Winter’s Tales Authors’ Reading Series presents Elizabeth Hay
Fiction writer Elizabeth Hay is deservedly blessed with devoted fans across Canada, and PEI is no exception. She will read from her new work, including the novel His Whole Life, on Friday, October 21, at 7:30 pm in the UPEI Faculty Lounge, SDU Main Building. A reception and book signing will follow.
Novelist Annabel Lyon says of His Whole Life, “This most wonderful of novels offers an unsentimental look at the sweetness and pain of boyhood against the backdrop of Quebec’s independence movement in the 1990s. Conflicts large and small between city and country, French and English, [Canadian] wife and [American] husband, mother and son play out in Elizabeth Hay’s signature tender but incisive prose.”
His Whole Life partly grows out of Hay’s experience of marrying an American and having dual-citizen children, her lasting regret for not getting her son a dog when he wanted one at age ten, and a question he asked during a camping trip: “What’s the worst thing you’ve ever done?”
Hay’s fictional worlds reflect her loving embrace of the landscapes and communities where she has lived, from her childhood years in Owen Sound and the Bruce Peninsula to a richly influential adolescent stay in England. Her adulthood and writing career have found her in Yellowknife, Winnipeg, New York City, Latin America, and now Old Ottawa South and her mother’s home region of the Ottawa Valley.
Her numerous prize and nominations include the Giller Prize for Late Nights on Air, the Ottawa Book Award for Garbo Laughs, and being a finalist twice for the Governor General’s Award for Fiction for Small Change and A Student of Weather. In 2002 she was honoured with the Marian Engel Award for a woman writer in mid-career.
Winter’s Tales is sponsored by the UPEI English Department, Faculty of Arts, and the office of the Vice-President Academic and Research, with funding from The Canada Council for the Arts.
The University of Prince Edward Island prides itself on people, excellence, and impact and is committed to assisting students reach their full potential in both the classroom and community. With roots stemming from two founding institutions—Prince of Wales College and Saint Dunstan’s University—UPEI has a reputation for academic excellence, research innovation, and creating positive impacts locally, nationally, and internationally. UPEI is the only degree granting institution in the province and is proud to be a key contributor to the growth and prosperity of Prince Edward Island.
