Clark Blaise,
OC (born April 10, 1940) is a Canadian-American author.
He was a professor of creative writing at York University, and a writer of short fiction. In 2010, he was named an Officer of the
Order of Canada
The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit.
To coincide with the cen ...
.
Early life and education
Blaise was born in
Fargo, North Dakota to Canadian parents who lived in the United States.
His mother, Anne Marion Vanstone, was
English-Canadian
English Canadians (french: Canadiens anglais or ), or Anglo-Canadians (french: Anglo-Canadiens), refers to either Canadians of English ethnic origin and heritage or to English-speaking or Anglophone Canadians of any ethnic origin; it is us ...
and from
Wawanesa,
Manitoba
, image_map = Manitoba in Canada 2.svg
, map_alt = Map showing Manitoba's location in the centre of Southern Canada
, Label_map = yes
, coordinates =
, capital = Winn ...
, and his father, Leo Romeo Blaise, was of
French-Canadian descent and was a furniture salesman and long-distance traveller.
Later on, his father would inspire the father characters in Blaise's fiction.
Growing up, his family moved constantly throughout the U.S.
Before the eighth grade, he had already moved 30 times; ultimately, he attended 25 different schools.
From ages six to ten, he lived in
Florida
Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
.
Throughout his childhood, Blaise also lived in Alabama, Georgia, communities in the American Midwest, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, and Winnipeg.
When Blaise was nineteen, his parents divorced.
He attended
Denison University
Denison University is a private liberal arts college in Granville, Ohio. One of the earliest colleges established in the former Northwest Territory, Denison University was founded in 1831. The college was first called the Granville Literary and ...
and the
University of Iowa
The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized into 12 col ...
, graduating in 1961 and 1964 respectively.
While at Denison University, he initially intended to pursue a major in geology but switched to English after taking a writing course in which he studied under Paul Bennett.
While studying at Denison, he read extensively, began writing book reviews for the weekly newspaper, helped edit campus literary magazines, and received several campus writing awards.
Career
In 1966, Blaise moved to
Montreal
Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...
and obtained
Canadian citizenship.
While living in Canada, Blaise published his first two short fiction collections, ''A North American Education'' (1973) and ''Tribal Justice'' (1974)''.''
Blaise was the director of the
International Writing Program
The International Writing Program (IWP) is a writing residency for international artists in Iowa City, Iowa. Since 2014, the program offers online courses to many writers and poets around the world. Since its inception in 1967, the IWP has hosted o ...
. While living in
Montreal
Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...
in the early 1970s, he taught creative writing at Concordia University; he also joined with authors
Raymond Fraser
Raymond Fraser (May 8, 1941 – October 22, 2018) was a Canadian biographer, editor, essayist, memoirist, novelist, poet and short story writer. Fraser published fourteen books of fiction, three of non-fiction, and eight poetry collections. Fras ...
,
Hugh Hood
Hugh John Blagdon Hood, OC (b in Toronto, Ontario 30 Apr 1928 – d in Montreal, Quebec 1 Aug 2000) was a Canadian novelist, short story writer, essayist and university professor.
Hood wrote 32 books: 17 novels including the 12-volume New Ag ...
,
John Metcalf and
Ray Smith to form the Montreal Story Tellers Fiction Performance Group. Blaise and Mukherjee collaborated on a memoir of experiences in India which was published in 1978.
In 1978, Blaise and Mukherjee moved to
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 anch ...
. Blaise became a professor of creative writing at York University, and wrote his first novel.
Mukherjee felt excluded in Canada, attributing it to
racism
Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one race over another. It may also mean prejudice, discrimination, or antagonis ...
and publishing an essay in ''
Saturday Night''.
In 1980, the couple decided to return to the United States,
moving to
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...
. Both continued their literary careers, including a collaborative analysis of the 1985 bombing of
Air India flight 182
Air India Flight 182 was an Air India flight operating on the Montreal–London–Delhi–Bombay route. On 23 June 1985, it was operated using Boeing 747-237B registered ''VT-EFO''. It disintegrated in mid-air en route from Montreal to Lond ...
, known in India as the Kanishka bombing. Blaise wrote two more novels and a number of short stories.
Personal life
He married writer
Bharati Mukherjee
Bharati Mukherjee (July 27, 1940 – January 28, 2017) was an Indian American-Canadian writer and professor emerita in the department of English at the University of California, Berkeley. She was the author of a number of novels and short story ...
in 1963.
["Award-Winning Author Bharati Mukherjee Dead at 76"](_blank)
''NBC News'', by Frances Kai-Hwa Wang / Feb.08.2017 They met as students at the
Iowa Writers' Workshop
The Iowa Writers' Workshop, at the University of Iowa, is a celebrated graduate-level creative writing program in the United States. The writer Lan Samantha Chang is its director. Graduates earn a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) degree in Creative W ...
at the
University of Iowa
The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized into 12 col ...
and have two sons.
Mukherjee died in 2017.
Blaise lives in New York.
Honours and awards
In 2009, he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada "for his contributions to Canadian letters as an author, essayist, teacher, and founder of the post-graduate program in creative writing at Concordia University".
Bibliography
Short stories
*''A North American Education'' – 1973
*''Tribal Justice'' – 1974
*''Resident Alien'' – 1986
*''Man and His World'' – 1992
*''Southern Stories'' – 2000
*''Pittsburgh Stories'' – 2001
*''Montreal Stories'' – 2003
*''The Meagre Tarmac'' – 2011 (longlisted for the 2011
Scotiabank 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 ...
)
Novels
*''Lunar Attractions'' – 1979 (winner of the 1980
Books in Canada First Novel Award
The Amazon.ca First Novel Award, formerly the Books in Canada First Novel Award, is a Canadian literary award, co-presented by Amazon.ca and ''The Walrus'' to the best first novel in English published the previous year by a citizen or resident o ...
)
*''Lusts'' – 1984
*''If I Were Me'' – 1997
Memoirs
*''
Days and Nights in Calcutta'' – 1977 (with Bharati Mukherjee)
*''
I had a Father'' – 1992
Non-fiction
*''
The Sorrow and the Terror: The Haunting Legacy of the Air India Tragedy'' – 1987 (with Bharati Mukherjee)
*''Time Lord: Sir Sandford Fleming and the creation of standard time'' – 2000
Criticism
*''A Novel of India's Coming of Age''
[Blaise, Clark.]
A Novel of India's Coming of Age
" ''The New York Times''. April 18, 1999. Retrieved on November 27, 2014. - ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'', April 19, 1981 (A review of Salman Rushdie's
Midnight's Children
''Midnight's Children'' is a 1981 novel by Indian-British writer Salman Rushdie, published by Jonathan Cape with cover design by Bill Botten, about India's transition from British colonial rule to independence and partition. It is a postc ...
)
References
External links
Clark Blaise'sentry in
The Canadian Encyclopedia
''The Canadian Encyclopedia'' (TCE; french: L'Encyclopédie canadienne) is the national encyclopedia of Canada, published online by the Toronto-based historical organization Historica Canada, with the support of Canadian Heritage.
Available f ...
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blaise, Clark
1940 births
Living people
Canadian male novelists
Officers of the Order of Canada
American emigrants to Canada
Writers from San Francisco
Writers from Fargo, North Dakota
Iowa Writers' Workshop alumni
International Writing Program alumni
20th-century Canadian novelists
20th-century Canadian male writers
Amazon.ca First Novel Award winners