WD Valgardson

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William Dempsey Valgardson (born May 7, 1939 in Winnipeg , Manitoba ) is a Canadian writer who has written novels , short stories and poetry and has received two prestigious Canadian literary awards.

Life

Born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, William Dempsey Valgardson grew up in Gimli , Manitoba in a family of Icelandic origin. Valgardson received a BA from United College, a BA from the University of Manitoba, and a Masters of Fine Arts from the University of Iowa . For a long time he worked as a lecturer in creative writing at the University of Victoria in British Columbia .

His writing mostly focuses on the cultural differences within Canada and uses irony and symbolism as stylistic devices . His short stories depict normal people in normal situations, but under certain circumstances, which lead to unusual and surprising life solutions.

WD Valgardson has won various awards and honors. Among them was the Books in Canada First Novel Award for Gentle Sinners (1980) and the BC Book Prizes belonging Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize for The Girl With the Botticelli Face ( 1992 ). His short story Bloodflowers was included in the Best American Short Stories in 1971.

In his work, in addition to the children's books, the short stories that he wrote especially for young people stand out.

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Short stories
  • Bloodflowers: Ten Stories . Oberon Press, 1973
  • God is Not a Fish Inspector . Oberon, 1975
  • Red dust . Oberon, 1978
    • Excerpt: Bargain purchase in December, in: Columbus and the giant lady. Translator Elfi Schneidbach. Structure publishing house atv, TB, Berlin 1992
  • What Can't Be Changed, Shouldn't Be Mourned . Douglas & McIntyre, 1990
  • The Divorced Kids Club short stories for junior high. Groundwood, 1998
  • Frances novel for junior high. Groundwood, 2002
  • Snow, in Modern Tellers of the World. Canada. Ed. & Transl. Walter E. Riedel. Erdmann , 1976, pp. 363-371 (Snow, from The Malahat Review )
Poems
  • In The Gutting Shed . Turnstone Press, 1976
  • The carpenter of dreams  : poems - Victoria, BC: Skaldhus Press, 1986
Novels
  • Gentle Sinners . Oberon Press 1980
  • The Girl With the Botticelli Face Douglas & McIntyre, 1992
  • What Can't Be Changed Shouldn't Be Mourned [e-book]. Douglas & McIntyre, New York 2009
Books for children and young readers
  • Thor children's picture book, illustrated by Ange Zhang. Groundwood, 1994
  • Winter Rescue illustrated by Ange Zhang. 1st US ed. 1995. Margaret K. McElderry Books, New York 1995
  • Sarah and the People of Sand River children's picture book, illustrations by Ian Wallace. Groundwood, 1996
  • Garbage Creek and Other Stories . Groundwood, 1997
Anthologies
  • What The Bear Said: Skald tales from New Iceland folk tales from Lake Winnipeg . Turnstone Press, 2011
Movie scripts
  • God Is Not A Fish Inspector . Allan Kroeker, Dept. of Education, Manitoba 1980
    • German version of the text: God is not a fisheries inspector, in: Gute Wander, mein Bruder. Übers. Undine Korn. St. Benno Verlag , Leipzig 1986 (English 1975)
  • Capital . Director: Allan Kroeker, 1981, 28 min 40 s
  • The Pedlar based on "A Place of One's Own", director: Allan Kroeker Produced by: Michael Scott 1982, 54 min 32 s
  • Gentle Sinners film (1983) 105 min, director: Eric Till
Broadcast scripts
  • Bloodflowers . CBC 1983
  • Granite Point . CBC 1983
  • Seiche radio drama, CBC, 1988
  • The Divorced Kids Club short stories for junior high - Groundwood, 1998

Awards and nominations

Web links

notes

  1. ↑ first published in 1980 according to other sources. German version: Balance , in explorations . 26 Canadian storytellers. Ed. Karla El-Hassan, Helga Militz. Verlag Volk und Welt , Berlin 1986, pp. 247-260. In English again in Contemporary Canadian Short Stories. Reclam, Stuttgart 1990
personal data
SURNAME Valgardson, WD
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Valgardson, William Dempsey
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Canadian writer and university professor of Icelandic origin
DATE OF BIRTH May 7, 1939
PLACE OF BIRTH Winnipeg , Manitoba , Canada