fiction.wikisort.org - Writer

Ami McKay (born 1968) is an American Canadian novelist, playwright and journalist.

This biography of a living person needs additional citations for verification. (August 2020)

McKay was born in Lebanon, Indiana,[1] but now lives with her husband and two sons on the Bay of Fundy. She began her writing career as a freelancer for CBC Radio. Her work has aired on Maritime Magazine, Outfront, This Morning and The Sunday Edition. Her documentary, Daughter of Family G won an Excellence in Journalism Medallion at the 2003 Atlantic Journalism Awards. She was a finalist in the Writers' Union of Canada's Short Prose Competition as well as the recipient of a grant from the Nova Scotia Department of Tourism, Culture and Heritage.

The Birth House was McKay's first published effort and reached the Number One spot on Canadian best sellers lists^{[citation needed]}. Her second novel, The Virgin Cure, was published in 2012.

Her first script for the stage, Jerome: The Historical Spectacle was commissioned by Two Planks and a Passion Theatre Company and was staged at The Ross Creek Centre for the Arts, directed by Ken Schwartz in August 2008.

Awards and recognition

• 2012 - Established Artist Recognition Award—Creative Nova Scotia Leadership Council / Province of Nova Scotia
• 2012 - Atlantic Independent Booksellers' Association "Bookseller's Choice of the Year" award for The Virgin Cure
• 2010 - One of the five finalists in CBC's Canada Reads. Her book is championed by TV host and designer Debbie Travis.
• 2009 - Robert Meritt Award (co-winner with Allen Cole) for Outstanding Sound Design or Original Score for the 2008 production of Jerome: The Historical Spectacle produced by Two Planks and Passion Theatre Company
• Feb 2008 - 2007 Evergreen Award. Presented by the Ontario Librarian's Assoc.
• Nov 2007 - Longlisted for the Dublin IMPAC Award
• June 2007 - Libris Awards for Best Author and Best Fiction Book of 2007. Presented by the Canadian Booksellers Association
• May 2007 - Bookseller's Choice Award at the Atlantic Book Awards
• March 2004 - Second Place in The H.R.(Bill) Percy Prize for Unpublished Novel by the Writer's Federation of Nova Scotia.
• January 2003 Finalist in the Writers' Union of Canada Short Prose Competition, Illumination
• April 2003 Gabriel Award Nomination, Daughter of Family G
• May 2003 Atlantic Journalism Awards - Excellence in Journalism Award (Finalist in the Feature Writing for Radio Category, Daughter of Family G)
• October 2003 - Daughter of Family G was selected to air on Soundprint, and aired on National Public Radio stations throughout the U.S.
• November 2002 - May 2003 Apprentice in the WFNS Mentorship Program Paired with Richard Cumyn

Writing credits

• Half Spent was the Night: : A Witches' Yuletide Published by Knopf (Canada)
• The Witches of New York Published by Knopf (Canada), HarperCollins (US), Orion (UK)
• The Virgin Cure: A Novel Published by Knopf(Canada), HarperCollins (US), Orion (UK), Neri Pozza (Italy - de casa della vergini)
• Jerome: The Historical Spectacle [play] Published by Gaspereau Press 2008. First staged by Two Planks and Passion Theatre Company 1 Aug - 17 Aug 2008 at the Ross Creek Centre for the Arts.
• The Birth House: A Novel Published by Knopf (Canada), 4th Estate (UK), Harper Collins (US), also in the Netherlands, Germany, Spain (La Casa de la Luna) and Lithuania (Gimdymo namai, published by Vaga)
• Christ on a Bike, Short Story, Room of One's Own Magazine
• Daughter of Family G, Feature Documentary for CBC Radio's The Sunday Edition. Published in book form in September 2019 by Knopf (Canada).
• Kitchen Ghosts, Feature Documentary for CBC Radio's Outfront
• The Midwife House, Feature Webumentary for CBC Radio's Outfront
• From Smart Girl to Scat Girl, Feature Documentary for CBC Radio's Outfront
• Learning to Box, Personal Essay for CBC Radio's First Person Singular

Affiliations

• The Writers Federation of Nova Scotia - Writer's Council Member
• PEN Canada & the PEN Canada Rapid Action Network
• Writing Fellow at the Ross Creek Centre for the Arts

See also

• List of Canadian writers

References

External links

• Official website
• "Ami McKay" in The Canadian Encyclopedia

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