Jason Sherman (born July 28, 1962 in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

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

screenwriter A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based. ...

. After graduating from the creative writing program at

York University York University (french: Université York), also known as YorkU or simply YU, is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's fourth-largest university, and it has approximately 55,700 students, 7,0 ...

in 1985, Sherman co-founded What Publishing with Kevin Connolly, which produced ''what'', a literary magazine that he edited from 1985 to 1990. Before establishing himself as a dramatist, Sherman's journalistic works such as reviews, essays, and interviews appeared in various publications, including ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...

'', ''

Canadian Theatre Review The ''Canadian Theatre Review'' is a quarterly magazine publishing critical analysis and coverage of current theatre developments, expanding the practice of criticism in Canadian theatre. It is published by the University of Toronto Press and is a ...

'' and '' Theatrum''. He edited two anthologies for

Coach House Press Coach House Books is an independent book publishing company located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Coach House publishes experimental poetry, fiction, drama and non-fiction. The press is particularly interested in writing that pushes at the boundar ...

, ''Canadian Brash'' (1991) and ''Solo'' (1993), and was playwright-in-residence at

Tarragon Theatre The Tarragon Theatre is a theatre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and one of the main centers for contemporary playwriting in the country.

from 1992 to 1999. Sherman's first professional productions were ''A Place Like Pamela'' (1991) and ''To Cry is Not So'' (1991), followed by ''The League of Nathans'' (1992, published in book form in 1996), which won a

Floyd S. Chalmers Canadian Play Award The Floyd S. Chalmers Canadian Play Award was a Canadian literary award given to Canadian plays produced by any professional Canadian theatre company, and having performances in the Toronto area. The prize had a monetary value of $25,000, and wa ...

(1993), and was nominated for the

Governor General's Award for English language drama The Governor General's Award for English-language drama honours excellence in Canadian English-language playwriting. The award was created in 1981 when the Governor General's Award for English-language poetry or drama was divided. Because the awar ...

. Among his many other plays is '' Three in the Back, Two in the Head'', which won the Governor General's Literary Award for Drama (1995), and '' Reading Hebron'', which had its most recent production at London's Orange Tree Theatre in March 2011. In the November 2007 issue of ''

This Magazine ''This Magazine'' is an independent alternative Canadian political magazine. History and profile The magazine was launched "by a gang of school activists" in April 1966 as ''This Magazine Is About Schools'', a journal covering political issues ...

'', Sherman wrote an article explaining why he would no longer be writing stage plays. Since then, he has written extensively for television and radio, including the

CBC Radio CBC Radio is the English-language radio operations of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The CBC operates a number of radio networks serving different audiences and programming niches, all of which (regardless of language) are outlined below ...

series ''

Afghanada ''Afghanada'' is a Canadian radio drama which aired on CBC Radio One and Sirius Satellite Radio. The 103 episode series began on November 3, 2006, and concluded its sixth and final season on December 30, 2011. Overview The half-hour episodes were ...

'' and the television series ''

Bloodletting & Miraculous Cures ''Bloodletting & Miraculous Cures'' is a short story collection by Vincent Lam, published in 2006. The book, inspired by Lam's own experiences in medical school and as a professional physician, is a volume of interconnected short stories about th ...

'' and ''

The Best Laid Plans ''The Best Laid Plans'' is a 1997 novel by Sidney Sheldon. The story details the rise of a handsome, charismatic attorney named Oliver Russel, to political fame, while his jilted fiancée, Leslie Stewart, grows a media empire to eventually destro ...

''.Bill Brioux
"‘Best Laid Plans’ turns satiric focus on politics"
''

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part ...

'', January 4, 2014. In 2021 he released '' My Tree'', a documentary film about his trip to

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

to locate a tree that was planted in his name decades earlier. The film premiered at the 2021

Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival The Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival is the largest documentary festival in North America. The event takes place annually in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The 27th edition of the festival took place online throughout May and June ...

, and received a

Canadian Screen Award The Canadian Screen Awards (french: link=no, Les prix Écrans canadiens) are awards given for artistic and technical merit in the film industry recognizing excellence in Canadian film, English-language television, and digital media (web series) p ...

nomination for Best Feature Length Documentary at the

10th Canadian Screen Awards The 10th Canadian Screen Awards were held on April 10, 2022, to honour achievements in Canadian film, television and digital media production in 2021.Etan Vlessing"Maitreyi Ramakrishnan to Receive Canadian Screen Awards Special Honor" ''The Hollyw ...

in 2022.Brent Furdyk
"2022 Canadian Screen Award Nominees Announced, ‘Sort Of’ & ‘Scarborough’ Lead The Pack"
''

ET Canada ''ET Canada'' (previously referred to as ''Entertainment Tonight Canada'') is a Canadian entertainment news television series, using the same format as the American entertainment newsmagazine ''Entertainment Tonight''. ''ET Canada'' is a broadcas ...

'', February 15, 2022.

Works

* ''A Place Like Pamela'' (1991) * ''To Cry is Not So'' (1991) * ''The League of Nathans'' (1992) * ''What the Russians Say'' (1993) * ''Field'' (1993) * ''The Merchant of Showboat'' (1993) * ''Three in the Back, Two in the Head'' (1994) * ''Reading Hebron'' (1995) * ''The Retreat'' (1996) * ''None is Too Many'' (1997) * ''

Patience (or forbearance) is the ability to endure difficult circumstances. Patience may involve perseverance in the face of delay; tolerance of provocation without responding in disrespect/anger; or forbearance when under strain, especially when faced ...

'' (1998) * ''It's All True'' (1999) * ''An Acre of Time'' (1999/2000) * ''

'' (2006–11) * ''

'' (2010) * ''

We Were Children ''We Were Children'' is a 2012 Canadian documentary film about the experiences of First Nations children in the Canadian Indian residential school system. Directed by Tim Wolochatiuk and written by Jason Sherman, the film recounts the experiences ...

'' (2012); screenplay * ''

La Ronde La Ronde may refer to: Geography * La Ronde, Charente-Maritime, a commune in the Charente-Maritime ''département'', France * La Ronde River, on the Caribbean island of Dominica *La Ronde (amusement park), Montreal, Quebec, Canada *A La Ronde, an ...

'' (2013) Soulpepper, adaptation by Jason Sherman *''Copy That'' (2019); commissioned for Tarragon Theatre

References

External links

Jason Sherman
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sherman, Jason 1962 births 20th-century Canadian dramatists and playwrights 21st-century Canadian dramatists and playwrights Canadian male screenwriters Jewish Canadian writers Living people Governor General's Award-winning dramatists Canadian television writers Canadian radio writers Canadian male dramatists and playwrights Writers from Montreal 20th-century Canadian male writers Canadian male television writers 21st-century Canadian screenwriters 21st-century Canadian male writers