Peter Behrens (born 1954) is a Canadian-American

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living writing novels and other fiction, while others aspire ...

screenwriter A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based. ...

and

short story A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest ...

writer. 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 ...

, '' The Law of Dreams'', won the 2006 Governor General's Award for English fiction,"Peter Behrens"
''

The Canadian Encyclopedia ''The Canadian Encyclopedia'' (TCE; french: L'Encyclopédie canadienne) is the national encyclopedia of Canada, published online by the Toronto-based historical organization Historica Canada, with the support of Canadian Heritage. Available f ...

'', October 26, 2011. and was shortlisted for the Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize, the

Commonwealth Writers' Prize Commonwealth Foundation presented a number of prizes between 1987 and 2011. The main award was called the Commonwealth Writers' Prize and was composed of two prizes: the Best Book Prize (overall and regional) was awarded from 1987 to 2011; the Best ...

, the CBA Libris Award for Fiction Book of the Year, and the Amazon.ca First Novel Award.

Profile

Behrens was born and raised 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- ...

, Quebec, where he studied at

Lower Canada College Lower Canada College (LCC) is an English-language elementary and secondary level independent school located in Montreal, Quebec. The school offers education from Kindergarten through Grade 11. Students graduate from Grade 11 and then have the o ...

Concordia University Concordia University (French: ''Université Concordia'') is a public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1974 following the merger of Loyola College and Sir George Williams University, Concordia is one of the t ...

and

McGill University McGill University (french: link=no, Université McGill) is an English-language public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter granted by King George IV,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill Univer ...

. He was a Fellow of the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, Massachusetts, and held a Stegner Fellowship at

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is conside ...

. His earliest short fiction can be found in ''Best Canadian Stories 1978'' and ''Best Canadian Stories 1979'', and in his debut short story collection, ''Night Driving'' (1987). He subsequently worked in Hollywood as a screenwriter; though he continued to publish short stories and essays in Canadian and American magazines, he did not publish another book until ''The Law of Dreams'', his novel of a young man driven into exile during Ireland's Great Famine. The novel was rejected by 25 publishers in the United States before being accepted by Steerforth Press. The Law of Dreams was published by

House of Anansi House of Anansi Press is a Canadian publishing company, founded in 1967 by writers Dennis Lee and Dave Godfrey. The company specializes in finding and developing new Canadian writers of literary fiction, poetry, and non-fiction. History Anansi ...

in Canada and was published in nine languages around the world, with the US trade paperback edition published by Random House He followed up with the novels ''The O'Briens'' (2011) and ''Carry Me'' (2016)."A Love Story Rudely Interrupted By History"
NPR, March 20, 2016. While researching ''Carry Me'', Behrens held a fellowship at the Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study (NIAS). ''Carry Me'' won the 2017 Vine Award for Canadian Jewish Literature. Behrens was a 2015–16 fellow of Harvard University's Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study. In fall 2017 he was the Mordecai Richer Writer in Residence at his alma mater, Concordia University (Montreal). In 2013 Behrens was Distinguished Visiting Writer at Wichita State University. He is an adjunct professor at Queen's University of Charlotte where he teaches in the MFA Creative Writing Program. Behrens has guest-lectured at UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television and Concordia University's School of Cinema, and taught screenwriting at

Simon Fraser University Simon Fraser University (SFU) is a public research university in British Columbia, Canada, with three campuses, all in Greater Vancouver: Burnaby (main campus), Surrey, and Vancouver. The main Burnaby campus on Burnaby Mountain, located ...

's Praxis Screenwriters' Workshop. Behrens began his screenwriting career working in collaboration with the producer Jerome Hellman. Behrens has several film and television credits as writer and story consultant. He is a member of the

Writers Guild of America The Writers Guild of America is the joint efforts of two different US labor unions representing TV and film writers: * The Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE), headquartered in New York City and affiliated with the AFL–CIO * The Writers Gu ...

(West) and 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 o ...

. He has guest-lectured at UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television and taught at

(Vancouver), the

University of Southern Maine The University of Southern Maine (USM) is a public university with campuses in Portland, Gorham and Lewiston in the U.S. state of Maine. It is the southernmost of the University of Maine System. It was founded as two separate state universit ...

Colorado College Colorado College is a private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Colorado Springs, Colorado. It was founded in 1874 by Thomas Nelson Haskell in his daughter's memory. The college enrolls approxi ...

, and

Wichita State University Wichita State University (WSU) is a public research university in Wichita, Kansas, United States. It is governed by the Kansas Board of Regents. The university offers more than 60 undergraduate degree programs in more than 200 areas of study in ...

. His essays and reviews have appeared in the ''New York Times'', ''

Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large na ...

'', ''

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 ...

'', ''

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 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 ''

The Atlantic ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher. It features articles in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 1857 in Boston, ...

'' and been broadcast on National Public Radio's ''

All Things Considered ''All Things Considered'' (''ATC'') is the flagship news program on the American network National Public Radio (NPR). It was the first news program on NPR, premiering on May 3, 1971. It is broadcast live on NPR affiliated stations in the United ...

''.

Bibliography

Novels

*''The Law of Dreams'' (2006) – House of Anansi Press (Canada); Steerforth Press/Random House (US) *''The O'Briens'' (2011) – House of Anansi (Canada); Pantheon Books (US) *''Carry Me'' (2016) – House of Anansi (Canada); Pantheon Books (US)

Short stories

*''Night Driving: Stories'' (1987) – Macmillan of Canada *''Travelling Light'' (2013) – Astoria

References

External links

Peter Behrens
{{DEFAULTSORT:Behrens, Peter 1954 births Canadian male novelists Canadian male short story writers 21st-century Canadian screenwriters Writers from Montreal Canadian expatriate writers in the United States Living people Governor General's Award-winning fiction writers Anglophone Quebec people 21st-century Canadian novelists Canadian male essayists Canadian male screenwriters 21st-century Canadian short story writers 21st-century Canadian essayists Concordia University alumni McGill University alumni 20th-century Canadian short story writers 20th-century Canadian male writers 21st-century Canadian male writers Stegner Fellows