Charis Cotter

Last updated

Charis Cotter is a Canadian author and storyteller known for her works of fiction for middle-grade readers.

Contents

Early life and education

Cotter grew up in downtown Toronto, Canada, behind a cemetery. [1]

She studied English in university and went to drama school in London, England. [2]

Career

Editing years and non-fiction work

In 2004, Cotter’s first book was published: Toronto Between the Wars: Life in the City 1919–1939, by Firefly Books. [3]

In 2007, Annick Press published Cotter’s first non-fiction book for children: Kids Who Rule: The Remarkable Lives of Five Child Monarchs. It was followed by Wonder Kids: The Remarkable Lives of Nine Child Prodigies, and Born to Write: The Remarkable Lives of Six Famous Authors. [4] [5] [6] Annick Press also published Cotter’s first ghost-themed book, A World Full of Ghosts, in 2009. [7]

Works of fiction and awards

Cotter’s breakout work of fiction was her novel The Swallow: A Ghost Story, published in 2014 by Tundra Books. It tells the story of two lonely girls who become friends over their mutual fascination with ghosts, and explores themes of childhood neglect, mental illness, and death. The Swallow won the 2015 Violet Downey Book Award [8] and was a Silver Birch Honour Book as part of the Forest of Reading program in 2016. [9] It was one of ten finalists for the Canadian Library Association Book of the Year for Children Award in 2015, receiving an honourable mention. [10] [11]

In 2017, Tundra Books published Cotter’s second novel, The Painting, which explores similar themes of ghosts, loss, and fractured family relationships. It won the Hackmatack Children’s Choice Award in 2019 [12] and the Ann Connor Brimer Award for Children’s Literature at the Atlantic Book Awards & Festival in 2018. [13]

Her next book, The Ghost Road, was published by Tundra Books in 2018. Set in Newfoundland, it tells the story of two girls who must break a family curse, and centres around issues of domestic violence and intergenerational trauma. It won the Bruneau Family Children’s/YA Literature Award at the Newfoundland and Labrador Book Awards in 2020. [14]

Her fourth novel, The Dollhouse: A Ghost Story, was released in 2021. The Dollhouse was also released as an audiobook. [15]

In addition to her novels, Cotter has written several picture books for children inspired by ghost stories from Newfoundland. Her first of these was The Ferryland Visitor: A Mysterious Tale, published in 2016 by Running the Goat Books & Broadsides, with artwork by acclaimed Newfoundland artist Gerald Squires. [16]

Footsteps in Bay de Verde: A Mysterious Tale, illustrated by Jenny Dwyer, was published by Running the Goat Books & Broadsides in 2020, and won the Bruneau Family Children’s/YA Literature Award at the Newfoundland and Labrador Book Awards in 2022. [17]

In 2020, Screech! Ghost Stories from Old Newfoundland, a collection of stories with art by Genevieve Simms, was published by Nimbus Publishing. It won the Hackmatack Children’s Choice Award in 2022. [18]

Several of Cotter's books have been translated into Korean, German, and Russian. [19]

Storytelling, workshops, and other pursuits

Cotter has developed several workshops and storytelling presentations for children, which she tours around schools across Canada. [2] She has done an annual ghost story tour of Newfoundland schools since 2009. [20]

Cotter founded her own publishing company, Baccalieu Books, under which she has published several collections of local ghost stories from children in Newfoundland schools. [21]

She has been a guest on Danny Robins’ supernatural show for the BBC, Uncanny (radio series) . [22]

According to Cotter's website, her readers have unofficially dubbed her "Canada's Queen of Ghost Stories." [2]

Personal life

Charis Cotter lives and works in Western Bay, Newfoundland. [23]

Bibliography

Related Research Articles

The Thomas Raddall Atlantic Fiction Award is a Canadian literary award administered by the Atlantic Book Awards & Festival for the best work of adult fiction published in the previous year by a writer from the Atlantic provinces. The prize honours Thomas Head Raddall and is supported by an endowment he willed to it. The award is currently worth $30,000, with additional finalists receiving $500 each.

<i>A Riddle of Roses</i> 2000 novel by Caryl Cude Mullin

A Riddle of Roses is the debut novel of Caryl Cude Mullin. It was illustrated by Kasia Charko and released by Second Story Press in 2000. The novel is well suited for young readers and marketed for young teenagers. The novel's topic is influenced by Celtic mythology and Arthurian legends.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marie-Louise Gay</span> Canadian illustrator and childrens writer (born 1952)

Marie-Louise Gay is a Canadian children's writer and illustrator. She has received numerous awards for her written and illustrated works in both French and English, including the 2005 Vicky Metcalf Award, multiple Governor General's Awards, and multiple Janet Savage Blachford Prizes, among others.

