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{{short description|Canadian writer}}
'''Bill Gaston''' (born 1953) is a ] ], ] and ] writer.
'''Bill Gaston''' (born January 14, 1953, in ])<ref>{{cite web |last1=April 2 |first1=Aaron Hutchins |title=Meet the acclaimed Canadian author who couldn't stop lying about his birthplace |url=http://www.macleans.ca/news/canada/meet-the-acclaimed-canadian-author-who-couldnt-stop-lying-about-his-birthplace/ |website=Macleans.ca |language=en |date=2018-04-02}}</ref> is a Canadian ], ] and ] writer. Gaston grew up in ], ], ], ], and ], ]. Aside from teaching at various universities, he has worked as a logger, salmon fishing guide, group home worker and, most exotically, playing hockey in the south of France. He is married (to writer Dede Crane) with four children, including filmmaker ], and lives in Victoria BC, where he teaches at the ].


He has three degrees from the ]<ref>{{cite web|title=Bill Gaston|url=http://finearts.uvic.ca/writing/faculty/gaston/|website=UVic Writing|publisher=University of Victoria|accessdate=9 July 2014}}</ref> and played varsity hockey for the ].<ref>{{cite web|last1=Cowan|first1=Stu|title=A tribute to beer-league hockey|url=http://blogs.montrealgazette.com/2012/10/31/a-tribute-to-beer-league-hockey/|website=montrealgazette.com|publisher=Montreal Gazette|accessdate=9 July 2014}}</ref>
Gaston grew up in ], ], ], ], and ], ].


==Career==
His story collection ''Mount Appetite'' (2002) was nominated for the 2002 ] and the ]. Gaston received a second Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize nomination for his novel ''Sointula'' (2004). He was the recipient of the inaugural ] in 2003.
Gaston has published seven novels–''Tall Lives'' (Macmillan, 1990, and Seal Books), ''The Cameraman'' (Macmillan 1994, and Raincoast, 2002), ''Bella Combe Journal'' (Cormorant, 1996), ''The Good Body'' (Stoddart, 2000 and U.S., HarperCollins, 2001, Raincoast, 2002, Anansi, 2009, nominated for the Relit Award), ''Sointula'' (Raincoast, 2004, nominated for the Ethel Wilson Award, and Relit Award, and Penguin, 2012), ''The Order of Good Cheer'' (Anansi, 2008), and ''The World'' (Penguin Canada/Hamish Hamilton, 2012, winner of the Ethel Wilson Prize for fiction). His short fiction collections are ''Deep Cove Stories'', ''North of Jesus' Beans'', the critically acclaimed ''Sex Is Red'', ''Mount Appetite'' (Raincoast, 2002, nominated for the ] and the ]),''Gargoyles'' (Anansi, 2006, nominated for a Governor General's Award and winner of the ] and ]), 'Juliet Was A Surprise' (Penguin Hamish Halmilton, 2014, nominated for the GG). His memoir, ''Midnight Hockey'', an irreverent look at oldtimer beer leagues, was published by Doubleday in 2006. He has a collection of poetry, ''Inviting Blindness'' (Oolichan), the play ''Yardsale'', and has written for television. His short fiction has been published in Granta (U.K.), and Tin House (U.S.), broadcast nationally on the CBC, and included in Best Canadian Stories, and has won the ] and ]. In 2003 he was awarded the inaugural ] for a body of work.


==Reviews==
Gaston currently teaches creative writing at the ]. He previously served as director of the creative writing program at the ], and as editor of '']''.
In 1999, the Globe & Mail wrote: "Given Gaston's body of work, he merits elevation into the leading ranks of Canadian authors. His writing is gentle, humorous, absurd, beautiful, spiritual, dark and sexy. He deserves to dwell in the company of ], ] and ] as one of this country's outstanding literary treasures."

