William Herbert Deverell (born March 4, 1937) is a Canadian novelist, activist, and criminal lawyer. He is one of Canada's best-known novelists, whose first book, ''Needles'', which drew on his experiences as a criminal lawyer, won the McClelland & Stewart $50,000 Seal Award. In 1997 he won the Dashiell Hammett Prize for literary excellence in crime writing in North America for ''Trial of Passion''. That book also won the 1998

Arthur Ellis Award The Crime Writers of Canada Awards of Excellence, formerly known as the Arthur Ellis Awards, are a group of Canadians, Canadian literary awards, presented annually by the Crime Writers of Canada for the best Canadian crime and Mystery fiction, mys ...

for best Canadian crime novel, as did ''April Fool'' in 2003. ''Trial of Passion'' launched his first crime series, featuring the classically trained, self-doubting Arthur Beauchamp, QC, a series that continued with ''April Fool'', ''Kill All the Judges'', ''Snow Job'', ''I'll See You in My Dreams'', ''Sing a Worried Song'', ''Whipped'', and ''Stung''. Deverell's nineteen published novels also include ''High Crimes'', ''Mecca'', ''The Dance of Shiva'', ''Platinum Blues'', ''Mindfield'', ''Kill All the Lawyers'', ''Street Legal'', ''Slander'', ''The Laughing Falcon'', and ''Mind Games''. He is the author of the true crime book ''A Life on Trial – the Case of Robert Frisbee'', based on a notorious murder trial which he defended. He has achieved recognition for suffusing his novels with satire. Both ''Kill All the Judges'' and ''Snow Job'' were shortlisted for Canada's

Stephen Leacock Award The Stephen Leacock Memorial Medal for Humour, also known as the Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour or just the Leacock Medal, is an annual literary award presented for the best book of humour written in English by a Canadians, Canadian writer, publis ...

. ''Snow Job'', a political satire, was named in ''

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 ...

'' as one of the top crime books worldwide in 2009. He has twice been invited as guest of honour at Canada's main crime writer's venue, Bloody Words, and received the Best Canadian Crime Writer award at the Scene of the Crime Festival in Ontario. Deverell's film work includes the screenplay for the feature film of ''Mindfield'', released in 1990. He also wrote the screenplay ''Shellgame'' for

CBC Television CBC Television (also known as CBC TV) is a Canadian English-language broadcast television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster. The network began operations on September 6, 1952. Its French-l ...

, which served as the pilot for CBC's '' Street Legal'', the longest-running one-hour scripted drama in the history of Canadian television until its 20-year record was surpassed by ''Heartlands 139th season in 2015. He has authored several one-hour radio plays performed by the

CBC Radio CBC Radio is the English-language radio operations of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The CBC operates a number of radio networks serving different audiences and programming niches, all of which (regardless of language) are outlined below ...

in the ''Scales of Justice'' series and numerous film and television scripts. Early in his career, Deverell worked as a journalist with the

Canadian Press The Canadian Press (CP; french: La Presse canadienne, ) is a Canadian national news agency headquartered in Toronto, Ontario. Established in 1917 as a vehicle for the time's Canadian newspapers to exchange news and information, The Canadian Pre ...

in Montreal 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 ...

'', and while working his way through law school at the

University of Saskatchewan A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

as night editor of the

Saskatoon Star-Phoenix ''The StarPhoenix'' is a daily newspaper that serves Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada, and is a part of Postmedia Network. The ''StarPhoenix'' puts out six editions each week and publishes one weekly, ''Bridges''. It is also part of the canada.com ...

. He hold a D. Juris from that university, where he has been an invited lecturer in the Shumiatcher series on Law and Literature and was honored at its College of Arts and Science's centenary in 2009 as one of its 100 alumni of influence. In October 2011 he was awarded an honorary Doctor of Letters from Simon Fraser University, and five years later he received a D. Litt from the University of Saskatchewan, which holds his archives. Among his learned lectures have been ''Obscenity, Hate, and Artistic Freedom'' at the Vancouver Institute, and ''A Writer's Life'' in the

Writers' Trust of Canada The Writers' Trust of Canada (french: La Société d'encouragement aux écrivains du Canada) is a registered charity which provides financial support to Canadian writers. Founded by Margaret Atwood, Pierre Berton, Graeme Gibson, Margaret Laure ...

Margaret Laurence series. Over twenty years as a Vancouver lawyer, he was counsel in more than a thousand trials, including civil rights, labour, and criminal cases and thirty murder trials, either as defender or prosecutor. He is a founder and honorary director of the

British Columbia Civil Liberties Association The British Columbia Civil Liberties Association (BCCLA) is an autonomous, non-partisan charitable society that seeks to "promote, defend, sustain, and extend civil liberties and human rights." It works towards achieving this purpose through li ...

. In 1991-92, he served as visiting professor in the Creative Writing Department at the

University of Victoria The University of Victoria (UVic or Victoria) is a public research university located in the municipalities of Oak Bay and Saanich, British Columbia, Canada. The university traces its roots to Victoria College, the first post-secondary instit ...

. In 1994, he served as chair of the

Writers' Union of Canada The Writers' Union of Canada (TWUC), founded in 1973, describes itself as supporting "the country's authors by advocating for their rights, freedoms, and economic well-being." Its members are professional writers who must have published at least o ...

, and again in 1999, and has been named a Life Member of that Union. He is also a life member of the

Writers Guild of Canada The Writers Guild of Canada is an organization representing more than 2,500 professional writers working in film, television, radio, and digital media production in Canada. Members of the Guild write dramatic TV series, feature films, Movies of th ...

, and a member of

PEN International PEN International (known as International PEN until 2010) is a worldwide association of writers, founded in London in 1921 to promote friendship and intellectual co-operation among writers everywhere. The association has autonomous Internationa ...

and

Crime Writers of Canada {{primary sources, date=January 2015 Crime Writers of Canada (CWC) is a national, non-profit organization, founded in 1982 by Derrick Murdock and other professional crime writers. Its mandate is to promote crime writing in Canada and to raise the p ...

. An environmental activist, he is also a member of

Greenpeace Greenpeace is an independent global campaigning network, founded in Canada in 1971 by Irving Stowe and Dorothy Stowe, immigrant environmental activists from the United States. Greenpeace states its goal is to "ensure the ability of the Earth t ...

Ecojustice Canada Ecojustice Canada (formerly Sierra Legal Defence Fund prior to September 2007), is a Canadian non-profit environmental law organization that provides funding to lawyers to use litigation to defend and protect the environment. Ecojustice is Cana ...

, and the

Green Party of Canada The Green Party of Canada (french: Parti vert du Canada) is a federal political party in Canada, founded in 1983 with a focus on green politics. The Green Party is currently the fifth largest party in the House of Commons by seat count. It el ...

. He lives on

Pender Island, British Columbia Pender Island ( Saanich: ) is one of the Southern Gulf Islands located in the Gulf of Georgia, British Columbia, Canada. Pender Island is approximately in area and is home to about 2,250 permanent residents, as well as a large seasonal populati ...

References

External links

Official websiteAudio InterviewAuthor interview with Canadian Living
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Deverell, William 1937 births Canadian male novelists Canadian crime fiction writers Canadian mystery writers Living people Canadian television writers 20th-century Canadian novelists 21st-century Canadian novelists Canadian radio writers Writers from Regina, Saskatchewan Canadian male screenwriters 20th-century Canadian male writers 21st-century Canadian male writers 20th-century Canadian screenwriters 21st-century Canadian screenwriters Canadian male television writers