William Stener Ferguson (born October 12, 1964) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

travel writer and novelist who won the Scotiabank Giller Prize for his novel ''

419 Year 419 (Roman numerals, CDXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Monaxius and Plinta (or, less frequently, year 117 ...

''. Ferguson was born fourth of six children in the former fur trading post of

Fort Vermilion, Alberta Fort Vermilion is a hamlet on the Peace River in northern Alberta, Canada, within Mackenzie County. Established in 1788, Fort Vermilion shares the title of oldest European settlement in Alberta with Fort Chipewyan. Fort Vermilion contains man ...

, approximately north of

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...

. His parents split up when he was six years old, during a brief interlude in Regina. At the age of 16, he quit school and moved to

Saskatoon Saskatoon () is the largest city in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It straddles a bend in the South Saskatchewan River in the central region of the province. It is located along the Trans-Canada Yellowhead Highway, and has served as th ...

, Dauphin, and

Red Deer The red deer (''Cervus elaphus'') is one of the largest deer species. A male red deer is called a stag or hart, and a female is called a hind. The red deer inhabits most of Europe, the Caucasus Mountains region, Anatolia, Iran, and parts of we ...

. Ferguson is also an outspoken critic of the

monarchy of Canada The monarchy of Canada is Canada's form of government embodied by the Canadian sovereign and head of state. It is at the core of Canada's constitutional federal structure and Westminster-style parliamentary democracy. The monarchy is the fou ...

, both publicly and in his books, and has previously been quoted in the media during debates on Canada's monarchy. He also profiled Canadian secessionist and independence movements (such as the "

Republic of Madawaska The Republic of Madawaska (french: République du Madawaska, link=no) was a putative republic in the northwest corner of Madawaska County, New Brunswick (also known as the "New Brunswick Panhandle") and adjacent areas of Aroostook County in ...

") in his book ''Beauty Tips from Moose Jaw'' (2004).

Personal life

Ferguson completed his high school education at Lindsay Thurber Comprehensive High School (L.T.C.H.S.) in Red Deer, and was awarded the Alexander Rutherford Scholarships in all available categories. He then joined the Canadian government funded programs Katimavik and Canada World Youth. The latter program sent him to

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ' ...

in South America, as described in his book ''Why I Hate Canadians''. He studied film production and screenwriting at

York University York University (french: Université York), also known as YorkU or simply YU, is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's fourth-largest university, and it has approximately 55,700 students, 7,0 ...

in Toronto, graduating with a B.F.A. (Special Honours) in 1990. He currently resides in Calgary,

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

. His son Genki Ferguson is the author of the novel ''Satellite Love''. His older brother, Ian Ferguson, won the Stephen Leacock Medal for his memoir ''Village of the Small Houses'' in 2004. Another brother, Sean Ferguson, is currently the dean of music at McGill University. Ferguson joined the

JET Programme The , or , is a Japanese government initiative that brings college (university) graduates—mostly native speakers of English—to Japan as Assistant Language Teachers (ALTs) and Sports Education Advisors (SEAs) in Japanese kindergartens, element ...

in the early 1990s, and lived in Kyushu, Japan, for five years teaching English. He married his wife, Terumi, in

Kumamoto is the capital city of Kumamoto Prefecture on the island of Kyushu, Japan. , the city has an estimated population of 738,907 and a population density of 1,893 people per km2. The total area is 390.32 km2. had a population of 1,461,000, ...

in 1995. After coming back from Japan, he experienced a severe reverse

culture shock Culture shock is an experience a person may have when one moves to a cultural environment which is different from one's own; it is also the personal disorientation a person may feel when experiencing an unfamiliar way of life due to immigration ...

, which became the basis for his first book, ''Why I Hate Canadians''. He details his experiences hitchhiking across Japan in ''Hokkaido Highway Blues'', later retitled ''Hitching Rides with Buddha''.

