Sonja Skarstedt (October 2, 1960 – July 31, 2009) was a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writte ...

short story A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest ...

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...

writer, painter and

illustrator An illustrator is an artist who specializes in enhancing writing or elucidating concepts by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text or idea. The illustration may be intended to clarify complicat ...

. Born in

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Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

, she was the founder and former editor of the literary magazine '' Zymergy, 1987-1991'', and founder of Empyreal Press, 1990. She graduated from

McGill University McGill University (french: link=no, Université McGill) is an English-language public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter granted by King George IV,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill Universit ...

with a BA in English Literature in 1982. She was married to the artist and comic book illustrator

Geof Isherwood Geof Isherwood (born December 4, 1960) is an American painter, sculptor and comic book illustrator. Career Much of Isherwood's early work was done for Marvel Comics, including such titles as ''Silver Surfer'', ''Conan the Barbarian'', '' Darede ...

. In 2008, Skarstedt began the first of over thirty short film productions on

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's Skarwood Channel. Skarstedt died July 31, 2009 at the age of 48, 26 months after diagnosis and treatment for ovarian cancer.Rob McLennan's Blog http://robmclennan.blogspot.ca/2009/08/sonja-skarstedt-d-july-31-2009.html

Bibliography

Poetry

*''Mythographies'' — 1990 *''A Demolition Symphony'' — 1995 *''Beautiful Chaos'' — 2000 *''In the House of the Sun'' — 2005

Drama

*''Saint Francis of Esplanade'' — 2001

Fiction

*''12 X 93'' — 1993 (with

Brian Busby Brian John Busby (born August 29, 1962) is a Canadian literary historian and anthologist. Born and raised in Montreal, Quebec, he attended John Abbott College and Concordia University. Busby began his writing career writing daytime soap operas and ...

& Robert Edison Sandiford)

Anthologies edited

*''Eternal Conversations: Remembering Louis Dudek'' — 2003 (with Aileen Collins & Michael Gnarowski)

External links

References

1960 births 2009 deaths Artists from Montreal Canadian people of Norwegian descent Canadian women short story writers Canadian women dramatists and playwrights Canadian women poets Canadian women painters McGill University alumni Writers from Montreal 20th-century Canadian painters 21st-century Canadian painters 20th-century Canadian poets 21st-century Canadian poets 20th-century Canadian dramatists and playwrights 21st-century Canadian dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Canadian women writers 21st-century Canadian women writers 20th-century Canadian short story writers 21st-century Canadian short story writers {{Canada-poet-stub