Celerated novelist Michael Christie returns

March 2016

Thunder Bay is always in the mood for a party, and the writing community is no different. This spring, the Northwestern Ontario Writers Workshop (NOWW) is delighted to feature acclaimed author Michael Christie as keynote speaker for its Literary Awards Party, Saturday, May 7 at the Prince Arthur Hotel. Born in Thunder Bay, Christie has written for publications such as the New York Times, the Washington Post and the Globe and Mail. More recently, his novels have made their mark in the Canadian landscape as they continue to bring accolades and awards.

“I’m thrilled that Michael will be joining us,” says NOWW president Jane Crossman. “We try very hard to bring speakers that will not only interest writers, but the general public as well.”
With Michael Christie, that’s a good combination. He was born and raised in Thunder Bay before heading west to pursue a career in professional skateboarding. During that time, he wrote about the sport in various skateboarding magazines and discovered that he was very good at it. His debut literary work, The Beggar’s Garden, is a collection of short stories featuring Vancouver’s infamous Downtown Eastside. Published in 2011, it was long-listed for the Scotiabank Giller Prize, was a finalist in the Rogers Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize and won the Vancouver Book Award for that year.

Last year, Christie’s first full-length novel, If I Fall, If I Die, saw similar success, including a second Giller long-listing, a New York Times Editor’s Choice Award and the Ontario Library Service’s Northern Lit Award. If I Fall, If I Die is a darkly engaging tale based loosely on life growing up in Thunder Bay and he has described it as a sort of ‘love-poem’ to the city.

Christie looks forward to returning to Thunder Bay and meeting this new crop of Northern writers who are beginning to make a dent in the Canadian literary scene. He will also be running a writing workshop May 7th, at the Mary J. L. Black Library from 10 am until noon.

For more info on Michael Christie, you can check out his website at michaelchristie.net, or on Twitter at @mrmikechristie

Heather L. Dickson is a photoshop guru, zoologist and author of 6 novels.

Visit her website at www.hleightondickson.com

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