Mary Novik is a Canadian novelist.

Biography

Born in

Victoria, British Columbia Victoria is the capital city of the Canadian province of British Columbia, on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific coast. The city has a population of 91,867, and the Greater Victoria area has a population of 397,237. The ...

and raised in Victoria and Surrey, Mary Novik received a Ph.D. in literature from The

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a 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 among the top thre ...

and lives in

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

, British Columbia.Gudrun Will. "17th-century immersion: Donne & Daughter", ''Vancouver Review'', No. 15 (Fall 2007), p. 25 Novik taught literature and creative writing at Langara College in Vancouver, wrote reviews and articles on poetry, and now belongs to the fiction writing group, SPiN, which includes Jen Sookfong Lee and June Hutton.

Literary works

Mary Novik is the author of two novels set in the past, ''Conceit'' and ''Muse'', in which fiction and fact are creatively mingled.Athena McKenzie. "The Muse Abides", ''The Globe and Mail'', August 17, 2013, p. R10 Novik is engaged in an "ongoing exploration of minor characters in the lives of great figures of literature" Robert Wiersema. "Love Poetry's Labour Lost", ''The Vancouver Sun'', August 17, 2013, p. C7 and is part of the current "boom" in historical fiction in Canada.Eva Karpinski. "Transversal Alliances", ''Canada and Beyond: A Journal of Canadian Literary and Cultural Studies'', Vol. 3, No. 1-2 (2013), p. 200 Mary Novik's debut novel, ''Conceit'' (Doubleday Canada, 2007) is about Pegge Donne,Edward O'Connor. "The Poet and His Headstrong Daughter", ''The Fiddlehead'', No. 238 (Winter 2009), pp. 98-100 the daughter of the

Metaphysical poet The term Metaphysical poets was coined by the critic Samuel Johnson to describe a loose group of 17th-century English poets whose work was characterised by the inventive use of metaphysical conceit, conceits, and by a greater emphasis on the spo ...

John Donne, and is set in 17th century London.Jim Bartley. "Mary Novik's ''Conceit'': A Magnificent Novel of 17th-century London", ''The Globe and Mail'', September 8, 2007, pp. D1, 8, 25 Other fictional characters based on historical people are Donne's wife Ann More, the diarist Samuel Pepys, and the fisherman Izaak Walton.Holly Faith Nelson. "Milton and Poetry, 1603-1660", ''The Year's Work in English Studies'', Vol. 88, No. 1 (2009) ''Conceit'' has been praised for its "breathtaking ambition".Jeanne Shami. Review of ''Conceit'', ''Wascana Review'', Vol. 41, Nos. 1 & 2 (Spring & Fall 2006), pp. 131-138 It 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 ...

and was nominated for the

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 ...

.Andrea King. "Haunting Love in Anne Hebert's ''Les fous de Bassan'' and Mary Novik's ''Conceit''", ''Canadian Literature'', No. 214 (Fall 2012), pp. 31-45 It was chosen as a Book of the Year by both ''

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 ...

'' and ''

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 ...

''.

Canada Reads ''Canada Reads'' is an annual "battle of the books" competition organized and broadcast by Canada's public broadcaster, the CBC. The program has aired in two distinct editions, the English-language ''Canada Reads'' on CBC Radio One, and the Frenc ...

named ''Conceit'' one of the Top 40 Essential Canadian Novels of the Decade. Novik's novel ''Muse'' (Doubleday Canada, 2013) is the second in a series of works imagining "the circumstances surrounding the creation of venerated works of art: in this case, the love sonnets of the Italian bard, Petrarch."Dana Hansen. ''Muse'' by Mary Novik, ''Quill & Quire'', Vol. 79, No. 7 (September 2013), p. 26 Solange Le Blanc, a fictional narrator inspired by the unidentified mother of Petrarch's children, "is posited as the poet's muse" and "the use of fictional characters interacting with true historical figures is a liberating creative device". The novel "recreates" 14th-century Avignon in the time of the popes, "its corruption and excesses, its beauty and its art."Terri R. Baker. Review of ''Muse'', ''Historical Novels Review'', No. 66 (November 2013)

Bibliography

*''Conceit'' (2007) - *''Muse'' (2013) - *''L'amante del Papa'' (2013) - *''Muse'' (French, 2015) -

References

External links

Writers' Union of Canada Publisher's websiteInfluence Interview, ''The Globe and Mail''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Novik, Mary Canadian women novelists Canadian historical novelists Writers from Victoria, British Columbia Writers from Vancouver 21st-century Canadian women writers 21st-century Canadian novelists Living people Women historical novelists Year of birth missing (living people) Langara College people