Charlene Carr

Charlene Carr
Carr in 2022
Occupation	Writer
Genre	Fiction
Notable works	Hold My Girl (2023) We Rip the World Apart (2024)
Notable awards	Dartmouth Book Award for Fiction (2025)
Website
www.charlenecarr.com

Charlene Carr is a Canadian writer based in Nova Scotia. Carr's novel We Rip the World Apart was the winner of the Dartmouth Book Award for Fiction at the Atlantic Book Awards in 2025.

Biography

Carr was raised in Toronto as the youngest of four children, and is based in Nova Scotia. ^[1] She graduated from Crandall University with a Bachelor of Arts in English, followed by Dalhousie University with a Master of Arts in English, and finally the University of King's College with a Bachelor of Journalism. ^[2]

Carr's first novel with a major publisher, Hold my Girl (2023) was variously published by HarperCollins, Sourcebooks Landmark, and Welbeck Publishing. The book was shortlisted for the Thomas Raddall Atlantic Fiction Award and the Dartmouth Book Award, and was an Amazon Editor's pick for best literature and fiction. ^[3] Hold my Girl was also optioned for a television adaptation in 2022 by the production company Blink49 Studios. ^[4] Following the release of Hold my Girl, Carr was listed amongst "6 Black Canadian writers to watch" by CBC Books in February 2023. ^[5]

In 2025, Carr's novel We Rip the World Apart (2024) was the winner of the Dartmouth Book Award for Fiction at the Atlantic Book Awards. ^[6]

Publications

• Carr, Charlene (2014). Where There is Life. St. John's, NL: Coastal Lines. ISBN   978-0-9939-2381-4. OCLC   995579439.
• — (2014). Skinny Me. St. John's, NL: Coastal Lines. ISBN   978-0-9939-2388-3. OCLC   995485355.
• — (2015). Beneath the Silence. St. John's, NL: Coastal Lines. ISBN   978-0-9939-2386-9. OCLC   995535858.
• — (2016). Behind Our Lives: A Tale of Life and Love in Three Parts. St. John's, NL: Coastal Lines. ISBN   978-1-9882-3205-8. OCLC   966404532.
• — (2016). Before I Knew You: A Novella Full of Thought, Heart, and Hope. St. John's, NL: Coastal Lines. ISBN   978-1-9882-3204-1. OCLC   1017753612.
• — (2023). Hold My Girl: A Novel. Naperville, Illinois: Sourcebooks Landmark. ISBN   978-1-7282-7041-8. OCLC   1356458157. ^[7]
• — (2024). We Rip the World Apart. Toronto, ON: HarperCollins. ISBN   978-1-4434-6836-7. OCLC   1394915707. ^[8]

Recognition

• Atlantic Book Awards: Dartmouth Book Award for Fiction (2025) ^[6]

References

Citations

1. TheMall Magazine (2024); CBC Books (2024b).
2. WFNS.
3. Brewer (2025).
4. David (2022); Patrick (2023).
5. Patrick (2023).
6. CBC Books (2025); Quill & Quire (2025).
7. Wigston (2023); Carr (2023); CBC Books (2023a); CBC Radio (2023).
8. CBC Books (2023c); Lawlor (2024); CBC Radio (2024); CBC Books (2024a); Wigston (2024); Brewer (2025).

Sources

• "Meet the 2025 CBC Short Story Prize readers". CBC Books . Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. 10 October 2024. Retrieved 10 June 2025.
• "Charlene Carr Biography". writers.ns.ca. Writers' Federation of Nova Scotia. 22 April 2021. Retrieved 10 June 2025.
• "Charlene Carr and David Huebert among winners of 2025 Nova Scotia and Atlantic Book Awards". CBC Books . Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. 9 June 2025. Retrieved 10 June 2025.
• "2025 Nova Scotia Book Awards winners announced". Quill & Quire . Toronto, ON: St. Joseph Media. 2 June 2025. Retrieved 10 June 2025.
• Carr, Charlene (24 January 2023). "Charlene Carr's new novel inspired by real-life fear: What if her daughter wasn't biologically her own?" . The Globe and Mail . Retrieved 10 June 2025.
• "Charlene Carr explores Black and biracial identity in the Maritimes with her novel We Rip the World Apart". CBC Radio . Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. 26 January 2024. Retrieved 10 June 2025.
• Wigston, Nancy (1 February 2023). "Issues of race, class, IVF propel writer Charlene Carr's Nova Scotia-based thriller 'Hold My Girl'". The Toronto Star . Toronto, ON. Retrieved 10 June 2025.
• "Hold My Girl by Charlene Carr". CBC Books . Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. 3 February 2023. Retrieved 10 June 2025.
• "We Rip the World Apart by Charlene Carr". CBC Books . Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. 24 January 2024. Retrieved 10 June 2025.
• "Charlene Carr's next novel explores motherhood, race and secrecy over 3 generations — read an excerpt now". CBC Books . Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. 7 December 2023. Retrieved 10 June 2025.
• "What makes someone a mother? That's the question at the heart of Charlene Carr's thriller Hold My Girl". CBC Radio . Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. 24 February 2023. Retrieved 10 June 2025.
• Patrick, Ryan B. (2 February 2023). "6 Black Canadian writers to watch in 2023". CBC Books . Canadian Broadcasting Corporation . Retrieved 10 June 2025.
• Wigston, Nancy (1 February 2024). "'Moves us to anger, brings us to tears': Sweeping family saga set against the large canvas of Canadian racism". The Toronto Star . Toronto, ON. Retrieved 10 June 2025– via Toronto.com.
• Lawlor, Allison (7 June 2024). "THE BOOK SHELF: Charlene Carr explores Black and biracial identity with her novel" . PNI Atlantic News . Postmedia Network . Retrieved 10 June 2025.
• Brewer, Robert Lee (28 January 2025). "Charlene Carr: Get the First Draft Done". Writers Digest . Retrieved 10 June 2025.
• "From Scholar to Story Weaver: The Enchanting Journey of Charlene". TheMall Magazine . Dieppe, NB: The Mall Communication. 7 March 2024. Retrieved 10 June 2025.
• David, Greg (20 January 2022). "Blink Studios acquires the rights to Canadian author Charlene Carr's upcoming novel 'Hold My Girl' for television series adaptation". TV, eh?. Retrieved 10 June 2025.

Further reading

Articles

• "Author spotlight: Charlene Carr". writers.ns.ca. Interviewed by Byggdin, K.R. Writers' Federation of Nova Scotia. 12 July 2022. Retrieved 10 June 2025.
• "In 'We Rip the World Apart,' Charlene Carr Examines a Family Torn by Racial Violence". Everything Zoomer. Interviewed by Phifer, Hannah. ZoomerMedia. 16 February 2024. Retrieved 10 June 2025.

Audio and video

• The untold stories of women's health: Charlene Carr (Podcast). Telus Talks. Interviewed by Taggart, Tamara. Telus Communications. 4 April 2023. Retrieved 10 June 2025– via YouTube.com.

External links

• Official website
• Works by Charlene Carr at Open Library