Timothy Taylor (born 1963) is a Canadian novelist, short story writer, journalist, and professor of creative writing."A novelist who packs a punch". ''

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 ...

'', April 11, 2006.

Background

Born in

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

, Taylor was raised in

West Vancouver West Vancouver is a district municipality in the province of British Columbia, Canada. A member municipality of the Metro Vancouver Regional District, West Vancouver is to the northwest of the city of Vancouver on the northern side of English Ba ...

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, ...

and later in

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

. He studied economics at the

University of Alberta The University of Alberta, also known as U of A or UAlberta, is a public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford,"A Gentleman of Strathcona – Alexander Cameron Rutherfor ...

and obtained an MBA at the Smith School of Business at Queen's University. During his years in university, Taylor served as an officer in the

Canadian Forces Naval Reserve The Naval Reserve (NAVRES, french: link=no, Réserve navale) is the Primary Reserve component of the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN). The primary mission of the NAVRES is to force generate sailors and teams for Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) operations, in ...

s. After graduation, he worked in banking 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 ancho ...

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 Ca ...

. In 1987 he returned to

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 ...

where he currently resides.

Writing career

Taylor's short story "Doves of Townsend" won the

Journey Prize The Journey Prize (officially called The Writers' Trust of Canada McClelland & Stewart Journey Prize) is a Canadian literary award, presented annually by McClelland and Stewart and the Writers' Trust of Canada for the best short story published by a ...

in 2000."Vancouver writer dominates: One author stands out in two short story collections". ''

Calgary Herald The ''Calgary Herald'' is a daily newspaper published in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Publication began in 1883 as ''The Calgary Herald, Mining and Ranche Advocate, and General Advertiser''. It is owned by the Postmedia Network. History ''The ...

'', February 10, 2001. He had two other stories on the competition's preliminary list of finalists that year, and is to date the only writer ever to have three short stories compete for the prize in the same year. He subsequently served as a judge for the 2003 award. His

debut 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 p ...

, ''

Stanley Park Stanley Park is a public park in British Columbia, Canada that makes up the northwestern half of Vancouver's Downtown Peninsula, surrounded by waters of Burrard Inlet and English Bay. The park borders the neighbourhoods of West End and Coal ...

'', was published by Knopf Canada in 2001. It was nominated for the

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 ...

and the

Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize The Atwood Gibson Writers' Trust Fiction Prize, formerly known as the Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize, is a Canadian literary award presented by the Writers' Trust of Canada after an annual juried competition of works submitted by publishers. A ...

, as well as both the Vancouver and BC Book Awards. It was later chosen to be the 2004 title for One Book, One Vancouver. In 2007, ''Stanley Park'' was selected for the annual ''

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 ...

'' competition, where it was championed by musician

Jim Cuddy James Gordon Cuddy, (born December 2, 1955) is a Canadian singer-songwriter primarily associated with the band Blue Rodeo. Early life and education Cuddy was born in Toronto, Ontario. His Mother Jean Cuddy was an English teacher at Monarch Pa ...

. ''Stanley Park'' was followed a year later by ''Silent Cruise'', a collection of eight stories and one novella which was a runner-up for the

Danuta Gleed Literary Award The Danuta Gleed Literary Award is a Canadian national literary prize, awarded since 1998. It recognizes the best debut short fiction collection by a Canadian author in English language. The annual prize was founded by John Gleed in honour of his ...

. His second novel ''Story House'' was published in 2006 and made Canadian bestseller lists. His third novel, ''The Blue Light Project'', also a bestseller in Canada, was released in 2011. Taylor also writes nonfiction, particularly on food and wine topics. He's been a contributing editor at ''Vancouver Magazine'' and a regular contributor at '' EnRoute'', ''

The Walrus ''The Walrus'' is an independent, non-profit Canadian media organization. It is multi-platform and produces an 8-issue-per-year magazine and online editorial content that includes current affairs, fiction, poetry, and podcasts, a national s ...

'', and ''Eighteen Bridges''. He has also written for ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

'', ''Food & Wine'', ''Western Living'', ''The Vancouver Review'', '' Toro'', '' Saturday Night'', ''

Adbusters The Adbusters Media Foundation is a Canadian-based Nonprofit organization, not-for-profit, Environmentalism, pro-environment organization founded in 1989 by Kalle Lasn and Bill Schmalz in Vancouver, British Columbia. Adbusters describes itself ...

'', the ''

National Post The ''National Post'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet newspaper available in several cities in central and western Canada. The paper is the flagship publication of Postmedia Network and is published Mondays through Saturdays, with ...

'' and the ''

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 ...

''. He has published the non-fiction books ''The Cranky Connoisseur'' (2011) and ''Foodville'' (2014). In 2013, Taylor took a position with 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 ...

's Creative Writing Program, where he now serves as an associate professor. Taylor's newest book is the novel ''The Rule of Stephens'', published in 2018."When worldviews collide: Timothy Taylor's new novel explores the limits of science and rationality"
'' Q'', March 14, 2018.

Bibliography

Novels

* ''

''. Toronto: Knopf Canada, 2001. * ''Story House''. Toronto: Knopf Canada, 2006. * ''The Blue Light Project''. Toronto: Knopf Canada, 2011. * ''The Rule of Stephens.'' Toronto: Doubleday Canada, 2018.

Short stories

* ''Silent Cruise'' Toronto: Vintage Canada, 2002.

Nonfiction

* ''The Internet Handbook for Canadian Lawyers'' (with M. Drew Jackson): Carswell, 1997. * ''The Cranky Connoisseur'': New Word City. 2011. * ''Foodville'': Nonvella. 2014

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor, Timothy 1963 births Living people Canadian male novelists Canadian male short story writers People from West Vancouver Writers from British Columbia Writers from Edmonton Queen's University at Kingston alumni University of Alberta alumni 20th-century Canadian short story writers 21st-century Canadian short story writers 20th-century Canadian male writers 21st-century Canadian male writers 21st-century Canadian non-fiction writers Canadian food writers University of British Columbia faculty Canadian male non-fiction writers