Zoe Whittall (born February 16, 1976) is a Canadian poet, novelist and TV writer.Zoe Whittall
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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 ...

Zoe Whittall
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She has published five novels and three poetry collections to date.

Personal life and work

Whittall was born in 1976 in the

Eastern Townships The Eastern Townships (french: Cantons de l'Est) is an historical administrative region in southeastern Quebec, Canada. It lies between the St. Lawrence Lowlands and the American border, and extends from Granby in the southwest, to Drummondv ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirte ...

and spent her childhood on a farm on the outskirts of

South Durham South Durham, formally the Southern Division of Durham and often referred to as Durham Southern, was a county constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elected two Members of Parliament (MPs) by the bloc ...

. She graduated from

Dawson College Dawson College (French: ''Collège Dawson)'' is an English-language public general and vocational college in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The college is situated near the heart of Downtown Montreal in a former nunnery on approximately 12 ac ...

in Montreal in 1995, attended

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 ...

from 1995 to 1997, and completed a

Master of Fine Arts A Master of Fine Arts (MFA or M.F.A.) is a terminal degree in fine arts, including visual arts, creative writing, graphic design, photography, filmmaking, dance, theatre, other performing arts and in some cases, theatre management or arts ...

in Creative Writing from the

University of Guelph , mottoeng = "to learn the reasons of realities" , established = May 8, 1964 ()As constituents: OAC: (1874) Macdonald Institute: (1903) OVC: (1922) , type = Public university , chancellor ...

in 2009. She works as a TV writer and previously worked as an arts reporter and in small press publishing. She lives in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

. Her first novel, ''Bottle Rocket Hearts'', was named a ''

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 f ...

'' Best Book of the Year and one of the top ten essential Canadian novels of the decade by CBC's ''

Canada Reads ''Canada Reads'' is an annual "battle of the books" competition organized and broadcast by Canada's public broadcaster, the CBC. The program has aired in two distinct editions, the English-language ''Canada Reads'' on CBC Radio One, and the Frenc ...

''. She won 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 ...

Dayne Ogilvie Grant The Dayne Ogilvie Prize for LGBTQ Emerging Writers is a Canadian literary award, presented annually by the Writers' Trust of Canada to an emerging Canadian writer who is part of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or queer community. Origina ...

for best gay emerging writer in 2008. She subsequently served on the award's 2011 jury, selecting

Farzana Doctor Farzana Doctor is a Canadian novelist and social worker. Biography Born in Zambia to Dawoodi Bohra Muslim expatriate parents from India, she immigrated to Canada with her family in the early 1970s. She has published three novels to date, and ...

as that year's winner."Farzana Doctor to receive Dayne Ogilvie Grant"
. ''

Quill & Quire ''Quill & Quire'' is a Canadian magazine about the book and publishing industry. The magazine was launched in 1935 and has an average circulation of 5,000 copies per issue, with a publisher-claimed readership of 25,000. ''Quill & Quire'' reviews ...

'', June 1, 2011. ''Holding Still for as Long as Possible'', Whittall's second novel, was published in 2009 in Canada and 2010 in the United States. It has been optioned for film, and was shortlisted for the 2010

ReLit Award The ReLit Awards are Canadian literary prizes awarded annually to book-length works in the novel, short-story and poetry categories."Three indie writers honoured by ReLit Awards". ''The Globe and Mail'', July 19, 2007. Founded in 2000 by Newfoundla ...

. It was an honour book for the

American Library Association The American Library Association (ALA) is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with 49,727 members ...

Stonewall Book Award The Stonewall Book Award is a set of three literary awards that annually recognize "exceptional merit relating to the gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgender experience" in English-language books published in the U.S. They are sponsored by the Rainbow ...

in 2011, as well as winning a

Lambda Literary Award Lambda Literary Awards, also known as the "Lammys", are awarded yearly by Lambda Literary to recognize the crucial role LGBTQ writers play in shaping the world. The Lammys celebrate the very best in LGBTQ literature.The awards were instituted i ...

. In 2010 she published a short novella for Orca Books' Rapid Reads series called ''The Middle Ground'', a book for adults with low literacy skills. Her poetry books include ''The Best Ten Minutes of Your Life'', ''The Emily Valentine Poems'' and ''Precordial Thump''. She edited the short fiction anthology ''Geeks, Misfits & Outlaws'' (McGilligan Books) in 2003. In 2013 Whittall created the poem 'Unequal to me', a collection of book reviews illustrating

gender bias Sexism is prejudice or discrimination based on one's sex or gender. Sexism can affect anyone, but it primarily affects women and girls.There is a clear and broad consensus among academic scholars in multiple fields that sexism refers primari ...

