Aislinn Hunter

Last updated

Aislinn Hunter
Born1969 (age 5556)
NationalityCanadian
Alma mater
Occupation(s)Professor, writer
Website aislinnhunter.com

Aislinn Hunter (born 1969 [1] in Belleville, Ontario) is a Canadian poetry and fiction author.

Contents

Early life

She studied art history and writing at the University of Victoria where she received her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. Her Master of Fine Arts degree came from the University of British Columbia, her MSc in Writing and Cultural Politics came from the University of Edinburgh as did her PhD where she wrote on writers' houses/museums and resonant things with a focus on the Victorian era and thing theory via Heidegger. She currently teaches Creative Writing part-time at Kwantlen Polytechnic University. Hunter's research interests include material culture, museums, books-as-things, Victorian writers, and ephemera.

Career

Her 2002 novel Stay was adapted for film by Wiebke Von Carolsfeld and released as a Telefilm / Irish Film Board co-production in 2013, premiering at the Toronto International Film Festival. It stars Aidan Quinn and Taylor Schilling. Her novel, The World Before Us, set in a UK museum, was published by Doubleday, Canada in 2014 and by Hamish Hamilton in the UK, Hogarth Press in the US, and Marchand de Feuilles in Quebec. It won the 2015 Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize and was a New York Times Editor's Choice Book, an NPR 'Best Book' and a Chatelaine Book Club pick.

In the spring of 2017 her third book of poetry, Linger, Still, was published by Gaspereau Press. It won the Fred Cogswell Award for Excellence in Poetry and was long-listed for the Pat Lowther Poetry Prize.

Dr Hunter was selected to be a Canadian War Artist and in 2018 she worked with the Canadian Armed Forces and with NATO Forces at CFB Suffield.

Her most recent novel The Certainties was released in 2020 and published by Knopf Canada. It was shortlisted for the Ethel Wilson Fiction prize and was a best-seller.

Personal life

She was married for 25 years but lost her husband to brain cancer in 2018. She lives in Vancouver, British Columbia with her partner Tait and step-son Freddy.

Bibliography

Fiction

Poetry

Essay collection

Awards and recognition

YearWorkAwardCategoryResultRef
1996 Journey Prize PoetryNominated
National Book Award Fiction Nominated
2000 National Magazine Award Nominated
2002Into the Early Hours Gerald Lampert Award Won
Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize Finalist
What's Left Us Danuta Gleed Literary Award Shortlisted
ReLit Award FictionShortlisted
2003Stay Amazon Canada First Novel Award Finalist
2004The Possible Past Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize Shortlisted
Pat Lowther Award Shortlisted
ReLit Award PoetryShortlisted
2015The World Before UsEthel Wilson Fiction PrizeWon
2017Linger, StillFred Cogswell Award for Excellence in PoetryWon [3]
2018 Pat Lowther Award Longlisted [4]

References

  1. "Collection Search – Library and Archives Canada". Library and Archives Canada .
  2. "The Certainties by Aislinn Hunter". Penguin Random House Canada. Retrieved 17 April 2023.
  3. "2018 Fred Cogswell Award Winners and Shortlist". Royal City Literary Arts Society. 1 November 2018. Archived from the original on 4 December 2022. Retrieved 17 April 2023.
  4. "PAT LOWTHER MEMORIAL AWARD 2018 LONGLIST". 49thshelf.com. Archived from the original on 4 July 2022. Retrieved 17 April 2023.