Suzette Mayr

Suzette Mayr is a Canadian novelist who has written five critically acclaimed novels. Currently a professor at the University of Calgary's Faculty of Arts,[1] Mayr's works have both won and been nominated for several literary awards.

Suzette Mayr
Suzette Mayr at the Eden Mills Writers' Festival in 2017
Mayr at the Eden Mills Writers' Festival in 2017
Born1967
Calgary, Alberta
OccupationAuthor, professor
LanguageEnglish
NationalityCanadian
EducationHonours B.A. in English, M.A. in Creative Writing, PhD in Creative Practice
Alma materUniversity of Calgary, University of Alberta, University of New South Wales
Period1991 to present
GenreLiterature

Biography

Suzette Mayr was born in Calgary, Alberta.[2] Originally planning to study science in her post-secondary career, Mayr changed focus due to her strong performance in English.[3] A creative writing course at the University of Calgary led to her decision to pursue a writing career. She graduated with an Honours bachelor's degree in English. Following her graduation from the University of Calgary, Mayr went on to acquire a Master of Arts in Creative Writing from the University of Alberta and a PhD from the University of New South Wales.

Mayr worked as a waitress and sandwich maker before establishing herself as a professional writer.[2] In addition to her six novels (Moon Honey, The Widows, Venous Hum, Monoceros, Dr. Edith Vane and the Hares of Crawley Hall, and The Sleeping Car Porter), Mayr has published books of poetry and co-edited a literary anthology. Her novels and other literary works have been nominated for several awards. In 2002, Mayr participated in the Calgary Distinguished Writers Program at the University of Calgary, where she is now a professor in the Department of English and teaches courses on creative writing and contemporary literature studies. Mayr, a Canadian of German and Afro-Caribbean background,[2] often explores issues of race, identity and sex in her writing through the stylistic use of humour, cultural mythologies and surreal imagery.

The Sleeping Car Porter (2022)

The Sleeping Car Porter, published in 2022, centres on R.T. Baxter, a closeted gay Black Canadian man working as a porter on a cross-Canada railway.[4] Publishers Weekly named it one of the top ten works of fiction published in 2022.[5]

The novel was the winner of the 2022 Giller Prize.[6] In 2023, it was longlisted for the inaugural Carol Shields Prize for Fiction,[7] and shortlisted for the Governor General's Award for English-language fiction at the 2023 Governor General's Awards.[8]

Awards

Mayr's first published novel, Moon Honey, was nominated for two Alberta Literary Awards: the Georges Bugnet Award for Best Novel and the Henry Kreisel Award for Best First book.[9] The Widows, Mayr's second novel, was shortlisted for the Commonwealth Writers' Prize for best book in the Canadian-Caribbean region.

Mayr's fourth novel, Monoceros, won the Relit and W. O. Mitchell Awards. It was also nominated for a Ferro-Grumley Award, and longlisted for the 2011 Giller Prize.[10]

In 2022, Mayr won the Giller Prize for her novel The Sleeping Car Porter.[6]

List of Works
Novels
  • Moon Honey (1995)
  • The Widows (1998)
  • Venous Hum (2004)
  • Monoceros (2011)
  • Dr. Edith Vane and the Hares of Crawley Hall (2017)
  • The Sleeping Car Porter (2022)
Poetry
  • Zebra Talk (1991)
  • Tale (2001)
Anthologized Works
  • "Scalps" in Boundless Alberta (1993)
  • "Glass Anatomy" in Eye Wuz Here (1996)
  • "Toot Suite Matricia" in Threshold (1999) and So Long Been Dreaming (2004)
  • "Nipple Gospel" in And Other Stories (2001)

Other

Mayr is a past president of the Writers' Guild of Alberta.[11] In 2010, she served on the jury for the Dayne Ogilvie Prize, a literary award for emerging LGBT writers in Canada, selecting Nancy Jo Cullen as that year's prize winner.[12]

References
  1. "Suzette Mayr." University of Calgary.
  2. Kamboureli, Smaro. Making a Difference: Canadian Multicultural Literatures in English. Don Mills: Oxford UP, 2007. Print.
  3. Stallworthy, Bob. "In Silhouette: Profiles of Alberta Writers Archived 2011-10-04 at the Wayback Machine", p. 109. Frontenac House. March 2009.
  4. Brett Josef Grubisic, "Suzette Mayr’s novel ‘The Sleeping Car Porter’ an artfully constructed story that moves, beguiles, and satisfies". Toronto Star, September 26, 2022.
  5. "Best Books 2022: Publishers Weekly Publishers Weekly". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved 2022-10-27.
  6. Brad Wheeler, "Suzette Mayr wins the $100,000 Giller Prize". The Globe and Mail, November 7, 2022.
  7. Deborah Dundas, "5 Canadians nominated for first Carol Shields Prize for Fiction for women and non-binary writers, worth $150,000 (U.S.)". Toronto Star, March 8. 2023.
  8. "Suzette Mayr, Iain Reid among finalists for Governor General's Literary Awards". Burnaby Now, October 25, 2023.
  9. "Alberta Literary Competition Finalists Archived 6 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine." Writers Guild of Alberta.
  10. Mark Medley, "Ondaatje, Vanderhaeghe on Giller Prize longlist". Ottawa Citizen, September 8, 2011.
  11. "WGA Board of Directors Archive". WGA website. Retrieved 21 January 2019.
  12. "Writer Nancy Jo Cullen is a rising talent" Archived 2012-07-21 at the Wayback Machine. Xtra!, 9 September 2010.
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