Keith Maillard (born 28 February 1942 in Wheeling,

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the Bur ...

) is a Canadian-American novelist, poet, and professor of creative writing at 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 ...

. He moved to Canada in 1970 (due to his opposition to the Vietnam War) and became a Canadian citizen in 1976.Ohio County Public Library, "Wheeling Hall of Fame: Keith Maillard,"
/ref>William H. New, "Keith Maillard," ''Encyclopedia of Literature in Canada'' (University of Toronto Press, 2002), 700.

Family background

Maillard has French, Canadian, and American roots. His

Huguenots The Huguenots ( , also , ) were a Religious denomination, religious group of French people, French Protestants who held to the Reformed, or Calvinist, tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss politica ...

great grandparents immigrated to Montreal from Lyon, France, in the early 1880s. His Maillard grandfather and two Montreal-born uncles continued the family tradition of glass-blowing, working for Dominion Glass in Montreal and in

Redcliff, Alberta Redcliff is a town in southern Alberta, Canada. Adjacent to the City of Medicine Hat to the east and Cypress County to the west and north, the town is bisected by Highway 1 (Trans-Canada Highway) and is located on the north bank of the South Sask ...

. Maillard's parents divorced when he was a baby and he never knew his father. His father, Eugene C. Maillard, avoided glassblowing work, trained as a draughtsman, and worked for twenty-five years at the

Hanford Site The Hanford Site is a decommissioned nuclear production complex operated by the United States federal government on the Columbia River in Benton County in the U.S. state of Washington. The site has been known by many names, including SiteW a ...

nuclear plant in Richland, Washington. Maillard's mother's family settled in the

Ohio River The Ohio River is a long river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing southwesterly from western Pennsylvania to its mouth on the Mississippi River at the southern tip of Illino ...

Valley in the late 18th century and it is from her family stories that Maillard draws inspiration for much of his

historical fiction Historical fiction is a literary genre in which the plot takes place in a setting related to the past events, but is fictional. Although the term is commonly used as a synonym for historical fiction literature, it can also be applied to other ty ...

. He describes the process of his earliest childhood fiction in his 2011 essay, "Kilroy: A Writer's Childhood." Keith Maillard is married with two daughters"Keith Maillard," Contemporary Authors Online, Detroit: Gale, 2012
/ref> and lives in West Vancouver. His mother-in-law is Canadian novelist Rohan O'Grady.

Career

1960s

Maillard left his native West Virginia in 1965 and moved to Boston where he lived for five years. He worked in the anti-Vietnam-war movement from 1968-1970 and contributed numerous articles to Boston underground newspapers and radio.Keith Maillard fonds, University of British Columbia
/ref> In 1970, disillusioned after the

Kent State shootings The Kent State shootings, also known as the May 4 massacre and the Kent State massacre,"These would be the first of many probes into what soon became known as the Kent State Massacre. Like the Boston Massacre almost exactly two hundred years bef ...

, he emigrated to Canada. He was not eligible for the draft and was a war resister rather than a draft dodger.

1970s

In the early 1970s, Maillard worked as a freelancer for

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 ...

, contributing pieces to ''This Country in the Morning'', ''Five Nights'', and ''Our Native Land.'' He also contributed to periodicals, including ''Fusion'', ''Body Politic'', ''Malahat Review'', ''Books in Canada'', ''Canadian Literature'', and newspapers. He was in the

Writers' Union of Canada The Writers' Union of Canada (TWUC), founded in 1973, describes itself as supporting "the country's authors by advocating for their rights, freedoms, and economic well-being." Its members are professional writers who must have published at least o ...

, served on the National Council for two years, and co-founded the

Federation of BC Writers The Federation of BC Writers is the largest writers organization in British Columbia, Canada. Its stated goals are to foster the art and profession of writing in British Columbia; to generate a sense of community among British Columbia writers; to p ...

. Maillard studied music at

Vancouver Community College Vancouver Community College is a public community college in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Founded in 1965, it is the largest and oldest community college in British Columbia, offering 91 certificate programs, 31 diploma programs, and 3 bac ...

, played the Irish pipes, taught recorder and the rudiments of music for the

Vancouver School Board The Vancouver School Board (VSB; officially School District 39 Vancouver) is a school district based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. A board of nine trustees normally manages this district that serves the city of Vancouver and the Uni ...

and Vancouver Community College, and played bass in the first band formed by Vancouver singer-songwriter,

Ferron Ferron (born Deborah Foisy on 1 June 1952) is a Canadian-born singer-songwriter and poet. In addition to gaining fame as one of Canada's most respected songwriters, Ferron, who is openly lesbian, became one of the earliest and most influential ...

