Meredith Quartermain, née Yearsley (born October 1, 1950) is a Canadian poet, novelist and story writer who 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 British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

, Canada.

Life

Quartermain was born in

Toronto, Ontario 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 ...

and lived in a variety of locations in childhood before her family moved to Argenta,

. She graduated from high school in Argenta, and after working for several years, attended 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 ...

, where she met her future husband Peter Quartermain. She obtained a bachelor of arts in English literature in 1976, a Master of Arts in English language in 1978 and a bachelor of laws in 1989 from the University of British Columbia. During these years she taught English at UBC and the

British Columbia Institute of Technology The British Columbia Institute of Technology (also referred to as BCIT), is a public polytechnic institute in Burnaby, British Columbia. The technical institute has five campuses located in the Metro Vancouver region, with its main campus in Burn ...

, worked as a computer systems analyst and freelanced as a journalist and technical writer. This work included a contract in 1983 which led to the publication of a history of York House School, ''Not for Ourselves Alone''. From 1990 to 1993, she practiced law in a Vancouver litigation firm. In 1993 she became an English instructor at

Capilano College Capilano University (CapU) is a teaching-focused public university based in North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, located on the slopes of the North Shore Mountains, with programming that also serves the Sea-to-Sky Corridor and the Sunshin ...

. During the 1980s and early 1990s she wrote novels, poems and journals but published nothing. In 1996 her first book ''Terms of Sale'' appeared, and in 2000 she left her teaching post to write full-time and run Nomados Literary Publishers with her husband. She won the

Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize The Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize, established in 1986, is awarded annually to the best collection of poetry by a resident of British Columbia, Canada. One of the BC and Yukon Book Prizes, the award was originally known as the B.C. Prize for Poetry. ...

in 2006 for her collection ''Vancouver Walking'', and was nominated for 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 A short stor ...

in 2011 for ''Recipes from the Red Planet''. In 2012, she won the Best Essay award from ''

Canadian Literature Canadian literature is the literature of a multicultural country, written in languages including Canadian English, Canadian French, Indigenous languages, and many others such as Canadian Gaelic. Influences on Canadian writers are broad both ge ...

'' for her critical essay "Tang's Bathtub: Innovative Work by Four Canadian Poets". Quartermain was the 2012 writer in residence at the

Vancouver Public Library Vancouver Public Library (VPL) is the public library system for the city of Vancouver, British Columbia. In 2013, VPL had more than 6.9 million visits with patrons borrowing nearly 9.5 million items including: books, ebooks, CDs, DVDs, video game ...

."Quartermain named writer in residence". ''

Vancouver Sun The ''Vancouver Sun'', also known as the ''Sun'', is a daily broadsheet newspaper based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The newspaper is currently published by the Pacific Newspaper Group, a division of Postmedia Network. Published s ...

'', August 14, 2012. In 2014 she joined the

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 ...

writer's studio program as poetry mentor.

Works

*''Not For Ourselves Alone: 50 Years At York House School, 1932-1982'' (Vancouver: York House School, 1983) *''Terms of Sale'' (Meow, 1996) *''Abstract Relations'' (Keefer Street, 1998) *''Spatial Relations'' (Diaeresis, 2001) *''Wanders'' ith Robin Blaser(Nomados, 2002) *''A Thousand Mornings'' (Nomados, 2002) *''The Eye-Shift of Surface'' (Greenboathouse Books, 2003) *''Vancouver Walking'' (

NeWest Press NeWest Press is a Canadian publishing company. Established in Edmonton, Alberta, in 1977,George Melnyk, ''The Literary History of Alberta Volume Two: From the End of the War to the End of the Century''. University of Alberta Press, 1999. . p. 173 ...

, 2005) *''Matter'' (BookThug, 2008) *''Nightmarker'' (NeWest, 2008) *''Recipes from the Red Planet'' (BookThug, 2011) *''Rupert's Land'' (NeWest Press, 2013) *''I, Bartleby'' (Talonbooks, 2015)

Anthologies

*''Moosehead Anthology'' 10 (2005) *''Unfinished Business: Photographing Vancouver Streets 1955 to 1985 (West Coast Line'' 47, 2005) *''On Literature and Science'' (Four Courts Press, 2007) *''A Verse Map of Vancouver'' (Anvil Press, 2008) *''Rocksalt: An Anthology of Contemporary B.C. Poetry'' (Mother Tongue, 2008) *''Best Canadian Poetry 2008''. (Tightrope Books, 2009) *''Force Field: 77 Women Poets of British Columbia'' (Mother Tongue, 2013)

References

External links

Meredith Quartermain
{{DEFAULTSORT:Quartermain, Meredith Canadian women poets Canadian women novelists 20th-century Canadian novelists 20th-century Canadian poets 21st-century Canadian novelists 21st-century Canadian poets Canadian women short story writers Writers from Toronto Writers from Vancouver 1950 births Living people 20th-century Canadian women writers 21st-century Canadian women writers Academic staff of Capilano University 20th-century Canadian short story writers 21st-century Canadian short story writers