Guy Gavriel Kay (born November 7, 1954) is a Canadian writer of
fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving Magic (supernatural), magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy ...
fiction. The majority of his novels take place in
fictional setting
Fictional locations are places that exist only in fiction and not in reality, such as the Dark Kingdom, Negaverse or Planet X. Writers may create and describe such places to serve as backdrop for their fictional works. Fictional locations are als ...
s that resemble real places during real historical periods, such as
Justinian I
Justinian I (; la, Iustinianus, ; grc-gre, Ἰουστινιανός ; 48214 November 565), also known as Justinian the Great, was the Byzantine emperor from 527 to 565.
His reign is marked by the ambitious but only partly realized ''renovat ...
or Spain during the time of
El Cid
Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar (c. 1043 – 10 July 1099) was a Castilian knight and warlord in medieval Spain. Fighting with both Christian and Muslim armies during his lifetime, he earned the Arabic honorific ''al-sīd'', which would evolve into El ...
. Kay has expressed a preference to avoid genre categorization of these works as
historical fantasy
Historical fantasy is a category of fantasy and genre of historical fiction that incorporates fantastic elements (such as magic) into a more "realistic" narrative. There is much crossover with other subgenres of fantasy; those classed as Arthur ...
. , Kay has published 15 novels and a book of poetry. , his fiction has been translated into at least 22 languages. Kay is also a qualified lawyer in Canada.
Biography
Kay was born in
Weyburn
Weyburn is the eleventh-largest city in Saskatchewan, Canada. The city has a population of 10,870. It is on the Souris River southeast of the provincial capital of Regina, Saskatchewan, Regina and is north from the North Dakota border in the ...
, Saskatchewan, in 1954. He was raised and educated 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, and received a
bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...
in philosophy from the
University of Manitoba
The University of Manitoba (U of M, UManitoba, or UM) is a Canadian public research university in the province of Manitoba.
When
Christopher Tolkien
Christopher John Reuel Tolkien (21 November 1924 – 16 January 2020) was an English academic editor, becoming a French citizen in later life. The son of author and academic J. R. R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien edited much of his father' ...
needed an assistant to edit his father
J. R. R. Tolkien
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (, ; 3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer and philologist. He was the author of the high fantasy works ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''.
From 1925 to 1945, Tolkien was the Rawlins ...
's unpublished work, he chose Kay, then a student of philosophy at the
University of Manitoba
The University of Manitoba (U of M, UManitoba, or UM) is a Canadian public research university in the province of Manitoba.Oxford
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
in 1974 to assist Christopher in editing ''
The Silmarillion
''The Silmarillion'' () is a collection of myths and stories in varying styles by the English writer J. R. R. Tolkien. It was edited and published posthumously by his son Christopher Tolkien in 1977, assisted by the fantasy author Guy Gavriel ...
''.
He returned to Canada in 1975 to pursue a law degree at the
University of Toronto
The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...
, which he obtained in 1978; he was called to the bar of Ontario in 1981. Kay became principal writer and an associate producer for a
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (french: Société Radio-Canada), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a federal Crown corporation that receives funding from the government. ...
radio series, ''The Scales of Justice,'' and continued as principal writer when the series transferred to television.
In 1984, Kay's first fantasy work, ''
The Summer Tree
''The Summer Tree'' is a 1984 novel written by Canadian fantasy author Guy Gavriel Kay and the first novel of ''The Fionavar Tapestry'' trilogy.
Plot summary
The books opens in our own world, at the University of Toronto, where the five main cha ...
'', the first volume of ''
The Fionavar Tapestry
''The Fionavar Tapestry'' is a trilogy of fantasy novels by Canadian author Guy Gavriel Kay, published between 1984 and 1986. The novels are partly set in our own contemporary world, but mostly in the fictional world of Fionavar. It is the stor ...
'' trilogy, was published.