. In the late 1970s Maillard taught writing workshops in Vancouver's literary centre, The Literary Storefront, and participated in a number of readings and other events there. In 1979 Maillard interviewed Canadian novelist Howard O’Hagan who explained to him his writing process; the interview appeared as a chapter in Margery Fee's ''Silence Made Visible: Howard O’Hagan and Tay John'' (1992). Maillard's first published novel, ''Two Strand River,'' appeared in 1976, published by Dave Godfrey's Press Porcépic. Most reviewers were confounded by this strange book with its cross-gendered protagonists and weird events, but ''Two Strand River'' soon acquired a cult following, came to be labeled a classic of Canadian magic realism,Geoff Hancock, "Keith Maillard," ''The Oxford Companion to Canadian Literature,'' eds., William Toy and Eugene Benson (Oxford University Press, 1997, online 2006), 717-718. and has been republished twice.

1980s

Maillard's second published novel was actually the first one he had begun; the book rejected by 26 publishers finally – after having passed through eight major rewrites – appeared in 1980 as ''Alex Driving South''. In this gritty, naturalistic tale, Maillard first introduced the fictional town of Raysburg, West Virginia, where most of his novels have been set. ''The Knife in My Hands,'' influenced by American writer

Jack Kerouac Jean-Louis Lebris de Kérouac (; March 12, 1922 – October 21, 1969), known as Jack Kerouac, was an American novelist and poet who, alongside William S. Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg, was a pioneer of the Beat Generation. Of French-Canadian a ...

, followed in 1981, and its sequel, ''Cutting Through,'' in 1982. Then, with a fifth book half-completed, Maillard was afflicted with writer's block. From 1985 through 1988 Maillard applied his writing skills to designing university and adult education courses for the

Open Learning Agency The Open Learning Agency (OLA) was a Crown Agency of the province of British Columbia, Canada. Its primary function was the management of the Knowledge Network, a public television station in British Columbia, and the Open Learning Institute. It ...

and, from 1986–1989, he workshopped his screenplay, ''Two Strand River'', with

Patricia Gruben Patricia Gruben is an American born filmmaker who taught film studies at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia, Canada until 2018.Ed. Kuhn, Annette; Radstone, Susannah. (1990). "Patricia Gruben." In ''The'' Women's Companion to Internationa ...

's Praxis Film Development Workshop (Simon Fraser University). Maillard's fifth novel, ''Motet,'' published in 1989, won 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 writer Ethel W ...

.Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize
/ref> Reviewer

David Homel David Homel (born 1952) is an American-Canadian writer and literary translator.Ian McGillis"Montreal's David Homel counsels self-forgiveness in new memoir" ''Montreal Gazette'', April 23, 2021. He is most noted as a two-time winner of the Governo ...

assured readers that despite the novel's sixteenth-century Dutch choral mystery and Vancouver setting, "power and madness made in the USA is still at the heart of Maillard's creativity." Having taught as a sessional lecturer at both the

(UBC) and

Simon Fraser University Simon Fraser University (SFU) is a public research university in British Columbia, Canada, with three campuses, all in Greater Vancouver: Burnaby (main campus), Surrey, and Vancouver. The main Burnaby campus on Burnaby Mountain, located from ...

, Maillard was appointed in 1989 to a regular teaching position in UBC's Creative Writing Department, where he has taught every genre except stage writing. He served as Advisory Editor of ''

PRISM international ''Prism International'' (styled ''PRISM international'') is a magazine published quarterly in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Established in 1959, it is Western Canada's senior literary magazine. The magazine was started with name ''Prism'' ...

'' for 10 years.

1990s

While at UBC, Maillard began what he considers his mature work – what has come to be known as the "Raysburg Series." Called "a small masterpiece" by the ''Georgia Straight'', ''Light in the Company of Women'' was published in 1993 and was runner-up for the

. It was followed in 1995 by ''Hazard Zones'', which was included on the ''

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 ...

s list of the best Canadian books for that year and was short-listed for the

Commonwealth Writers' Prize Commonwealth Foundation presented a number of prizes between 1987 and 2011. The main award was called the Commonwealth Writers' Prize and was composed of two prizes: the Best Book Prize (overall and regional) was awarded from 1987 to 2011; the Best ...

