Bill Gaston (born January 14, 1953 in

Tacoma, Washington Tacoma ( ) is the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. A port city, it is situated along Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, northeast of the state capital, Olympia, Washington, Olympia, and northwest of Mount ...

) is a Canadian

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living writing novels and other fiction, while others aspire to ...

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...

and

short story A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest ...

writer. Gaston grew up in

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...

Manitoba Manitoba ( ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population o ...

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, and North Vancouver,

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

. 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 Connor Gaston is a Canadian film director based in British Columbia, known for making films with religious themes. Early life Gaston was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and grew up in Fredericton. His parents are both authors, Bill Gaston and Ded ...

, and lives in Victoria BC, where he teaches at the

University of Victoria The University of Victoria (UVic or Victoria) is a public research university located in the municipalities of Oak Bay and Saanich, British Columbia, Canada. The university traces its roots to Victoria College, the first post-secondary instit ...

. He has three degrees from the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public university, public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks a ...

and played varsity hockey for the

UBC Thunderbirds The UBC Thunderbirds are the athletic teams that represent the University of British Columbia in the University Endowment Lands just outside the city limits of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. In Canadian intercollegiate competition, the Thun ...

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 The Giller Prize (sponsored as the Scotiabank Giller Prize), is a literary award given to a Canadian author of a novel or short story collection published in English (including translation) the previous year, after an annual juried competition be ...

and the

Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize The Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize, established in 1985 as one of the BC and Yukon Book Prizes, is awarded annually to the best work of fiction by a resident of British Columbia, Canada. The award is named after novelist and short story A short stor ...

),''Gargoyles'' (Anansi, 2006, nominated for a Governor General's Award and winner of the Victoria Book Prize and

ReLit Award The ReLit Awards are Canadian literary prizes awarded annually to book-length works in the novel, short-story and poetry categories."Three indie writers honoured by ReLit Awards". ''The Globe and Mail'', July 19, 2007. Founded in 2000 by Newfoundla ...

), '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 The National Magazine Awards, also known as the Ellie Awards, honor print and digital publications that consistently demonstrate superior execution of editorial objectives, innovative techniques, noteworthy enterprise and imaginative design. Or ...

. In 2003 he was awarded the inaugural

Timothy Findley Award Timothy is a masculine name. It comes from the Greek name ( Timόtheos) meaning "honouring God", "in God's honour", or "honoured by God". Timothy (and its variations) is a common name in several countries. People Given name * Timothy (given name) ...

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 Findley Township is a township in Mercer County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 2,868 at the 2020 census, a decline from the figure of 2,910 in 2010. History Findley Township is named for William Findley, a Pennsylvania cong ...

, Atwood and

Munro A Munro () is defined as a mountain in Scotland with a height over , and which is on the Scottish Mountaineering Club (SMC) official list of Munros; there is no explicit topographical prominence requirement. The best known Munro is Ben Nevis ...

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

External links

Records of Bill Gaston are held by Simon Fraser University's Special Collections and Rare Books
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gaston, Bill 1953 births Living people 20th-century Canadian dramatists and playwrights 21st-century Canadian dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Canadian novelists 21st-century Canadian novelists 20th-century Canadian poets 20th-century Canadian male writers Canadian male poets 21st-century Canadian poets Canadian male novelists Canadian male short story writers Canadian magazine editors University of British Columbia alumni Canadian male dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Canadian short story writers 21st-century Canadian short story writers 21st-century Canadian male writers American emigrants to Canada