, revealing sexism and misogyny, by swapping the authors'

personal pronouns Personal pronouns are pronouns that are associated primarily with a particular grammatical person – first person (as ''I''), second person (as ''you''), or third person (as ''he'', ''she'', ''it'', ''they''). Personal pronouns may also take dif ...

indicated by the critics. In 2016, her novel ''

The Best Kind of People ''The Best Kind of People'' is a 2016 novel by Canadian author Zoe Whittall. ''The Best Kind of People'' is Whittall's third novel, and it was a finalist for the Scotiabank Giller Prize, as well as named Indigo's #1 Book of 2016 and Heather's Pic ...

'' was published in Canada by House of Anansi and shortlisted for the

Scotiabank Giller Prize The Giller Prize (sponsored as the Scotiabank Giller Prize), is a literary award given to a Canadian author of a novel or short story collection published in English (including translation) the previous year, after an annual juried competition be ...

. In 2017, it was published in hardcover in the U.K. by Hodder & Stoughton, and in the United States by Ballantine Books, an imprint of Penguin Random House. The novel is currently being adapted for feature film by director Sarah Polley. ''The Best Kind of People'' was named Indigo's #1 Book of 2016, and a best book of the year by ''Walrus Magazine'', ''The Globe & Mail'', ''Toronto Life'', and ''The National Post''. The year also saw Whittall awarded the K.M. Hunter Artist Award for literature, given to people who have demonstrated both talent and the potential for further development in their field. In 2018, Whittall won a

Canadian Screen Award The Canadian Screen Awards (french: link=no, Les prix Écrans canadiens) are awards given for artistic and technical merit in the film industry recognizing excellence in Canadian film, English-language television, and digital media ( web series ...

for Best Writing in a Variety or Sketch Comedy Series for ''

Baroness von Sketch Show ''Baroness von Sketch Show'' is a Canadian television sketch comedy series. It debuted on CBC Television on June 14, 2016. Produced by Frantic Films, the series is an all-female comedy series starring Carolyn Taylor, Meredith MacNeill, Aurora Bro ...

'', alongside

Aurora Browne Aurora Browne is a Canadian actress and comedian, best known as one of the creators and stars of the sketch comedy series ''Baroness von Sketch Show''. Early life She is originally from Thunder Bay, Ontario, and currently based in Toronto. Car ...

Meredith MacNeill Meredith MacNeill (born 1975) is a Canadian actress and comedian.Carolyn Taylor Carolyn Taylor is a Canadian actress and comedian, best known as one of the creators and stars of the sketch comedy series ''Baroness von Sketch Show''. An alumna of The Second City's Toronto company, she was a writer for ''This Hour Has 22 Minut ...

, Jennifer Whalen, Jennifer Goodhue, Monica Heisey and

Mae Martin Mae Martin (born 2 May 1987) is a Canadian-born comedian, actor, and screenwriter based in England. They wrote and starred in the Netflix comedy series ''Feel Good'' and won two Canadian Comedy Awards as part of the comedy troupe The Young an ...

Bibliography

Novels

*''Bottle Rocket Hearts'', 2007 (

Cormorant Books Cormorant Books Inc is a Canadian book publishing company."Two houses under ...

) *''Holding Still For as Long as Possible'', 2009 (

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 ...

) *''The Middle Ground'', 2010 (Orca Book Publishers) *''

'', 2016 (House of Anansi) *
The Spectacular
', 2021 (HarperCollins Canada),

Poetry

*''The Best Ten Minutes of Your Life'', 2001 (McG) *''The Emily Valentine Poems'', 2006 (Snare) *''Precordial Thump'', 2008 (

Exile Editions Exile Editions is an independent literary publisher based in Toronto. It was founded in 1976 by poet, novelist and artist Barry Callaghan and is currently headed by Michael Callaghan. Exile has published over 320 titles to date, including a wide ...

)

References

External links

Zoe Whittall
{{DEFAULTSORT:Whittall, Zoe Canadian women novelists Living people Canadian women poets 1976 births Canadian lesbian writers Dawson College alumni Lambda Literary Award winners People from Centre-du-Québec Writers from Quebec 21st-century Canadian novelists 21st-century Canadian poets Canadian LGBT poets Canadian LGBT novelists 21st-century Canadian women writers Canadian television writers Canadian Screen Award winners Canadian women television writers 21st-century Canadian screenwriters