. Maillard's novel, ''Gloria'' (1999), was well received in Canada, short-listed for the

Governor General's Literary Award The Governor General's Awards are a collection of annual awards presented by the Governor General of Canada, recognizing distinction in numerous academic, artistic, and social fields. The first award was conceived and inaugurated in 1937 by the ...

for Fiction, and brought him national attention in the United States. Maillard also returned to his first love, poetry, and published ''Dementia Americana'', which won the

Gerald Lampert Award The Gerald Lampert Memorial Award is made annually by the League of Canadian Poets to the best volume of poetry published by a first-time poet. It is presented in honour of poetry promoter Gerald Lampert Gerald Lampert (c. 1924 - April 29, 1978) w ...

for the best first book of poetry published in Canada. He became interested in the re-emergence of formal poetry in North America and commented about it in his oft-cited essay, "The New Formalism and the Return of Prosody."

2000s

The last of the "Raysburg Series", ''The Clarinet Polka'' (2002), was well received in the United States, particularly by the Polish American community. It received starred reviews from ''Library Journal'', ''Publishers Weekly'', ''Booklist'', and ''Kirkus Reviews'', and was included in ''Booklist''’s Editors’ Choice ’03. It won the Polish American Historical Association's Creative Arts Prize, and came to the attention of scholars in Poland. Maillard was one of 35 writers placed on the West Virginia Literary Map in 2004 and he was inducted that year into the Wheeling, West Virginia, Hall of Fame. In 2004, Maillard returned to the raw

Bildungsroman In literary criticism, a ''Bildungsroman'' (, plural ''Bildungsromane'', ) is a literary genre that focuses on the psychological and moral growth of the protagonist from childhood to adulthood ( coming of age), in which character change is impo ...

material first published in ''The Knife in My Hands'' and ''Cutting Through'' and rewrote and reshaped it into the ''Difficulty at the Beginning'' quartet, which appeared in four volumes between September 2005 and September 2006. The

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 ...

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 ...

'' selected ''Difficulty at the Beginning'' as one of the top books of 2006, calling it "a work of terrible beauty and grace, a masterpiece fit to contend with the best novels of the last century." Reviewer Richard Helm describes the quartet as Maillard's "magnum opus and the keystone of a literary career that has flown largely under the Canadian radar." He characterizes Maillard as "probably the most famous Canadian novelist you've never heard of." In 2006, with eleven out of fourteen titles nominated for or winners of literary awards, Maillard won UBC's Dorothy Somerset Award for excellence in the creative arts.

2010s

In its 80th anniversary edition in 2015, the ''

Quill & Quire ''Quill & Quire'' is a Canadian magazine about the book and publishing industry. The magazine was launched in 1935 and has an average circulation of 5,000 copies per issue, with a publisher-claimed readership of 25,000. ''Quill & Quire'' reviews ...

'' listed Maillard as one of Canada's "notable Canlit talent" along with other American-born anti-Vietnam-War authors, Philip Marchand, Jack Todd,

Judith Merrill Judith Josephine Grossman (January 21, 1923 – September 12, 1997), who took the pen-name Judith Merril around 1945, was an American and then Canadian science fiction writer, editor and political activist, and one of the first women to be wid ...

Mark Frutkin Mark Frutkin (born January 2, 1948) is a Canadian novelist and poet. He has published ten books of fiction, three books of poetry, as well as two works of non-fiction and a book of essays. In 2022, his novel ''The Artist and the Assassin'' won the ...

, and

William Gibson William Ford Gibson (born March 17, 1948) is an American-Canadian speculative fiction writer and essayist widely credited with pioneering the science fiction subgenre known as ''cyberpunk''. Beginning his writing career in the late 1970s, his ...

