Anthology in 2000.[7]
Gray published his first book of short stories, Small Accidents, in 2001. It contained stories in which medical emergencies lead to interesting life experiences,[8] and was a finalist for the
Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize in 2002.[9][10] It was also shortlisted for an Independent Publisher Book Award in Fiction in 2003.[11]
Gray edited the 2001 short story book, Write Turns: New Directions in Canadian Fiction, which was reviewed in the November 2001 issue of
Quill & Quire.[12]
By 2007, Gray was directing the low-residency program at UBC.[3] He was an early adopter towards the use of the internet to promote writing.[13] In 2011, he was interviewed as an expert for Lori May's book, The Low-Residency MFA Handbook: A Guide for Prospective Creative Writing Students.
[14]
In 2014, Gray was the program coordinator for the
University of British Columbia Creative Writing Program.[15][16] That year, he chaired Canada's Writing Conference, an annual national level gathering of writers.