<i>Bradley McGogg, the Very Fine Frog</i> Childrens book by J. Timothy Hunt

Bradley McGogg, the Very Fine Frog is a book by Canadian children's book author Tim Beiser, illustrated by Canadian painter Rachel Berman. It was published by Tundra Books in March 2009.

The Ann Connor Brimer Award for Atlantic Canadian Children's Literature is a $2,000 annual award given to an Atlantic Canadian writer deemed to have made an outstanding contribution to literature for young people. Starting in 2016, the prize alternates annually between young adult and children's fiction published in the previous two years. In celebration of the award's 25th anniversary, Gavin Brimer, Ann's son, generously donated two $250 prizes for the running-up books.

The Christie Harris Illustrated Children's Literature Prize is awarded annually as the BC Book Prize for Canadian authors and illustrator of picture books, picture story books, and illustrated non-fiction books. The prize is shared by the author and the illustrator, who must be a resident of British Columbia or Yukon. It was announced in 2002 and first awarded in 2003. A handful of finalists are also selected for another award: participation in the expenses-paid BC Book Prizes on Tour, a week-long tour across the province to present their books at schools and libraries each April.

Danila Botha is a Canadian author and novelist. She has published two short story collections, with a third to be published in 2024 and two novels, with the second to be published in 2025.

Cary Fagan is a Canadian writer of novels, short stories, and children's books. His novel, The Student, was a finalist for the Toronto Book Award and the Governor General's Literary Award. Previously a short-story collection, My Life Among the Apes, was longlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize and his widely praised adult novel, A Bird's Eye, was shortlisted for the 2013 Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize. His novel Valentine's Fall was nominated for the 2010 Toronto Book Award. Since publishing his first original children's book in 2001, he has published 25 children's titles.

Claire Mackay was a Canadian writer of eleven books for children and young-adult fiction and non-fiction.

Susin Nielsen is a Canadian author for children, adolescents and young adults. She received the 2012 Governor General's Award for English-language children's literature and the 2013 Canadian Library Association Book of the Year for Children Award for her young adult novel The Reluctant Journal of Henry K. Larsen, which deals with the aftermath of a school shooting.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Danny Ramadan</span> Syrian–Canadian novelist, public speaker, and LGBTQ-refugee activist

Ahmad Danny Ramadan is a Syrian–Canadian novelist, public speaker, and LGBTQ-refugee activist who was born in Damascus, Syria. Ramadan's work focuses on themes of immigration, identity, diaspora and belonging. His debut novel, The Clothesline Swing, won multiple awards. The Foghorn Echoes won the 2023 Lambda Literary Award for Gay Fiction.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jessica Dee Humphreys</span> Canadian author, indexer, and journalist

Jessica Dee Humphreys is a Canadian writer specializing in international humanitarian, military, and children's issues.

Kai Cheng Thom is a Canadian writer and former social worker. Thom, a non-binary trans woman, has published four books, including the novel Fierce Femmes and Notorious Liars: A Dangerous Trans Girl's Confabulous Memoir (2016), the poetry collection a place called No Homeland (2017), a children's book, From the Stars in The Sky to the Fish in the Sea (2017), and I Hope We Choose Love: A Trans Girl's Notes from the End of the World (2019), a book of essays centered on transformative justice.

Ashley Spires is a Canadian children's book author and illustrator. She is the creator of the Binky the Space Cat graphic novels series and the 2014 bestseller, The Most Magnificent Thing.

Carmelita McGrath is a Canadian writer residing in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador. She writes poetry, children's literature, and novels. She has also written short stories and has received awards for her writings. Along with writing, McGrath is also an editor, teacher, researcher, and communications consultant.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Angela Misri</span> Canadian novelist

Angela Misri is a Kashmiri Canadian novelist and journalist and her fiction works include mystery, young adult fiction and children's fiction.

