Nino Pio Ricci (born 1959) is a Canadian

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living writing novels and other fiction, while others asp ...

who lives in

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 anch ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

.Nino Ricci's
entry in

The Canadian Encyclopedia ''The Canadian Encyclopedia'' (TCE; french: L'Encyclopédie canadienne) is the national encyclopedia of Canada, published online by the Toronto-based historical organization Historica Canada, with the support of Canadian Heritage. Available f ...

He was born in Leamington,

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

immigrants, Virginio and Amelia Ricci, from the province of

Isernia Isernia () or, in Pliny and later writers, ''Eserninus'', or in the Antonine Itinerary, ''Serni''. is a town and ''comune'' in the southern Italian region of Molise, and the capital of province of Isernia. Geography Situated on a rocky crest ...

Molise it, Molisano (man) it, Molisana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 ...

. Ricci received a B.A. in English literature from

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 ...

, Toronto in 1981 and a Master's in Creative Writing from Concordia University, Montreal in 1987. Ricci has travelled in Europe and Africa, where, in

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

, he taught English literature and language in a high school for two years. Ricci's

first novel A debut novel is the first novel a novelist publishes. Debut novels are often the author's first opportunity to make an impact on the publishing industry, and thus the success or failure of a debut novel can affect the ability of the author to pu ...

Lives of the Saints A hagiography (; ) is a biography of a saint or an ecclesiastical leader, as well as, by extension, an adulatory and idealized biography of a founder, saint, monk, nun or icon in any of the world's religions. Early Christian hagiographies might ...

'' was a critical and commercial success. It won the

Books in Canada First Novel Award The Amazon.ca First Novel Award, formerly the Books in Canada First Novel Award, is a Canadian literary award, co-presented by Amazon.ca and ''The Walrus'' to the best first novel in English published the previous year by a citizen or resident o ...

, the 1990 Governor General's Award for Fiction and a Betty Trask Award. It forms a trilogy with Ricci's next two novels, ''In a Glass House'' (1993) and ''Where She Has Gone'' (1997). Ricci served as one of the directors of

PEN Canada PEN Canada is one of the 148 centres of PEN International. Founded in 1926, it has a membership of over 1,000 writers and supporters who campaign on behalf of writers around the world who are persecuted, imprisoned and exiled for exercising their ...

from 1990 to 1996, and as president during 1995–96. He was the writer-in-residence at the

University of Windsor , mottoeng = Goodness, Discipline and Knowledge , established = , academic_affiliations = CARL, COU, Universities Canada , former_names = Assumption College (1857-1956)Assumption University of Windsor (1956-1963) , type = Public universi ...

for the 2005–06 academic year.

Awards and nominations

*1990 Governor General's Award for Fiction for ''

'' *1990 Books in Canada First Novel Award for ''

'' *1997 Giller Prize (shortlist for ''Where She Has Gone'') *2002 Trillium Book Award (co-winner for ''Testament'') *2006 Alistair MacLeod Award for Literary Achievement *2008 Giller Prize (longlist for ''The Origin of Species'') *2008 Governor General's Award for Fiction for ''The Origin of Species'' *2011 Member of the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the cen ...

Works

Novels

*''

'' (1990) (inspiration for a TV miniseries directed by

Jerry Ciccoritti Jerry Ciccoritti (born August 5, 1956) is a Canadian film, television and theatre director. His ability to work in a number of genres and for many mediums has made him one of the most successful directors in the country. Biography Born in To ...

) *''In a Glass House'' (1993) *''Where She Has Gone'' (1997) *''Testament'' (2002) *''The Origin of Species'' (2008) *''Sleep'' (2015)

Non-Fiction

*''Roots and Frontiers'' (essays and memoir) (2003) *''Pierre Elliott Trudeau'' (biography) (2009)

References

External links

Official Web site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ricci, Nino 1959 births Canadian male novelists Canadian people of Italian descent Living people Governor General's Award-winning fiction writers Members of the Order of Canada People from Leamington, Ontario Writers from Ontario York University alumni Concordia University alumni Amazon.ca First Novel Award winners