Of Sex Is Red, the Toronto Star wrote: "Bill Gaston's latest story collection features his usual verve–lord, it seems he's actually having fun....Bill Gaston is the Eveready Bunny of the short story. May he keep on going and going."
He is married to Dede Gaston, who writes as Dede Crane, is the author of several novels including the nationally acclaimed Sympathy, which was a finalist for the Victoria Butler Book Prize, and the teen novel The 25 pains of Kennedy Baines. Her most recent books are The Cult of Quick Repair, a collection of stories and (as co-editor) Great Expectations, a collection of essays about the experience of giving birth. Her first published story was short-listed for the CBC Literary Award, and she has since published stories in numerous literary journals, as well as reviewing books for The Globe and Mail, The Shambhala Sun, and The Times Colonist. Her latest teen novel will be out in the spring of 2009.
U.S. writer Thomas McGuane wrote: "The Good Body is a winning, moving book filled with an achy humanity and rueful, well-earned humor. Here are places and struggles we haven't already seen. Bill Gaston is a most valuable writer."
<ref>http://members.shaw.ca/sixtyeightwrites/index_files/Page332.htm</ref>
"Bill Gaston is a writer of great empathy, capable, it seems, of getting beneath the skin of anybody." (2002 Giller Prize Jury–Barbara Gowdy, Thomas King, William New)


==Bibliography== ==Bibliography==

===Novels=== ===Novels===
*''Tall Lives'' (1990) *''Tall Lives'' (1990)
Line 18: Line 22:
*''Sointula'' (2004) *''Sointula'' (2004)
*''The Order of Good Cheer'' (2008) *''The Order of Good Cheer'' (2008)
*''The World'' (2012)


===Short stories=== ===Short stories===
*''Deep Cove Stories'' (1989) * ''Deep Cove Stories'' (1989)
*''North of Jesus' Beans'' (1994) * ''North of Jesus' Beans'' (1994)
*''Sex is Red'' (1998) * ''Sex is Red'' (1998)
*''Mount Appetite'' (2002) * ''Mount Appetite'' (2002) (nominated for the Giller Prize
*''Gargoyles'' (2006) (nominated for the ]) * ''Gargoyles'' (2006) (nominated for the ])
* ''Juliet Was a Surprise'' (2014) (nominated for the Governor General's Award for fiction)
* ''A Mariner's Guide to Self-Sabotage'' (2017) published by Douglas & McIntyre


===Poetry=== ===Poetry===
Line 35: Line 42:


===Non-fiction=== ===Non-fiction===
*''Midnight Hockey: All About Beer, the Boys and the Real Canadian Game''^ (2006) *''Midnight Hockey: All About Beer, the Boys and the Real Canadian Game'' (2006)
*''Just Let Me Look At You: On Fatherhood'' (2018)


==References== ==References==
{{Reflist}} {{Reflist}}


== External links ==
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| NAME = Gaston, Bill

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| DATE OF BIRTH = 1953

| PLACE OF BIRTH =
| DATE OF DEATH =
| PLACE OF DEATH =
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gaston, Bill}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Gaston, Bill}}
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Latest revision as of 04:51, 15 January 2024

Canadian writer

Bill Gaston (born January 14, 1953, in Tacoma, Washington) is a Canadian novelist, playwright and short story writer. Gaston grew up in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Toronto, Ontario, and North Vancouver, British Columbia. Aside from teaching at various universities, he has worked as a logger, salmon fishing guide, group home worker and, most exotically, playing hockey in the south of France. He is married (to writer Dede Crane) with four children, including filmmaker Connor Gaston, and lives in Victoria BC, where he teaches at the University of Victoria.

He has three degrees from the University of British Columbia and played varsity hockey for the UBC Thunderbirds.

