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.
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]
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 |