Writers

Scottish law professor Alexander McCall Smith had already written more than 50 books before inventing the heroine for his No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series: Precious Ramotswe, the only female P.I. in Botswana. His subsequent bestsellers, in that series and others, have established him as one of the best-selling authors in the world.

  

  Lawrence Hill’s third novel The Book of Negroes, has won many awards and has been a huge bestseller in Canada and abroad. He has also been recognized for his accomplishments in memoirs, non-fiction, reporting and documentary writing. Hill grew up in Toronto and now lives in Hamilton with his family.
Steven Galloway was born in Vancouver and raised in Kamloops, British Columbia. He is the author of Finnie Walsh (2000), Ascension (2003) and the highly-acclaimed The Cellist of Sarajevo (2008), which was a Scotiabank Giller Prize nominee. He teaches creative writing at UBC and SFU, and lives with his wife and two young daughters in New Westminster, British Columbia.  


  Amanda Boyden is, along with her husband Joseph, a writer-in-residence at the University of New Orleans. She has published non-fiction, short fiction, and two novels, Pretty Little Dirty (2006) and Babylon Rolling (2008). Set in New Orleans, Babylon Rolling was released to generous critical acclaim, including numerous end-of-the-year book list picks.
Joseph Boyden, a writer-in-residence at the University of New Orleans, won the Scotiabank Giller prize for Through Black Spruce, as well as numerous other awards for that book and his debut novel Three Day Road. We are pleased to welcome Joseph back for a return engagement at Writers at Woody Point.
  
  Kevin Major is the author of fifteen books, many of them award-winning. His work has been translated into several languages. By the late 1980’s Kevin had established himself as one of Canada’s best writers for young adults, but his writings over the years have included adult fiction, literary non-fiction, poetry and plays. Kevin’s family roots are in Bonne Bay; we are delighted to have him read at Writers at Woody Point.

J.A. Ricketts emerged on the Newfoundland writing scene in 2008 with her first novel, The Badger Riot. It was received with much critical acclaim and it quickly became a Canadian bestseller. A sequel will be published in 2010.


  

  Trudy J. Morgan-Cole, a writer and teacher in St. John’s, has published four works of historical fiction. The latest, By the Rivers of Brooklyn (2009), explores the hopes, passions and heartbreaks of a group of Newfoundlanders who, like many in the early 20th century, leave their homeland in hopes of a better life elsewhere. By the Rivers of Brooklyn transforms into fiction the experience of the 75,000 first- and second-generation Newfoundlanders who once lived in Brooklyn, New York – and the universal experience of migration, of people throughout history who have gone away to find work and prosperity but never stopped dreaming of home.
Des Walsh’s fourth and most recent collection of poetry is The Singer’s Broken Throat (Talonbooks). He has written a dozen produced stage plays including The Moon Shone Bright (Breakwater Books). Walsh’s screenwriting credits include the international hit miniseries’ The Boys of St. Vincent and Random Passage. Love and Savagery, his first feature film, was released November 13, 2009. His work has won many prestigious international awards including a Gemini Award.