June 23, 2008

NEWS RELEASE

Vancouver writer Charlotte Gill named 2008-2009 Markin-Flanagan Canadian Writer-in-Residence

The University of Calgary’s Markin-Flanagan Distinguished Writers Program in the Faculty of Humanities announced today that Charlotte Gill (left) is the 2008-2009 Markin-Flanagan Canadian Writer-in-Residence. Gill will be is residence from August 15, 2008 to June 15, 2009.

During her residency, Gill will devote 50 per cent of her time to writing and 50 per cent of her time to community activities, including individual manuscript consultations with local writers, public readings, and workshops. While in Calgary, she will work primarily on her memoir, Spade Life.

Charlotte Gill was born a twin in London, England to an English mother and a Sikh father. In 1972 her parents moved with the family to Canada. They lived briefly in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia before moving to Toronto. She was raised there and in rural New York State, where her family settled in the late seventies. She returned to Canada to attend the University of Toronto.

As a student Gill spent her summers working as a tree planter in northern Ontario. After her graduation from the U of T, this tree planting occupation continued, taking her west to Alberta and remote sections of British Columbia. In nearly 20 years, Gill has planted more than a million trees over an area equivalent to 600 Manhattan city blocks. The unique subculture attendant to this intense, gritty labour is the topic of her current non-fiction project, a memoir titled Spade Life.

In 2000 Gill graduated from the MFA program in creative writing at the University of British Columbia. Her Masters thesis became her first book, Ladykiller, seven stories exploring some of the darker undercurrents of urban living. Ladykiller was nominated for a Governor General’s Literary Award and went on to win the Danuta Gleed Award, a national prize for best debut short story collection, and the B.C. Book Prize for fiction.

Gill’s work has appeared in many Canadian magazines. Her literary journalism has been nominated for National and Western Magazine Awards. Her short stories have been anthologized in Best Canadian Stories and The Journey Prize Stories and have been broadcast on CBC Radio.

“The Markin-Flanagan residency is a special opportunity - a wonderful way, especially, to be introduced to a community of writers,” says Gill. “I look forward to exploring Calgary, as well as its beautiful surroundings.”

Gill reads with 2007 – 2008 Markin-Flanagan Canadian Writer-in-Residence Sina Queyras on Wednesday, September 10, 2008 at 7:30 pm at the Engineered Air Theatre, EPCOR CENTRE for the Performing Arts. Gill reads from her award-winning short story collection Ladykiller and Queyras reads from a selection of new work written during her residency. The reading is free and open to the public.

Housed in the University of Calgary’s Faculty of Humanities, the Markin-Flanagan Distinguished Writers Program celebrates reading and writing through a unique vision. It helps advance the careers of promising Canadian writers and enriches the Canadian writing community through two residency programs: a 10-month residency for emerging Canadian writers; and residencies of varying length for writers of international distinction.

For more information or to arrange interviews with Charlotte Gill, contact Janice Lee at (403) 220.8177 or leej@ucalgary.ca. For information on the Markin-Flanagan program, visit http://www.markinflanagan.com/.