Vincent Lam (born September 5, 1974) is a Canadian writer and medical doctor.

Early life and education

Born in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

and raised in Ottawa, Lam's parents came to Canada from the Chinese expatriate community in Vietnam. He attended St. Pius X High School and did his medical training at the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 ...

, graduating in 1999.

Career

Lam worked as an emergency physician at Toronto East General Hospital and has done international air evacuation work and expedition medicine on

Arctic The Arctic ( or ) is a polar region located at the northernmost part of Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean, adjacent seas, and parts of Canada (Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut), Danish Realm (Greenland), Finland, Iceland, N ...

and Antarctic ships. He is currently working as an addictions physician at Coderix Medical Clinic.

Writing career

Lam's first book '' Bloodletting and Miraculous Cures'' is based on his experiences in medical school. ''Bloodletting and Miraculous Cures'' won the 2006

Scotiabank Giller Prize The Giller Prize (sponsored as the Scotiabank Giller Prize), is a literary award given to a Canadian author of a novel or short story collection published in English (including translation) the previous year, after an annual juried competition be ...

, Canada's most prestigious literary award, on November 7, 2006. ''Bloodletting and Miraculous Cures'' was also a finalist for The Story Prize in 2008. His second book, the ''Flu Pandemic and You'', which was co-authored by Colin Lee, was published in 2008. Following Lam's Giller win,

Shaftesbury Films Shaftesbury Films is a film, television and digital media production company founded by Christina Jennings in 1987. It is based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Background Shaftesbury is a creator and producer of original content for television an ...

announced that it had reached a deal to adapt ''Bloodletting'' into a television series, which debuted in January 2010 on

HBO Canada HBO (previously known as HBO Canada, and still referred to as such on social media) is a Canadian premium television network from Crave (formerly The Movie Network), which is owned by Bell Media. The channel is primarily devoted to original pro ...

. Lam published a biography of Canadian politician

Tommy Douglas Thomas Clement Douglas (20 October 1904 – 24 February 1986) was a Scottish-born Canadian politician who served as seventh premier of Saskatchewan from 1944 to 1961 and Leader of the New Democratic Party from 1961 to 1971. A Baptist min ...

, as part of Penguin Canada's ''Extraordinary Canadians'' series of historical biographies. His first novel, ''The Headmaster's Wager'', was published in 2012 by Doubleday Canada and has been shortlisted for the 2012

Governor General's Literary Award The Governor General's Awards are a collection of annual awards presented by the Governor General of Canada, recognizing distinction in numerous academic, artistic, and social fields. The first award was conceived and inaugurated in 1937 by the ...

Personal life

Lam currently lives with his wife and three children in Toronto.

Bibliography

*''The Flu Pandemic and You'', co-written with Colin Lee with a foreword by Margaret Atwood (2006, ) *''Bloodletting and Miraculous Cures'' (2006, ) *''Extraordinary Canadians: Tommy Douglas'' (2011) *''The Headmaster's Wager'' (2012)

References

External links

* * 1974 births Canadian medical writers Canadian male novelists Canadian emergency physicians Canadian male short story writers Canadian biographers Male biographers Canadian people of Chinese descent Canadian people of Vietnamese descent Living people Writers from London, Ontario Writers from Ottawa Writers from Toronto University of Toronto alumni Canadian writers of Asian descent 21st-century Canadian novelists 21st-century biographers 21st-century Canadian short story writers 21st-century Canadian male writers Canadian male non-fiction writers {{Canada-writer-stub