<i>Fatty Legs</i> 2010 non-fiction childrens book

Fatty Legs is a memoir aimed at middle-grade children, written by Christy Jordan-Fenton and Margaret Pokiak-Fenton and illustrated by Liz Amini-Holmes, published September 1, 2010 by Annick Press. The story introduces children to the devastating reality of the residential school system, a system focused on the assimilation of Indigenous peoples. The book was published two years before the work of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission began to investigate the residential school system and was among the first children's books from a survivor of Canada's Indian Residential School System.

Hugh Brewster is a Canadian writer of nonfiction books for children.

Julie Lawson is a Canadian writer of children's nonfiction books. Her 1993 book, White Jade Tiger, won the Sheila A. Egoff Children's Literature Prize.

Mary Beth Leatherdale is a Canadian author and storyteller.

References

  1. ↑ "Author Snapshot". Book Browse. Retrieved 19 December 2023.
  2. 1 2 3 Cotter, Charis. "Bio". Charis Cotter. Retrieved 19 December 2023.
  3. ↑ "Toronto Between the Wars: Life in the City, 1919–1939". Canadian Book Review Annual Online. Retrieved 19 December 2023.
  4. ↑ "Kids Who Rule: The Remarkable Lives of Five Child Monarchs". Canadian Book Review Annual Online. Retrieved 19 December 2023.
  5. ↑ "Wonder Kids: The Remarkable Lives of Nine Child Prodigies". Canadian Book Review Annual Online. Retrieved 19 December 2023.
  6. ↑ "Children's Books: Born to Write by Charis Cotter". January Magazine. Retrieved 19 December 2023.
  7. ↑ "A World Full of Ghosts". Canadian Book Review Annual Online. Retrieved 19 December 2023.
  8. ↑ Cerny, Dory (3 June 2015). "Charis Cotter wins IODE Canada Violet Downey Book Award". Quill & Quire. Retrieved 30 August 2023.
  9. ↑ "Silver Birch Fiction Award® Winners and Nominees 1994–2021" (PDF). Forest of Reading. Retrieved 30 August 2023.
  10. ↑ "PRESS RELEASE For Immediate Release The Canadian Library Association Announces 2015 Book of the Year for Children Award Shortlist" (PDF). Canadian Library Association. Retrieved 2 September 2023.
  11. ↑ Cerny, Dory (22 April 2015). "Groundwood Books picks up two Canadian Library Association awards". Quill & Quire. Retrieved 2 September 2023.
  12. ↑ van Koeverden, Jane (3 June 2019). "Nonfiction book about rescued golden retriever born without eyes wins Hackmatak Children's Choice Book Award". CBC. Retrieved 28 August 2023.
  13. ↑ Porter, Ryan (14 May 2018). "Married writers Sarah Faber and Oisin Curran both win Atlantic Book Awards". Quill & Quire. Retrieved 28 August 2023.
  14. ↑ "Sharon Bala wins 2020 Newfoundland and Labrador Book Award for novel The Boat People". CBC. 6 October 2020. Retrieved 28 August 2023.
  15. ↑ Cotter, Charis (7 September 2021). "The Dollhouse Audiobook is Here!". Charis Cotter. Retrieved 2 September 2023.
  16. ↑ Ludke, Linda. "The Ferryland Visitor: A Mysterious Tale". Quill & Quire (June 2016). Retrieved 19 December 2023.
  17. ↑ "NL Book Awards Correction: Bruneau Family Children's/Young Adult Literature Award Winner Error and Apology". Writers NL. Retrieved 2 September 2023.
  18. ↑ "Mireille Messier and Charis Cotter win Atlantic Canada's Hackmatack Children's Choice Awards". CBC. 14 June 2022. Retrieved 28 August 2023.
  19. ↑ "Charis Cotter BIO". The Writers' Union of Canada. Retrieved 2 September 2023.
  20. ↑ Mcneish, Sam (20 September 2019). "Author ready for 11th ghost story tour of Newfoundland schools". SaltWire Network. Retrieved 30 August 2023.
  21. ↑ Parsons, Jonathan (16 June 2017). "Southwest Arm Academy publishes book with author and ArtsSmarts". SaltWire Network. Retrieved 19 December 2023.
  22. ↑ Cotter, Charis (14 June 2022). "Screech! Wins Hackmatack Award and I Make Guest "Appearance" on Uncanny Podcast". Charis Cotter. Retrieved 28 August 2023.
  23. ↑ Quinn, Mark (3 September 2019). "Plank'er down: Saving Western Bay's lighthouse walk, one board at a time". CBC. Retrieved 29 August 2023.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.