Awards and honours

Ferguson was a runner-up for the 1999

Edna Staebler Award The Edna Staebler Award for Creative Non-Fiction is an annual literary award recognizing the previous year's best creative nonfiction book with a "Canadian locale and/or significance" that is a Canadian writer's "first or second published book of ...

for

Creative Non-Fiction Creative nonfiction (also known as literary nonfiction or narrative nonfiction or literary journalism or verfabula) is a genre of writing that uses literary styles and techniques to create factually accurate narratives. Creative nonfiction contra ...

for ''I Was a Teenage Katima Victim: A Canadian Odyssey''.''Wilfrid Laurier University''
1999: Michael Poole, (retrieved 11/17/2012) Ferguson has won the

Stephen Leacock Memorial Medal for Humour The Stephen Leacock Memorial Medal for Humour, also known as the Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour or just the Leacock Medal, is an annual literary award presented for the best book of humour written in English by a Canadian writer, published or self ...

three times: first for ''Generica'' (later renamed ''Happiness'') in 2002, then for ''Beauty Tips from Moose Jaw'' in 2005 and for his travel memoir ''Beyond Belfast'' in 2010. Ferguson won the 2012

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 competitio ...

for ''

'' (2012).Will Ferguson takes Giller Prize for novel 419
''

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and pa ...

'', October 30, 2012 The novel went on to win the 2013 Libris Award from the Canadian Booksellers Association for Fiction Book of the Year. He also served on the jury of the 2015 Hilary Weston Prize for literary nonfiction. In 2021, he won the Crime Writers of Canada Award for Best Novel for ''The Finder''.Vicky Qiao
"Will Ferguson among the winners of 2021 Crime Writers of Canada Awards"

CBC Books CBC Arts (french: Radio-Canada Arts) is the division of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation that creates and curates written articles, short documentaries, non-fiction series and interactive projects that represent the excellence of Canada's div ...

, May 28, 2021. Ferguson is on the board of directors of the Chawkers Foundation, which provides support for literary, artistic, environmental and educational projects. In 2016, he received an honorary degree in English from

Mount Royal University Mount Royal University (MRU) is a public university in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. History Mount Royal University was founded by Alberta provincial charter by the Arthur Sifton government on December 16, 1910 and officially opened on September 8, ...

Other activities

Ferguson championed '' Sarah Binks'' by Paul Hiebert in '' Canada Reads 2003''.

Bibliography

* ''Why I Hate Canadians'' (1997) * ''I Was a Teenage Katima-Victim!'' (1998) * ''Hokkaido Highway Blues'' (1998), republished in 2005 as ''Hitching Rides with Buddha'' * ''The Hitchhiker's Guide to Japan'' (1998) * ''Bastards and Boneheads: Canada's Glorious Leaders, Past and Present'' (1999) * ''Canadian History for Dummies'' (2000, revised 2005) * ''Generica'' (2001), winner of the

Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour The Stephen Leacock Memorial Medal for Humour, also known as the Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour or just the Leacock Medal, is an annual literary award presented for the best book of humour written in English by a Canadian writer, published or self ...

, later republished as ''Happiness™'' * ''How to Be a Canadian'' (2001), cowritten with Ian Ferguson * ''Beauty Tips from Moose Jaw: Travels in Search of Canada'' (2004), winner of the

* ''The Penguin Anthology of Canadian Humour'' (editor) (2006) * ''Spanish Fly'' (2007) published in the UK as ''Hustle'' * ''Beyond Belfast: A 560-Mile Walk Across Northern Ireland on Sore Feet'' (2009), winner of the

* ''Coal Dust Kisses: A Christmas Memoir'' (2010) * ''Canadian Pie'' (2011) * ''

'' (2012), winner of the

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 ...

* ''Road Trip Rwanda: A Journey into the New Heart of Africa'' (2015) * ''The Shoe on the Roof'' (2017) * ''The Finder'' (2020), winner of the 2021 Crime Writers of Canada Award for Best Novel

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ferguson, Will 1964 births Canadian memoirists Canadian male novelists Writers from Alberta People from Mackenzie County Living people Canadian republicans Stephen Leacock Award winners Canadian expatriates in Japan York University alumni 21st-century Canadian novelists Canadian travel writers Canadian male essayists 21st-century Canadian essayists 21st-century Canadian male writers 21st-century memoirists