. In his most recent novel ''Twin Studies'' (2018) -- set in Vancouver, Medicine Hat, and Los Angeles—Maillard returns to the topic of gender fluidity that he first explored in ''Two Strand River'' in 1976. Apple's iBooks reviewed the novel and described it as " a fascinating exploration of wealth, class, and gender fluidity

hat A hat is a head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorporate mecha ...

reads like a 21st-century Canadian version of Dickens' London novels." Steven Beattie, in the September 2018 issue of ''Quill & Quire'', notes that Maillard's subject matter arises out of lived experience. "When the author began publishing, the language for describing gender-fluid approaches did not exist." As Maillard himself put it in his interview with Beattie, "You can't apply a term to yourself unless it is culturally available. I would now call myself non-binary." The ''Vancouver Sun'' summarized ''Twin Studies'' as "that rare work: a story that grapples with difficult intellectual issues without ever abandoning the novelist's primary duty -- compelling narrative." Maillard’s novel challenges the idea of isolated nuclear families and envisions what he says is “ a fluid larger family, in which people come together for other reasons. I think it's essential that we start rethinking family, that we start rethinking our connections to each other.” ''Twin Studies'' won the Alberta Book of the Year Award from the Book Publishers Association of Alberta and was shortlisted for the

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 ...

. In an interview with Quentin Mills-Fenn of ''Prairie books Now'', Maillard explained that his book explores ”the impact of traumatic experiences,” and that he firmly believes that “ ysicians and therapists who work with children and adolescents are telling us that a gender-affirming point of view from parents and, if possible, from the surrounding culture, makes for healthy and happy kids." Maillard's first non-fiction book, ''Fatherless: A Memoir'' (2019), traces the life of the mysterious father he never knew, and was well received in Canada. CBC Arts columnist and creative nonfiction author/editor

Alicia Elliott Alicia Elliott (born 1987 or 1988) is a Tuscarora writer and editor. Early life and education Elliott was born in the United States and moved with her family to the Six Nations of the Grand River reserve in Ontario when she was 13. Although l ...

writes that Maillard's memoir "gives us a model of not only self awareness and honesty but also, more importantly, healing." ''Appalachian Review'' praises ''Fatherless'' as “a book that is sometimes heartbreaking, often lighthearted, and always honest,” noting that “Maillard manages to examine the roughest edges of his family history with harsh truth without begging for the reader’s sympathy.”

2020s

Author and scholar

Daniel Heath Justice Daniel Heath Justice is an American-born Canadian academic and citizen of the Cherokee Nation. He is professor of First Nations and Indigenous Studies and English at the University of British Columbia. He started his studies at University of Nor ...

praises Maillard’s second book of non-fiction, ''The Bridge: Writing Across the Binary'' (2021). “Through constellated fragments of memory, key moments in twentieth-century America, and the unfolding of an acclaimed literary life,” Justice writes, “''The Bridge'' is the forthright, deeply moving memoir of a nonbinary writer coming of age and coming to self.” Calling Keith Maillard “one of the finest English-language novelists in Canada today,” ''The Vancouver Sun'' writes that “Maillard understands his life through the lens of a lifelong struggle to know and accept his own identity off the simple-minded male/female binary.” Maillard's papers are currently held by the University of British Columbia's Rare Books and Special Collections. A complete list of Maillard's publications can be found on his website.Keith Maillard Publications
/ref>

Awards and recognition

* 1986: winner Praxis Competition, ''Two Strand River'' * 1990: winner

, ''Motet'' * 1994: runner-up

, ''Light in the Company of Women'' * 1995: winner

, ''Dementia Americana'' * 1996: shortlisted

, ''Hazard Zones'' * 1999: fiction finalist, Governor General's Awards, ''Gloria'' * 2004: winner West Virginia Literary Merit Award * 2005: winner

Polish American Historical Association The Polish American Historical Association (PAHA), founded in 1942, is a scholarly not-for-profit association dedicated to the study of Polish American history and culture. Originally a section of the larger Polish Institute of Arts and Sciences in ...

Creative Arts Prize, ''The Clarinet Polka'' * 2005: shortlisted Weatherford Award, ''Running'' * 2006: longlisted

ReLit Awards 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 Newfoundl ...

, ''Looking Good'' * 2006: shortlisted Weatherford Award, ''Morgantown'' * 2006: shortlisted Weatherford Award, ''Lyndon Johnston and the Majorettes'' * 2006: winner Dorothy Somerset Award for Excellence in the Creative Arts * 2018: The ''Globe'' 100, ''Twin Studies'' * 2019: winne
Alberta Book of the Year Award: Trade Fiction
''Twin Studies'' * 2019: shortlisted

, ''Twin Studies''