Kay has stated concerns about the decline of individual privacy, the expectation of privacy, and also literary privacy. The latter primarily concerns the use of real individuals in works of fiction, such as
Michael Cunningham
Michael Cunningham (born November 6, 1952) is an American novelist and screenwriter. He is best known for his 1998 novel '' The Hours'', which won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the PEN/Faulkner Award in 1999. Cunningham is a senior lectur ...
Virginia Woolf
Adeline Virginia Woolf (; ; 25 January 1882 28 March 1941) was an English writer, considered one of the most important modernist 20th-century authors and a pioneer in the use of stream of consciousness as a narrative device.
Woolf was born i ...
.
Bibliography
Novels
* ''
The Fionavar Tapestry
''The Fionavar Tapestry'' is a trilogy of fantasy novels by Canadian author Guy Gavriel Kay, published between 1984 and 1986. The novels are partly set in our own contemporary world, but mostly in the fictional world of Fionavar. It is the stor ...
'', a
portal fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy literature and drama. ...
in which five travel from our Earth to "the first of all worlds"
** ''
The Summer Tree
''The Summer Tree'' is a 1984 novel written by Canadian fantasy author Guy Gavriel Kay and the first novel of ''The Fionavar Tapestry'' trilogy.
Plot summary
The books opens in our own world, at the University of Toronto, where the five main cha ...
'' (1984)
** ''
The Wandering Fire
''The Wandering Fire'' is a 1986 novel by Canadian fantasy author Guy Gavriel Kay and the second novel of '' The Fionavar Tapestry'' trilogy. It follows '' The Summer Tree''.
Plot summary
Six months have passed since the end of ''The Summer Tree ...
'' (1986), winner of the 1987
Prix Aurora Award
The Aurora Awards (french: Prix Aurora-Boréal) are a set of primarily literary awards given annually for the best Canadian science fiction or fantasy professional and fan works and achievements from the previous year."Literary glow of Auroras lur ...
** ''
The Darkest Road
''The Darkest Road'' is a 1986 novel by Canadian fantasy author Guy Gavriel Kay and the third and final novel in ''The Fionavar Tapestry'' trilogy. It follows ''The Summer Tree'' and ''The Wandering Fire''.
Plot summary
Kim and Matt, with the ...
'' (1986)
* '' Tigana'' (1990), taking place in a setting based on
Renaissance Italy
The Italian Renaissance ( it, Rinascimento ) was a period in Italian history covering the 15th and 16th centuries. The period is known for the initial development of the broader Renaissance culture that spread across Europe and marked the trans ...
* ''
A Song for Arbonne
''A Song for Arbonne'' is a novel by Canadian writer Guy Gavriel Kay published in 1992. It is set in a fantasy world with two moons and is loosely based on 12th-century Provence and the Albigensian Crusade.
There were 25,000 copies of the book ...
'' (1992), inspired by the
Albigensian Crusade
The Albigensian Crusade or the Cathar Crusade (; 1209–1229) was a military and ideological campaign initiated by Pope Innocent III to eliminate Catharism in Languedoc, southern France. The Crusade was prosecuted primarily by the French crown ...
in medieval
Provence
Provence (, , , , ; oc, Provença or ''Prouvènço'' , ) is a geographical region and historical province of southeastern France, which extends from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the Italian border to the east; it is bor ...
* ''
The Lions of Al-Rassan
''The Lions of Al-Rassan'' is a historical fantasy novel by Canadian writer Guy Gavriel Kay. It is set in a peninsula of the same world in which '' The Sarantine Mosaic'' and ''The Last Light of the Sun'' are set, and is based on Moorish Spain. T ...
'' (1995), set in an analogue of
medieval Spain
Spain in the Middle Ages is a period in the History of Spain that began in the 5th Century following the Fall of the Western Roman Empire and ended with the beginning of the Early modern period in 1492.
The history of Spain is marked by waves ...
* ''
The Sarantine Mosaic
''The Sarantine Mosaic'' is a historical fantasy duology by Canadian writer Guy Gavriel Kay, comprising ''Sailing to Sarantium'' (1998) and ''Lord of Emperors'' (2000). The titles of the novels allude to works by poet W. B. Yeats.