Career

Gaston has published seven novels–Tall Lives (Macmillan, 1990, and Seal Books), The Cameraman (Macmillan 1994, and Raincoast, 2002), Bella Combe Journal (Cormorant, 1996), The Good Body (Stoddart, 2000 and U.S., HarperCollins, 2001, Raincoast, 2002, Anansi, 2009, nominated for the Relit Award), Sointula (Raincoast, 2004, nominated for the Ethel Wilson Award, and Relit Award, and Penguin, 2012), The Order of Good Cheer (Anansi, 2008), and The World (Penguin Canada/Hamish Hamilton, 2012, winner of the Ethel Wilson Prize for fiction). His short fiction collections are Deep Cove Stories, North of Jesus' Beans, the critically acclaimed Sex Is Red, Mount Appetite (Raincoast, 2002, nominated for the Giller Prize and the Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize),Gargoyles (Anansi, 2006, nominated for a Governor General's Award and winner of the Victoria Book Prize and ReLit Award), 'Juliet Was A Surprise' (Penguin Hamish Halmilton, 2014, nominated for the GG). His memoir, Midnight Hockey, an irreverent look at oldtimer beer leagues, was published by Doubleday in 2006. He has a collection of poetry, Inviting Blindness (Oolichan), the play Yardsale, and has written for television. His short fiction has been published in Granta (U.K.), and Tin House (U.S.), broadcast nationally on the CBC, and included in Best Canadian Stories, and has won the CBC Canadian Literary Award and National Magazine Award. In 2003 he was awarded the inaugural Timothy Findley Award for a body of work.

Reviews

In 1999, the Globe & Mail wrote: "Given Gaston's body of work, he merits elevation into the leading ranks of Canadian authors. His writing is gentle, humorous, absurd, beautiful, spiritual, dark and sexy. He deserves to dwell in the company of Findley, Atwood and Munro as one of this country's outstanding literary treasures." Of Sex Is Red, the Toronto Star wrote: "Bill Gaston's latest story collection features his usual verve–lord, it seems he's actually having fun....Bill Gaston is the Eveready Bunny of the short story. May he keep on going and going." U.S. writer Thomas McGuane wrote: "The Good Body is a winning, moving book filled with an achy humanity and rueful, well-earned humor. Here are places and struggles we haven't already seen. Bill Gaston is a most valuable writer." "Bill Gaston is a writer of great empathy, capable, it seems, of getting beneath the skin of anybody." (2002 Giller Prize Jury–Barbara Gowdy, Thomas King, William New)

Bibliography

Novels

  • Tall Lives (1990)
  • The Cameraman (1994)
  • Bella Combe Journal (1996)
  • The Good Body (2000)
  • Sointula (2004)
  • The Order of Good Cheer (2008)
  • The World (2012)

Short stories

  • Deep Cove Stories (1989)
  • North of Jesus' Beans (1994)
  • Sex is Red (1998)
  • Mount Appetite (2002) (nominated for the Giller Prize
  • Gargoyles (2006) (nominated for the 2006 Governor General's Award for fiction)
  • Juliet Was a Surprise (2014) (nominated for the Governor General's Award for fiction)
  • A Mariner's Guide to Self-Sabotage (2017) published by Douglas & McIntyre

Poetry

  • Inviting Blindness (1995)

Drama

  • Yardsale (1994)
  • Ethnic Cleansing
  • I am Danielle Steel

Non-fiction

  • Midnight Hockey: All About Beer, the Boys and the Real Canadian Game (2006)
  • Just Let Me Look At You: On Fatherhood (2018)

References

  1. April 2, Aaron Hutchins (2018-04-02). "Meet the acclaimed Canadian author who couldn't stop lying about his birthplace". Macleans.ca.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  2. "Bill Gaston". UVic Writing. University of Victoria. Retrieved 9 July 2014.
  3. Cowan, Stu. "A tribute to beer-league hockey". montrealgazette.com. Montreal Gazette. Retrieved 9 July 2014.

External links

Recipients of the Writers' Trust Engel/Findley Award
Marian Engel Award (1986-2007)
Timothy Findley Award (2002-2007)
Engel/Findley Award (2008-present)
Categories: