Steven Heighton (August 14, 1961 – April 19, 2022) was a Canadian fiction writer, poet, and singer-songwriter. He is the author of eighteen books, including three short story collections, four novels, and seven poetry collections.
''Canadian Poetry Online''. His last work was ''Selected Poems 1983-2020'' ( House of Anansi Press) and an album, ''The Devil's Share''.

Life and work

Heighton was born in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

, and grew up there and in Red Lake, in northern Ontario. He travelled and worked in western Canada and Australia after high school, got a BA and MA from Queen's University in

Kingston, Ontario Kingston is a city in Ontario, Canada, on the northeastern end of Lake Ontario. It is at the beginning of the St. Lawrence River and at the mouth of the Cataraqui River, the south end of the Rideau Canal. Kingston is near the Thousand Islands, ...

, and then travelled and worked for two years in Asia before settling back in Kingston and starting to write, at first part-time and eventually full-time. Heighton's most recent books are the novel ''The Nightingale Won't Let You Sleep'' (2017), the

Governor General's Award The Governor General's Awards are a collection of annual awards presented by the governor general of Canada, recognizing distinction in numerous academic, artistic, and social fields. The first award was conceived and inaugurated in 1937 by the ...

-winning poetry collection ''The Waking Comes Late'' (2016), and the Trillium Award finalist ''The Dead Are More Visible'' (May 2012). Heighton is also the author of the novel ''Afterlands'' (2006), which appeared in six countries and was cited on best of year lists in ten publications in Canada, the US, and Britain. The book is in pre-production for film. Heighton's debut novel, ''The Shadow Boxer'' (2001), a story about a young poet-boxer and his struggles growing up, also appeared in five countries. His work has been translated into ten languages and widely anthologised. He won the Governor General's Award for Poetry in 2016. His books have been nominated for the Governor General's Award, the Trillium Award (twice), the Journey Prize, a Pushcart Prize, and Britain's W.H. Smith Award (best book of the year). He received the

Gerald Lampert Award The Gerald Lampert Memorial Award is an annual literary award presented by the League of Canadian Poets to the best volume of poetry published by a first-time poet. It is presented in honour of poetry promoter Gerald Lampert. Each winner receive ...

, four gold and one silver award for fiction and for poetry in the

National Magazine Awards The National Magazine Awards, also known as the Ellie Awards, honor print and digital publications that consistently demonstrate superior execution of editorial objectives, innovative techniques, noteworthy enterprise and imaginative design. Or ...

, the Air Canada Award, the P.K. Page Award, the K.M. Hunter Award, and the Petra Kenney Prize. ''Flight Paths of the Emperor'' has been listed at Amazon.ca as one of the ten best Canadian short story collections and has been published in Britain by Granta Books. Heighton has been the writer-in-residence at

McGill University McGill University (French: Université McGill) is an English-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill University, Vol. I. For the Advancement of Learning, ...

, Queen's, Concordia, the

University of Ottawa The University of Ottawa (), often referred to as uOttawa or U of O, is a Official bilingualism in Canada, bilingual public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on directly to the northeast of Downtown Ot ...

, and

Massey College Massey College is the postgraduate University of Toronto#Colleges, college of the University of Toronto located at the University of Toronto#St. George campus, St. George campus in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The college was established, built and ...

at the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...

. He has also led writing workshops at the Summer Literary Seminars in Saint Petersburg, Russia (2007), the May Studios at the Banff Centre for the Arts (2001), Writing with Style at the Banff Centre, and the Sage Hill Writing Experience in Blackstrap Lake, Saskatchewan (2015 and 2016.) His nonfiction book ''Reaching Mithymna: Among the Volunteers and Refugees on Lesvos'' was shortlisted for the 2020 Hilary Weston Writers' Trust Prize for Nonfiction. In April 2021, Heighton released an album of eleven original songs with Wolfe Island Records/CRS Europe. ''The Devil's Share'' emerges from "an alchemical bath of blues, rock, folk, country, soul, and Americana." It was recorded at the Post Office Studio, Wolfe Island, Ontario, and produced by Hugh Christopher Brown. Heighton died on April 19, 2022, at the age of 60 of cancer. He lived in

Kingston Kingston may refer to: Places * List of places called Kingston, including the six most populated: ** Kingston, Jamaica ** Kingston upon Hull, England ** City of Kingston, Victoria, Australia ** Kingston, Ontario, Canada ** Kingston upon Thames, ...

