Giles Blunt (born 1952) is a Canadian novelist, poet, and
screenwriter. His first novel, ''Cold Eye'', was a psychological thriller set in the New York art world, which was made into the French movie ''Les Couleurs du diable'' (Allain Jessua, 1997).
Career
Blunt is also the author of the John Cardinal novels, set in the small city of Algonquin Bay, in
Northern Ontario
Northern Ontario is a primary geographic and quasi-administrative region of the Canadian province of Ontario, the other primary region being Southern Ontario. Most of the core geographic region is located on part of the Superior Geological Pro ...
. Blunt was born in
Windsor, Ontario
Windsor is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, on the south bank of the Detroit River directly across from Detroit, Michigan, United States. Geographically located within but administratively independent of Essex County, it is the southe ...
, and grew up in
North Bay; Algonquin Bay is North Bay thinly disguised — for example, Blunt retains the names of major streets and the two lakes (Trout Lake and Lake Nipissing) that the town sits between, the physical layout of the two places is the same, and he describes Algonquin Bay as being in the same geographical location as North Bay.
The first Cardinal story, ''
Forty Words for Sorrow'', won the British
Crime Writers' Association Silver Dagger, and the second, ''The Delicate Storm'', won the Crime Writers of Canada's
Arthur Ellis Award
The Crime Writers of Canada Awards of Excellence, formerly known as the Arthur Ellis Awards, are a group of Canadian literary awards, presented annually by the Crime Writers of Canada for the best Canadian crime and mystery writing published in th ...
for best novel, as did the sixth, "Until the Night." The 2010 John Cardinal novel ''Crime Machine'' was described as "a richly plotted work by one of Canada's best mystery novelists."
Blunt also has written ''No Such Creature,'' a "road novel" set in the American southwest, and ''Breaking Lorca'', which is set in a clandestine jail in El Salvador in the 1980s. Twice nominated for the Dublin IMPAC award, his novels have been compared to the work of Ian Rankin and Cormac McCarthy.
Blunt's television credits include episodes of ''
Law & Order'', ''
Street Legal,'' and ''
Night Heat
''Night Heat'' is a Canadian police crime drama series that aired on both CTV in Canada and CBS in the United States. Original episodes were broadcast from 1985 to 1989. ''Night Heat'' was the first Canadian original drama series that was also ...
'' plus four series of ''
Cardinal'', a series adapted from his novels.
Blunt received the honorary degree of Doctor of Education on June 12, 2014, from
Nipissing University
, mottoeng = Spirit of Integrity
, established =
, former_names = Northeastern University (1960-1967), Nipissing College (1967-1992)
, type = Public University
, academic_affiliation = COU, CVU, Universities Canada
, endowment ...
.
Bibliography
John Cardinal series
* 2000 ''
Forty Words for Sorrow'' Random House Canada
* 2002 ''The Delicate Storm'' Random House Canada
* 2005 ''Black Fly Season'' Random House Canada
* 2006 ''By the Time You Read This'' (also published as ''The Fields of Grief'') Random House Canada
* 2010 ''Crime Machine'' Random House Canada
* 2012 ''Until the Night'' Random House Canada
Other books
* 1989 ''Cold Eye'' Avon Books, US & Canada (paperback)
* 2008 ''No Such Creature'' Random House Canada
* 2009 ''Breaking Lorca'' Random House Canada
* 2015 ''The Hesitation Cut'' Random House Canada
* 2016 ''Vanishing Act'' Exile Editions (poems)
Screenwriting credits
Other
References
External links
*
Online interview from CBC's Words at Large*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blunt, Giles
1952 births
Living people
Canadian mystery writers
Canadian male novelists
People from North Bay, Ontario
Writers from Windsor, Ontario
Canadian male screenwriters
20th-century Canadian novelists
21st-century Canadian novelists
20th-century Canadian male writers
21st-century Canadian male writers
20th-century Canadian screenwriters
21st-century Canadian screenwriters