The story's s ...
'', inspired by the
Byzantium
Byzantium () or Byzantion ( grc, Βυζάντιον) was an ancient Greek city in classical antiquity that became known as Constantinople in late antiquity and Istanbul today. The Greek name ''Byzantion'' and its Latinization ''Byzantium'' cont ...
of
Justinian I
Justinian I (; la, Iustinianus, ; grc-gre, Ἰουστινιανός ; 48214 November 565), also known as Justinian the Great, was the Byzantine emperor from 527 to 565.
His reign is marked by the ambitious but only partly realized ''renovat ...
Lord of Emperors
''The Sarantine Mosaic'' is a historical fantasy duology by Canadian writer Guy Gavriel Kay, comprising ''Sailing to Sarantium'' (1998) and ''Lord of Emperors'' (2000). The titles of the novels allude to works by poet W. B. Yeats.
The story's s ...
'' (2000)
* ''
The Last Light of the Sun
''The Last Light of the Sun'' is a 2004 fantasy novel by Canadian writer Guy Gavriel Kay. Like many of his books, it is set in a world that draws heavily upon real times, events, places and people. In this particular book, the period is the Viking ...
'' (2004), inspired by the Viking invasions during the reign of
Alfred the Great
Alfred the Great (alt. Ælfred 848/849 – 26 October 899) was King of the West Saxons from 871 to 886, and King of the Anglo-Saxons from 886 until his death in 899. He was the youngest son of King Æthelwulf and his first wife Osburh, who bot ...
* ''
Ysabel
''Ysabel'' is a fantasy novel by Canadian author Guy Gavriel Kay. It was first published in January 2007 by Viking Canada. It is Kay's first urban fantasy and his first book set outside his fantasied Europe milieux since the publication of his f ...
'' (2007), a
contemporary fantasy
Contemporary fantasy, also known as modern fantasy, is a subgenre of fantasy, set in the present day or, more accurately, the time period of the maker. It is perhaps most popular for its subgenre, urban fantasy.
Strictly, supernatural fiction c ...
set in Provence, centering on a teenage boy and his encounters with characters from the distant past. Linked to his ''Fionavar Tapestry'' series.
* '' Under Heaven'' (April 27, 2010), inspired by the 8th century
Tang Dynasty
The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an Zhou dynasty (690–705), interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dyn ...
and the events leading up to the
An Shi Rebellion
The An Lushan Rebellion was an uprising against the Tang dynasty of China towards the mid-point of the dynasty (from 755 to 763), with an attempt to replace it with the Yan dynasty. The rebellion was originally led by An Lushan, a general office ...
* ''
River of Stars
''River of Stars'', a historical fantasy, is the twelfth novel by Canadian fantasy author Guy Gavriel Kay. It was published in April 2013 by Roc Hardcover. It is Kay's second work set in an alternate history of China, taking place 400 years aft ...
'' (April 2, 2013), taking place in the same setting as ''Under Heaven'', based on the 12th century
Song Dynasty
The Song dynasty (; ; 960–1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that began in 960 and lasted until 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song following his usurpation of the throne of the Later Zhou. The Song conquered the rest ...
and the events around the Jin-Song Wars and the transition from Northern Song to Southern Song
* ''
Children of Earth and Sky
''Children of Earth and Sky'' is a historical fantasy novel by Canadian writer Guy Gavriel Kay published in 2016. It was the first novel he wrote after receiving the Order of Canada.
Kay's subsequent novel ''A Brightness Long Ago'' is a prequel ...
'' (May 10, 2016), taking place in the same world as ''The Lions of Al-Rassan'', ''The Sarantine Mosaic'', and ''The Last Light of the Sun'', and taking place in a world based on Italy, Istanbul and the Balkans in the 15th century
*''
A Brightness Long Ago
''A Brightness Long Ago'' is a historical fantasy novel by Canadian writer Guy Gavriel Kay published in 2019 by Viking Press. It is inspired from the events of 15th-century Italy leading to the Italian Wars, and particularly the feud between Fede ...
