Miriam Toews was born in the Mennonite town of Steinbach, Manitoba, in central Canada in 1964. After high school she moved to Montreal, travelled Europe, and returned to Manitoba only for her studies. She did her bachelor’s degree in cinematography, and studied journalism in Halifax. She produced numerous radio documentaries,
Miguel Syjuco was born in 1976 in the Philippine capital city Manila. Fleeing with his parents from the Marcos regime, he spent a decade of his childhood in Canada, but otherwise grew up in Manila. Against what his father, an active politician, hoped for, his youngest son already knew from
“This book is like a dialogue, an open door between our childhood world and the world of adults. I wanted to let the world be seen through the eyes of this young girl who wonders about a very simple experience: existence!” This is what Michèle Lemieux has to say about
Michael Ondaatje was born in Ceylon (today Sri Lanka) in 1943. After spending ten years in England, where he began his studies, the eighteen-year-old migrated to Canada and has been a Canadian citizen since 1962. He studied at Bishop’s University, the University of Toronto and Queen’s University, and since 1971
Michael Day is a Canadian-born sinologist (currently a UK citizen). He studied at the University of British Columbia, spent many years in China, and is considered an expert for Chinese avant-garde poetry. He helped Liao Yiwu to record his poem »Massacre« on tape. Day has worked with the Digital Archive
earned a master’s degree in Middle East Studies from New York University. He is a contributing writer for the »New York Times Magazine« and has reported on Afghanistan and the Middle East since 2008. He won the Pulitzer Prize in 2022 for his work in a team covering civilian casualties
Matthew Forsythe was born in Toronto, Canada, and works as a writer, comic artist, animator, and illustrator. His debut work, »Ojingogo« (2008), was originally published as a webcomic. The comic, which tells the story of a girl, her octopus, and the creatures the two encounter, won the Pigskin Peters Award,
Martin Winckler was born as Marc Zaffran in Algeria in 1955. His family moved first to Israel, and then to France in 1962. He passed his state exams in 1982 at the medical faculty in Tours. In 1983 he opened his own practice and performed abortions in a clinic. For
Martha Brooks was born in 1944 in Ninette, Manitoba and she is considered one of the most important authors of youth literature. When asked about her personal style of narration, she has said, “Each book takes me where I never expected to go. I don’t plot. The energy is all
Mark Strand was born in 1934 in Summerside on the Canadian Prince Edward Island and he grew up in the United States and South America. He studied at Antioch College in Ohio, at Yale University and at the University of Iowa, where he started teaching after a residence in Italy
Canadian writer Madeleine Thien was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, in 1974, the year her Chinese-Malaysian family immigrated to Canada. Pursuing her childhood interest in ballet, Thien studied modern dance at Simon Fraser University. From 1994 on she was a student at the University of British Columbia, where she received
Canadian poet, essayist and translator, began publishing in the early 90s in Vancouver. She also extends her work with language and sound beyond the page, into exhibition and performance. Her 9th book of poetry, »3 Summers«, is about to be published by Coach House books. She lives in France.
