Gayla Reid (born 12 May 1945) is an Australian-born Canadian writer.

Biography

Born and raised in

Armidale Armidale is a city in the Northern Tablelands, New South Wales, Australia. Armidale had a population of 24,504 as of June 2018. Estimated resident population, 30 June 2018. It is the administrative centre for the Northern Tablelands region. I ...

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, Reid was educated at the

University of New England University of New England may refer to: * University of New England (Australia), in New South Wales, with about 18,000 students * University of New England (United States), in Biddeford, Maine, with about 3,000 students See also *New England Colle ...

Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public research university located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton encompasses seven teaching and research colleges, in addition to several national academies an ...

and the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a 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 among the top thr ...

. Remaining in Canada, she was active in the country's

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

movement, editing the newspaper '' Kinesis'' and the literary journal '' Room of One's Own'' and teaching

women's studies Women's studies is an academic field that draws on feminist and interdisciplinary methods to place women's lives and experiences at the center of study, while examining social and cultural constructs of gender; systems of privilege and oppress ...

at Vancouver Community College. She began publishing fiction in the early 1990s, winning the Journey Prize in 1993 for her short story "Sister Doyle's Men". In 1994, she published her first short story collection, ''To Be There With You'', which was a winner of 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 writer Ethel W ...

in 1995. ''All the Seas of the World'' and ''Closer Apart'' were finalists for the Ethel Wilson fiction prize in 2001 and 2002. ''Come from Afar'' was published to critical acclaim in 2011. According to jury citation, Gayla Reid stands out for her stunningly beautiful language and her ability to depict places such as Canada, Australia, Vietnam etc. She also described a state of mind, an evocation of a particular character's relationship to land, people and time. Her fiction combines the poetry of language and observation with the force of highly-accomplished and compelling narrative. Reid is represented by the Carolyn Swayze Literary Agency.

Awards

* 1993, Journey Prize * 1995,

* 2005,

Marian Engel Award Marian may refer to: People * Mari people, a Finno-Ugric ethnic group in Russia * Marian (given name), a list of people with the given name * Marian (surname), a list of people so named Places * Marian, Iran (disambiguation) * Marian, Queensla ...

Selected bibliography

* ''To Be There With You.'' Vancouver: Douglas and McIntyre, 1994. * ''All the Seas of the World.'' Toronto: Stoddart, 2001. * ''Closer Apart.'' Toronto: Stoddart, 2002. * ''Come from Afar.'' Toronto: Comorant, 2011.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Reid, Gayla 1945 births People from Armidale 20th-century Australian novelists 20th-century Canadian novelists 21st-century Australian novelists 21st-century Canadian novelists Australian feminist writers Australian women novelists Australian women short story writers Canadian feminist writers Canadian women novelists Canadian women short story writers Living people University of New England (Australia) alumni Australian National University alumni University of British Columbia alumni 20th-century Canadian women writers 20th-century Canadian short story writers 21st-century Canadian short story writers 21st-century Canadian women writers 20th-century Australian women