Chris Turner (born July 25, 1973) is a

Canadian Canadians () 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 their being ''C ...

journalist and author.

Biography

Turner was born in

Moose Jaw Moose Jaw is the List of cities in Saskatchewan, fourth largest city in Saskatchewan, Canada. Lying on the Moose Jaw River in the south-central part of the province, it is situated on the Trans-Canada Highway, west of Regina, Saskatchewan, Re ...

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada. It is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and to the south by the ...

, where his father, a fighter pilot, was stationed with the

Canadian military The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF; , FAC) are the unified military forces of Canada, including sea, land, and air commands referred to as the Royal Canadian Navy, Canadian Army and the Royal Canadian Air Force. Under the ''National Defence Act'', t ...

. As a

military brat A military brat (colloquial or military slang) is a child of serving or retired military personnel. Military brats are associated with a unique subcultureDavid C. Pollock, Ruth E. van Reken. ''Third Culture Kids: Growing Up Among Worlds'', Revise ...

, he lived in the Canadian North, the American Midwest, and Germany. He graduated from Queen's University, in Kingston, Ontario, in 1996 with an honours Bachelor of Arts in history. He also holds a journalism degree from

Ryerson Polytechnic University Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU, or Toronto Met), formerly Ryerson University, is a Public university, public research university located in Toronto, Canada. The university's core campus is situated within the Garden District, Toronto, Gar ...

, Toronto (1998). While at Ryerson, he completed an editorial internship at '' Shift'' magazine. Following graduation from Ryerson, Turner reported on culture and technology for '' Shift'' from 1998 to 2003. His writing has also appeared in, ''

The Walrus ''The Walrus'' is an independent, nonprofit Canadian media organization. It is multi-platform and produces an eight-issue-per-year magazine and online editorial content that includes current affairs, fiction, poetry, and podcasts, a nation ...

'', ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...

'', ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Newspapers in Canada, Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in Western Canada, western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of more than 6 million in 2024, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on week ...

'', ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'', ''

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British Sunday newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of N ...

'', ''

Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

'', ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'', ''

Utne Reader ''Utne Reader'' (also known as ''Utne''; , ) is a digital digest that collects and reprints articles on politics, culture, and the environment, generally from alternative media sources including journals, newsletters, weeklies, zines, music, and ...

'', ''

Adbusters The Adbusters Media Foundation is a Canadian-based not-for-profit, pro-environment organization founded in 1989 by Kalle Lasn and Bill Schmalz in Vancouver, British Columbia. Adbusters describes itself as "a global network of artists, activis ...

'' and ''

The South China Morning Post The ''South China Morning Post'' (''SCMP''), with its Sunday edition, the ''Sunday Morning Post'', is a Hong Kong-based English-language newspaper owned by Alibaba Group. Founded in 1903 by Tse Tsan-tai and Alfred Cunningham, it has remained ...

''. Turner was the recipient of a Fleck Fellowship at the

Banff Centre Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity (formerly Banff Centre) is an arts and culture educational institution in Banff, Alberta, Banff, Alberta. It offers arts programs in the Performing arts, performing and fine arts, as well as leadership trai ...

in 2010. In 2009 he co-founded CivicCamp in Calgary. He was featured speaker for the Deakin Innovation Lectures in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

, Australia, in 2008. He has given keynote addresses or lectures at thirteen university campuses, four literary festivals and approximately thirty major professional and industrial conferences nationwide. In 2013 Turner was the

writer-in-residence Artist-in-residence (also Writer-in-residence), or artist residencies, encompass a wide spectrum of artistic programs that involve a collaboration between artists and hosting organisations, institutions, or communities. They are programs that pr ...

at Berton House in

Dawson City Dawson City is a town in the Canadian territory of Yukon. It is inseparably linked to the Klondike Gold Rush (1896–1899). Its population was 1,577 as of the 2021 census, making it the second-largest municipality in Yukon. History Prior t ...

, Yukon. Turner lives in

Calgary Calgary () is a major city in the Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the third-largest city and fifth-largest metropolitan area in C ...

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

, with his wife, the photographer Ashley Bristowe, and two children.

Literary career

Turner's works include the bestselling '' Planet Simpson: How a Cartoon Masterpiece Documented an Era and Defined a Generation'', published in 2004, and ''Geography of Hope: A Guided Tour of the World We Need'', which was nominated for the Governor General's Literary Award and the National Business Book Award and was listed on the ''

Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of more than 6 million in 2024, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it fall ...

''s 2007 "''Globe'' 100" list of the best books of the year.Canadian Writers Group
Chris Turner Biography
. Retrieved on: 2012-07-21. Turner's magazine writing has earned him nine Canadian National Magazine Awards, including the 2001 President's Medal for General Excellence (the highest honour in Canadian magazine writing).The Green Interview
Chris Turner Bio
. Retrieved on: 2012-07-21.

Books

Books written by Turner include the following: * ''How to Be a Climate Optimist: Blueprints for a Better World'' (Random House Canada, 2022) * ''The Patch: The People, Pipelines and Politics of the Oilsands'' (Simon and Schuster, 2017) * ''How to Breathe Underwater'' ( Biblioasis, 2014) * ''The War on Science'' (Greystone Books, 2013) * ''The Leap: How to Survive and Thrive in the Sustainable Economy'' (Random House, 2011) * ''The Best Canadian Essays 2010'' (Tightrope Books, 2010; contributor) * ''The Best Canadian Essays 2009'' (Tightrope Books 2009; contributor) * ''The Geography of Hope: A Tour of the World We Need'' (Random House, 2007) * '' Planet Simpson: How a Cartoon Masterpiece Documented an Era and Defined a Generation'' (Random House 2004, revised ed. 2008)

Awards

''The Leap'' was a finalist for the 2012 National Business Book Award and longlisted for the BC National Award for Canadian Nonfiction. ''The Geography of Hope'' was a finalist for the Governor General's Literary Award for Nonfiction, the National Business Book Award and the Alberta Literary Award for Nonfiction. Turner has received seven Canadian

National Magazine Awards The National Magazine Awards, also known as the Ellie Awards, honor print and digital publications that consistently demonstrate superior execution of editorial objectives, innovative techniques, noteworthy enterprise and imaginative design. Or ...

for his work in ''Shift'', ''The Walrus'' and ''Alberta Views''. His essay "Why Technology Is Failing Us (And How We Can Fix It)", won the 2001 President's Medal for General Excellence, the highest honour in Canadian magazine writing. In 2023 he won the Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing for his book ''How to Be a Climate Optimist: Blueprints for a Better World''.

Electoral politics

Turner ran as the

Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as environmentalism and social justice. Green party platforms typically embrace Social democracy, social democratic economic policies and fo ...

candidate for the Calgary Centre federal by-election held on November 26, 2012.

Notes

External links

Federal Election Campaign PageAuthor Website: The Geography of Hope
{{DEFAULTSORT:Turner, Chris 1973 births Living people Canadian non-fiction writers Writers from Moose Jaw Queen's University at Kingston alumni Toronto Metropolitan University alumni Green Party of Canada candidates in byelections Alberta candidates for Member of Parliament