Linda Little (born 1959) is an author from Nova Scotia, Canada. Her third work of fiction has been praised as a "darkly beautiful novel".

Writings

Her first novel, ''Strong Hollow'' published in 2001, is a coming-of-age story set in

the Maritimes The Maritimes, also called the Maritime provinces, is a region of Eastern Canada consisting of three provinces: New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island. The Maritimes had a population of 1,899,324 in 2021, which makes up 5.1% of Ca ...

that features a same-sex romance. ''

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 ...

'' praised the rich characters and Little's ability to make them "transcend stereotypes", but criticized Little for "mistrust ngthe reader to understand the symbolism at the heart of her story". In 2006 she followed up with ''Scotch River'', which won three

Atlantic Book Awards The Atlantic Book Awards & Festival is an annual event celebrating Atlantic Canadian writing and book illustration. Free events take place across the four Atlantic provinces ( Newfoundland & Labrador, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, and Nova Sc ...

for that year, including the

Thomas Head Raddall Award The Thomas Raddall Atlantic Fiction Award is a Canadian literary award administered by the Atlantic Book Awards & Festival for the best work of adult fiction published in the previous year by a writer from the Atlantic provinces.

for best adult fiction. Like in her first novel, Little tells a story set in her familiar home of Nova Scotia. The novel tells the story of an Alberta ranch hand who moves to the fictional town of Scotch River. ''Quill & Quire'' praised her sympathetic characters and sensuous writing. Her third novel, ''Grist'', again takes place in the Maritimes but is set in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Published in 2014, it tells the story of Penelope and her slowly disintegrating marriage to a miller. ''Quill & Quire'' compared the work to

Thomas Hardy Thomas Hardy (2 June 1840 – 11 January 1928) was an English novelist and poet. A Victorian realist in the tradition of George Eliot, he was influenced both in his novels and in his poetry by Romanticism, including the poetry of William Word ...

and

Lucy Maud Montgomery Lucy Maud Montgomery (November 30, 1874 – April 24, 1942), published as L. M. Montgomery, was a Canadian author best known for a collection of novels, essays, short stories, and poetry beginning in 1908 with '' Anne of Green Gables''. She ...

, and praised it as a "darkly beautiful novel". Little has also published a number of short stories and a children's book, ''Work and More Work''. ''Kirkus'' criticized the narration of ''Work and More Work'' as "bare" and the story as overly idealized.

Personal life

Little lives on a farm in

River John, Nova Scotia River John is an unincorporated community in Pictou County, Nova Scotia, Canada. It is located near the mouth of the River John on the Northumberland Strait, halfway between Pictou and Tatamagouche near the boundary with Colchester County. It i ...

, where she raises turkeys. She helps organize the annual Read by the Sea literary festival in the town, and, since 2005, has taught at the

Dalhousie University Dalhousie University (commonly known as Dal) is a large public research university in Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the fou ...

Agricultural Campus in

Truro, Nova Scotia Truro (Mi'kmaq: ''Wagobagitik''; Scottish Gaelic: ''Truru'') is a town in central Nova Scotia, Canada. Truro is the shire town of Colchester County and is located on the south side of the Salmon River floodplain, close to the river's mouth at ...

. In 2007 she was the

writer-in-residence Artist-in-residence, or artist residencies, encompass a wide spectrum of artistic programs which involve a collaboration between artists and hosting organisations, institutions, or communities. They are programs which provide artists with space a ...

for the Pictou-Antigonish Regional Library.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Little, Linda Living people 1959 births Writers from Nova Scotia 20th-century Canadian novelists 20th-century Canadian women writers Academic staff of the Dalhousie University