'' (May 14, 2019), prequel to ''Children of Earth and Sky''
* ''All the Seas of the World'' (May 17, 2022), sequel to ''Children of Earth and Sky''
Poetry
* ''Beyond This Dark House'' (2003), a collection
Awards and distinctions
Awards
* Kay won the 1985 Scales of Justice Award for best media treatment of a legal issue, Canadian Law Reform Commission, 1985, for "Second Time Around".
* ''The Wandering Fire'' won the 1987 Prix Aurora Award in the English category for best
speculative fiction
Speculative fiction is a term that has been used with a variety of (sometimes contradictory) meanings. The broadest interpretation is as a category of fiction encompassing genres with elements that do not exist in reality, recorded history, na ...
.
* Kay won the 1991
Aurora Award for Best Novel The Aurora Awards are granted annually by the Canadian SF and Fantasy Association and SFSF Boreal Inc. The Award for Best Novel was first awarded in 1982 as the Award for Best Outstanding Work and is two awards, one granted to an English-language ...
for ''Tigana''.
* Kay was runner up for the
White Pine Award
The ''White Pine Award'' is one of the annual literature Forest of Reading awards sponsored by the Ontario Library Association (OLA).
Every year, 10 books are nominated for the award and students vote their favourite book.
The White Pine Nonfi ...
in 2007 for ''Ysabel''.
* ''Ysabel'' was the winner of the 2008
World Fantasy Award for Best Novel
In its most general sense, the term "world" refers to the totality of entities, to the whole of reality or to everything that is. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the worl ...
.
* Kay won the International Goliardos Award for his contributions of the international literature of the fantastic.
* ''Under Heaven'' won the
Sunburst Award
The Sunburst Award for Canadian Literature of the Fantastic is an annual award given for a speculative fiction novel or a book-length collection.
History
The name of the award comes from the title of the first novel by Phyllis Gotlieb, ''Sunburst' ...
in 2011 and was longlisted for the IMPAC/Dublin Literary prize.
* Kay was appointed to 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 ...
in 2014 "for his contributions to the field of speculative fiction as an internationally celebrated author".
*''Under Heaven'' won the 2015 Prix Elbakin in France.
*''River of Stars'' won the 2017 Prix Elbakin in France.
*''Under Heaven'' was named the best fantasy novel of the year by The American Library Association, and was the SF Book Club's Book of the Year.
Nominations
* Kay has been nominated several times for the
Mythopoeic Fantasy Award
The Mythopoeic Awards for literature and literary studies are given annually for outstanding works in the fields of myth, fantasy, and the scholarly study of these areas.
Established by the Mythopoeic Society in 1971, the Mythopoeic Fantasy Awar ...
for Adult Literature.
* Kay has been nominated four times for the
World Fantasy Award
The World Fantasy Awards are a set of awards given each year for the best fantasy literature, fantasy fiction published during the previous calendar year. Organized and overseen by the World Fantasy Convention, the awards are given each year a ...
, and won in 2008 for "'Ysabel'".
* Kay has been nominated multiple times for the Canadian
Sunburst Award
The Sunburst Award for Canadian Literature of the Fantastic is an annual award given for a speculative fiction novel or a book-length collection.
History
The name of the award comes from the title of the first novel by Phyllis Gotlieb, ''Sunburst' ...
.
References
Further reading
*
*
External links
Bright Weavings – authorized website with some contributions by Kay
Kay at publisher Penguin Books Canada
*
*
Tolkien Lecture
The J.R.R. Tolkien Lecture on Fantasy Literature is a free public lecture delivered annually at Pembroke College, Oxford University.
The series was founded by Pembroke postgraduate students Will Badger and Gabriel Schenk in memory of J.R.R. Tol ...
at
Pembroke College, Oxford
Pembroke College, a constituent college of the University of Oxford, is located at Pembroke Square, Oxford. The college was founded in 1624 by King James I of England, using in part the endowment of merchant Thomas Tesdale, and was named after ...