Bibliography

* 1976: ''Two Strand River'' (Press Porcepic) ** 1982 reissue: ''Two Strand River'' (General Publishing) ** 1996 reissue: ''Two Strand River'' (HarperCollins) ** 2013 reissue: ''Two Strand River'' (Keith Maillard) ebook * 1980: ''Alex Driving South'' (Dial Press) ** 1983 reissue: ''Alex Driving South'' (General Publishing) ** 2013 reissue: ''Alex Driving South'' (Keith Maillard) ebook * 1981: ''The Knife in my Hands'' (General) ** 1982 reissue: ''The Knife in my Hands'' (Beaufort) * 1982: ''Cutting Through'' (Stoddart) ** 1983 reissue: Cutting Through (Beaufort) * 1989: ''Motet'' (Random House) ** 1997 reissue: ''Motet'' (HarperCollins) ** 1998 reissue: ''Motet'' (Harvill Press) ** 2013 reissue: ''Motet'' (Keith Maillard) ebook * 1993: ''Light in the Company of Women'' (HarperCollins) * 1994: ''Dementia Americana'', poems (Ronsdale/Cacanadadada) * 1995: ''Hazard Zones'' (Harper Perennial) * 1999: ''Gloria'' (Harper Flamingo) ** 2000: reissue: ''Gloria'' (Soho Press) ** 2001: reissue: ''Gloria'' (HarperFlamingo) * 2002: ''The Clarinet Polka'' (Thomas Allen) ** 2003: reissue: ''The Clarinet Polka'' (St.Martin's Press) ** 2004: reissue: ''The Clarinet Polka'' (St.Martin's Griffin) * 2005: ''Running'' (Brindle & Glass) ** 2011: ''Running'' (Brindle & Glass) ebook * 2006: ''Morgantown'' (Brindle & Glass) ** 2011: ''Morgantown'' (Brindle & Glass) ebook * 2006: ''Lyndon Johnson and the Majorettes'' (Brindle & Glass) ** 2011: ''Lyndon Johnson and the Majorettes'' (Brindle & Glass) ebook * 2006: ''Looking Good'' (Brindle & Glass) ** 2011: ''Looking Good'' (Brindle & Glass) ebook * 2018: ''Twin Studies'' (Freehand Press) ** 2018: ''Twin Studies'' (Audible) audiobook * 2019: ''Fatherless'' (University of West Virginia Press) * 2021: ''The Bridge: Writing Across the Binary'' (Freehand Press) * 2023
''In the Defense of Liberty''
(Freehand Press)

Anthologized

* 1985: ''Vancouver Fiction''. David Watmough, ed., Winlaw, B.C., (Polestar Press) * 1986: ''Magic Realism and Canadian Literature: Essays and Stories, Proceedings of the Conference on Magic Realist Writing in Canada''. University of Waterloo/Wilfrid Laurier University, May 1985; Peter and Ed Jewinski, eds. (University of Waterloo Press) * 1999: ''New Expansive Poetry''. R.S. Gwynn, ed., Ashland, Oregon, (Story Line Press) * 2005: ''Wild Sweet Notes II: More Great Poetry From West Virginia''. (Publishers Place) * 2008: ''The Best of Canadian Poetry in English, 2008''. Stephanie Bolster and Molly Peacock, eds., (Tightrope Books) * 2008: ''Crossing Lines: Poets Who Came to Canada in the Vietnam War''. Allan Briesmaster and Steven Michael Berzensky, eds., (Seraphim Editions) * 2014: ''Naked in Academe: Celebrating Fifty Years of Creative Writing at UBC.'' Rhea Tregebov, ed., (McClelland & Stewart) * 2018: ''Refuse: Canlit in Ruins''. Hannah McGregor, Julie Rak & Erin Wunker, eds., (Book*hug)

References

External links

Official website

BC Bookworld profile

* ttp://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=LitRC&u=ubcolumbia&id=GALE%7CH1000063179&v=2.1&it=r&sid=LitRC&asid=de1c0d0d "Keith Maillard," Contemporary Authors Online: Keith Maillard profile
Ohio County Public Library, "Wheeling Hall of Fame: Keith Maillard"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Maillard, Keith 1942 births Living people American emigrants to Canada Canadian male novelists 20th-century Canadian poets 20th-century Canadian novelists 20th-century Canadian male writers 21st-century Canadian male writers 21st-century Canadian novelists Canadian male poets Canadian non-binary writers Writers from Wheeling, West Virginia Writers from British Columbia Academic staff of the University of British Columbia West Virginia University Canadian LGBT novelists Canadian LGBT poets Non-binary novelists 21st-century Canadian LGBT people 20th-century Canadian LGBT people