Marianne Letitia Ackerman (born 1952) is a Canadian novelist, playwright, and journalist. ''Mankind and Other Stories of Women'', her fifth work of prose fiction, was published by Guernica Editions in 2016. Her play ''Triplex Nervosa'' premiered at Centaur Theatre in April 2015. ''Triplex Nervosa Trilogy'' was published by Guernica in 2020.

Life and career

Marianne Ackerman was born in

Belleville, Ontario Belleville is a city in Ontario, Canada situated on the eastern end of Lake Ontario, located at the mouth of the Moira River and on the Bay of Quinte. Belleville is between Ottawa and Toronto, along the Quebec City-Windsor Corridor. Its populat ...

and grew up on a farm in Prince Edward County.http://www.fionaackerman.com She received a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four year ...

in Political Science (Honours) from Carleton University in 1976. She spent a year at the

Sorbonne Sorbonne may refer to: * Sorbonne (building), historic building in Paris, which housed the University of Paris and is now shared among multiple universities. *the University of Paris (c. 1150 – 1970) *one of its components or linked institution, ...

in Paris studying French language and culture before receiving a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Th ...

in Drama from the University of Toronto in 1981. From the early 1980s, Ackerman lived in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...

, where she worked as a freelance journalist and as theatre critic for the ''

Montreal Gazette The ''Montreal Gazette'', formerly titled ''The Gazette'', is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Three other daily English-language newspapers shuttered at various times during the second half of th ...

'', winning the Nathan Cohen Award for theatre criticism. In the late 1980s, she founded a bilingual theatre company, Theatre 1774, which staged her plays ''L'Affaire Tartuffe'', ''Woman by a Window'', ''Céleste'' and ''Blue Valentine'', as well as her adaptations of

August Strindberg Johan August Strindberg (, ; 22 January 184914 May 1912) was a Swedish playwright, novelist, poet, essayist and painter.Lane (1998), 1040. A prolific writer who often drew directly on his personal experience, Strindberg wrote more than sixty p ...

's ''Miss Julie'' and

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

's ''Measure for Measure''. The company also staged ''Echo'', a play developed by

Robert Lepage Robert Lepage (born December 12, 1957) is a Canadian playwright, actor, film director, and stage director. Early life Lepage was raised in Quebec City. At age five, he was diagnosed with a rare form of alopecia, which caused complete hair l ...

from

Ann Diamond Ann Diamond is a Canadian poet, short story writer, and novelist. Diamond's poetic tale, ''A Nun's Diary'', was adapted for theatre by Robert LePage and presented in Montreal and Toronto at Theatre Passe Muraille.Jane Koustas. Robert Lepage ...

's book of poetry, ''A Nun's Story, ''co-produced with Theatre Passe Muraille. She and Lepage collaborated on ''Alienouidet'', a play about the actor Edmund Kean in Canada, directed by Lepage at the NAC. ''Venus of Dublin,'' a distilled version of the story, premiered at the Centaur Theatre in 2000, and has since been produced several times. After leaving Theatre 1774 and Quebec in 1997, she lived in the hamlet of La Roque Alric, France, moving back to Montreal in 2004.McArthur and Company web site
/ref> Her freelance articles, essays, reviews and criticism have appeared in ''

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 ...

'', ''

The Montreal Gazette The ''Montreal Gazette'', formerly titled ''The Gazette'', is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Three other daily English-language newspapers shuttered at various times during the second half of th ...

'', ''

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 ...

'', ''The Canadian Theatre Review'', ''

The Guardian Weekly ''The Guardian Weekly'' is an international English-language news magazine based in London, UK. It is one of the world's oldest international news publications and has readers in more than 170 countries. Editorial content is drawn from its sis ...

'', ''En Route Magazine'' and other publications. She has taught courses in playwrighting and the history of Quebec theatre at McGill University. Ackerman currently lives in Montreal. She is married to Gwyn Campbell, a professor of economic history at McGill University, and has a daughter.

Prizes and honours

*1985, 1988, 1995, Nathan Cohen National Award for Theatre Criticism *1989 Jurors Award, Quebec Drama Festival, for ''Blue Valentine'' *1988 Best New Play Award, Quebec Drama Festival, for ''Snakeprints'' *1989 King's Theatre New Play Award, for ''Grande Ideas'' *1998 Nominee, Best New Play, Best Anglophone Production, Académie Québécoise du Théâtre, for ''Blue Valentine'' *1995 Best English-Language Production Award, Académie Québécoise du Théâtre, for ''Sliding in All Directions''

Bibliography

Novels and Short Stories

*''Jump'' (2000) McArthur & Company *''Matters of Hart'' (2005) McArthur & Company *''Piers' Desire'' (2010) McArthur & Company *''Holy Fools + 2 Stories'' (2014) Guernica Editions * ''Mankind and Other Stories of Women'' (2016) Guernica Editions

Plays

*''Snakeprints'' (1988) *''Night Driving'' (1989) *''Grande Ideas'' (1989) *''Sharansky'' (1989) *''Alanienouidet'' (co-written with Robert Lepage) (1992) *''Woman By A Window'' (1992) *''L'Affaire Tartuffe, or the Garrison Officers Rehearse Molière'' (1993) *''Sliding in All Directions'' (co-writer) (1995) *''Celeste'' (1995) *''Blue Valentine'' (1996) *''Venus of Dublin'' (2000) *''Triplex Nervosa'', ''Rooftop Eden, Famously'' (2015)

References

External links

*
"Ackerman, Marianne"
''Canadian Theatre Encyclopedia''. {{DEFAULTSORT:Ackerman, Marianne 1952 births Living people 20th-century Canadian dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Canadian women writers 21st-century Canadian dramatists and playwrights 21st-century Canadian novelists 21st-century Canadian women writers Anglophone Quebec people Canadian expatriate writers Canadian expatriates in France Canadian women dramatists and playwrights Canadian women journalists Canadian women non-fiction writers Canadian women novelists Carleton University alumni Journalists from Montreal Journalists from Ontario University of Paris alumni University of Toronto alumni Writers from Montreal Writers from Belleville, Ontario