Bibliography

Novels

* ''The Shadow Boxer'' (2000) Knopf Canada * ''Afterlands'' (2005) Knopf Canada * ''Every Lost Country'' (2010) Knopf Canada * ''The Nightingale Won't Let You Sleep'' (2017)

Short stories

* ''Flight Paths of the Emperor'' (1992) The Porcupine's Quill * ''On earth as it is'' (1995) The Porcupine's Quill * ''The Dead Are More Visible'' (2012) Knopf Canada * ''Instructions for the Drowning'' (2023) Biblioasis

Poetry

* ''Foreign Ghosts'' (1989) Oberon Press * ''Stalin’s Carnival'' (1989) Quarry Press * ''The Ecstasy of Skeptics'' (1994) House of Anansi Press * ''The Address Book'' (2004) House of Anansi Press * ''Patient Frame'' (2010) House of Anansi Press * ''The Waking Comes Late'' (2016) House of Anansi Press * ''Selected Poems: 1983-2020'' (2021) House of Anansi Press

Nonfiction

* ''Reaching Mithymna'' (2020) Biblioasis

Essays

* ''The Admen Move on Lhasa: Writing & Culture in a Virtual World'' (1997) House of Anansi Press * ''Workbook'' (2011)

ECW Press ECW Press is a Canadian book publisher located in Toronto, Ontario. It was founded by Jack David and Robert Lecker in 1974 as a Canada, Canadian literary magazine named ''Essays on Canadian Writing''. They started publishing trade and scholar ...

* ''The Virtues of Disillusionment'' (2020) Athabasca University Press

Music

*''The Devil's Share'' (2021)

Anthologies and magazines

*''Best American Mystery Stories'' (James Patterson, ed., Norton, 2015) *''70 Canadian Poets'' (Gary Geddes, ed., Oxford, 2015) *''Best American Poetry'' (Mark Doty, ed., Scribner, 2012) *''Finding the Words'' (Jared Bland, ed., 2011) *''The Best Canadian Poetry'' (Molly Peacock, series ed., Tightrope Books, 2009, 2010, 2011) *''Best Canadian Stories'' (Oberon, 1989, ’92, ’95, ’04, ’07) *''The New Story Writers'' (John Metcalf, ed., Quarry Press, 1991) *''Best English Short Stories'' (David Hughes & Giles Gordon, eds., Heinemann, U.K., 1992) *''The Minerva Book of Short Stories 5'' (Hughes & Gordon, eds., Minerva, U.K., 1993) *''Best of Best English Short Stories 1986-1995'' (Hughes & Gordon, eds., Minerva, 1996) *''The Journey Prize Anthology 4'' (M&S, 1992) *''The Literature of Work'' (University of Phoenix Press, 1993) *''The Second Gates of Paradise'' (Alberto Manguel, ed., MW&R, 1995) *''Canadian Short Fiction'', second edition (W.H. New, ed., Prentice Hall, 1996) *''Writing Home'' (Constance Rooke, ed., M&S, 1997) *''Turn of the Story'' (Joan Thomas & Heidi Harms, eds., Anansi, 1999) *''Lost Classics'' (Ondaatje, Redhill, Spalding, and Spalding, eds. Knopf, 2000) *''The Reader'' (Carolyn Meyer & Bruce Meyer, eds., Prentice Hall, 2001) *''The Notebooks'' (Michelle Berry & Natalee Caple, eds. Doubleday, 2002) *''Viewpoints 12'' (Prentice Hall, 2002) *''The New Canon'' (ed. Carmine Starnino, Véhicule, 2005) *''Literature'' (ed. Laurie G. Kirszner, Stephen R. Mandell, and Candace Fertile: Thomson/Nelson 2007) *''The Exile Book of Canadian Sports Stories'' (ed. Priscila Uppal, Exile Editions, 2009)

Prizes and honours

*1990 Gerald Lampert Award for best first poetry collection (for ''Stalin’s Carnival'') *1991 Prism International Short Story Competition, first prize for "Five Paintings of the New Japan" *1992 Finalist, The Journey Prize *1992 National Magazine Awards gold medal for fiction *1993 Finalist, Trillium Award (for ''Flight Paths of the Emperor'') *1995 Finalist, Governor General's Award for Poetry (for ''The Ecstasy of Skeptics'') *2002 Petra Kenney Prize for Poetry *2004 National Magazine Awards gold medal for poetry *2008 National Magazine Awards gold medal for fiction *2010 National Magazine Awards gold medal for fiction *2010 K.M. Hunter Award for literature *2011 National Magazine Awards silver for poetry *2011 P.K. Page Founder's Award *2013 Finalist, Trillium Award (for ''The Dead Are More Visible'') *2016 Governor General's Award for Poetry (for ''The Waking Comes Late'') *2019 Finalist, The Moth International Poetry Prize

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Heighton, Steven 1961 births 2022 deaths Deaths from cancer in Ontario Canadian male novelists 20th-century Canadian poets 20th-century Canadian male writers Canadian male poets Canadian male short story writers Queen's University at Kingston alumni Writers from Kingston, Ontario Poets from Toronto Academic staff of the Royal Military College of Canada 21st-century Canadian poets 21st-century Canadian novelists 20th-century Canadian short story writers 21st-century Canadian short story writers Governor General's Award–winning poets 21st-century Canadian male writers Novelists from Toronto