Andrea MacPherson is a Canadian poet and novelist.

Biography

Born in 1976 in

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

, she was educated at the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a Public university, public research university with campuses near University of British Columbia Vancouver, Vancouver and University of British Columbia Okanagan, Kelowna, in British Columbia, Canada ...

where she received a

Master's Degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

Creative Writing Creative writing is any writing that goes beyond the boundaries of normal professional, journalistic, academic, or technical forms of literature, typically identified by an emphasis on craft and technique, such as narrative structure, character ...

. She works as a freelance editor and lecturer, and currently teaches writing with

Vancouver Island University Vancouver Island University (abbreviated as VIU, formerly known as Malaspina University-College and Malaspina College) is a Canadian public research university serving Vancouver Island and coastal British Columbia. Malaspina College opened in 196 ...

(VIU) and

Simon Fraser University Simon Fraser University (SFU) is a Public university, public research university in British Columbia, Canada. It maintains three campuses in Greater Vancouver, respectively located in Burnaby (main campus), Surrey, British Columbia, Surrey, and ...

(SFU)'s writing and publishing program, and with the

University of the Fraser Valley The University of the Fraser Valley (UFV), formerly known as University College of the Fraser Valley and Fraser Valley College, is a public university with campuses in Abbotsford, British Columbia, Abbotsford, Chilliwack, Mission, British Columbi ...

(UFV). MacPherson also taught writing classes at various

college A college (Latin: ''collegium'') may be a tertiary educational institution (sometimes awarding degrees), part of a collegiate university, an institution offering vocational education, a further education institution, or a secondary sc ...

s (VIU, UFV, and KPU were all upgraded to

university A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

status from

university college In a number of countries, a university college is a college institution that provides tertiary education but does not have full or independent university status. A university college is often part of a larger university. The precise usage varies f ...

s in 2008), including

Kwantlen Polytechnic University Kwantlen Polytechnic University (KPU) is a public undergraduate degree-granting polytechnic university in British Columbia, Canada, with campuses in Surrey, Richmond, Cloverdale, Whalley, and Langley. KPU is one of the largest institutions b ...

(KPU) and the University of the Fraser Valley. She served as editor of Prism International. MacPherson was the Editor of ''Prism International'' from 2000 to 2001 and took over the position of Reviews Editor with ''Event'

in 2006. She held the position until 2010. MacPherson's first novel, ''When She Was Electric'', was published in 2003 with Raincoast. The novel later went on to be named No. 6 on '' Canada Reads, Canada Reads: People's Choice''. Her second novel, ''Beyond the Blue'', was published in 2007 by

Random House Random House is an imprint and publishing group of Penguin Random House. Founded in 1927 by businessmen Bennett Cerf and Donald Klopfer as an imprint of Modern Library, it quickly overtook Modern Library as the parent imprint. Over the foll ...

Canada and details the lives of four women in 1918

Dundee Dundee (; ; or , ) is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, fourth-largest city in Scotland. The mid-year population estimate for the locality was . It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firt ...

, Scotland. ''Natural Disasters'' was released in July 2007 by Palimpsest Press and is concerned with shared history and the influence of geography on the self, detailing much of the landscape of

. It was longlisted for the 2008

ReLit Awards The ReLit Awards are Canadian literary prizes awarded annually to book-length works in the novel, short-story and poetry categories."Three indie writers honoured by ReLit Awards". ''The Globe and Mail'', July 19, 2007. Founded in 2000 by Newfoundla ...

. Her second collection, ''Away'' was published in 2008 by Signature Editions. It is a collection of travel poems, ranging from an execution yard in

Dublin, Ireland Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

to the calderas of Santorini,

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

. Her poetry was anthologized in 2009's ''How the Light Gets In'', published by the

Waterford Institute of Technology The Waterford Institute of Technology (WIT; ) was an Institutes of technology in the Republic of Ireland, institute of technology, located in Waterford, Ireland. The institute had six constituent schools and offered programmes in business, engi ...

, Ireland.

Selected works

* 2003: ''When She Was Electric'' Raincoast * 2007: ''Beyond the Blue'' Random House * 2007: ''Natural Disasters'' Palimpsest Press * 2008: ''Away: Poems'' Signature Editions * 2009: ''How the Light Gets In'' Waterford Institute

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Macpherson, Andrea Canadian women poets 21st-century Canadian novelists 21st-century Canadian poets Canadian people of Scottish descent Poets from Vancouver Novelists from Vancouver Canadian women novelists Year of birth missing (living people) Living people University of British Columbia alumni 21st-century Canadian women writers