Michel Basilières
Michel Basilières (born 1960 in Montreal) is a Canadian writer, best known for his 2003 debut novel Black Bird.[1]
Michel Basilières | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1960 Montreal, Quebec |
| Occupation | novelist |
| Language | English |
| Nationality | Canadian |
| Genre | fiction |
| Years active | 2003-present |
| Notable works | Black Bird |
Background
Basilières, the son of a Québécois father and an English Canadian mother, grew up as an anglophone despite his French surname.[2] He studied creative writing at Concordia University, but dropped out before graduating, and spent much of his adult life working in bookstores in both Montreal and Toronto.[1]
Career
Black Bird was published in 2003 as part of Knopf Canada's New Faces of Fiction series of works by emerging writers.[3] A comic, magic realist take on the October Crisis of 1970,[3] the novel won the Books in Canada First Novel Award for 2004,[4] and was shortlisted for the Stephen Leacock Memorial Medal for Humour[5] and the Commonwealth Writers' Prize for Best First Novel.[4]
Following his award win, Basilières was a freelance book reviewer for the Toronto Star, the National Post and The Globe and Mail, and taught creative writing at the University of Toronto.
His second novel, A Free Man, was published in 2015,[6] and was a ReLit Award finalist in 2016.
References
- ^ a b "An ambition fulfilled". Montreal Gazette, April 12, 2003.
- ^ "Alone between two solitudes". The Globe and Mail, May 5, 2003.
- ^ a b "The October Crisis you've never seen". Ottawa Citizen, March 27, 2003.
- ^ a b "First Novel prize goes to October Crisis story". Kingston Whig-Standard, October 14, 2004.
- ^ "Leacock shortlisters". National Post, March 25, 2004.
- ^ "Allowing Oneself To be Deceived". National Post, May 9, 2015.