Chris Turner (born July 25, 1973) 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 ...

journalist and author.

Biography

Turner was born in

Moose Jaw Moose Jaw is the 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. Residents of Moose Jaw are known as Moose Javians ...

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada, western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on t ...

, where his father, a fighter pilot, was stationed with the Canadian military. 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 Queen's or Queens University may refer to: *Queen's University at Kingston, Ontario, Canada *Queen's University Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK **Queen's University of Belfast (UK Parliament constituency) (1918–1950) **Queen's University of Belfast ...

, 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) is a public research university located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The university's core campus is situated within the Garden District, although it also operates facilities elsewhere in Toro ...

, 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 New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

'', ''

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 approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...

'', ''

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 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 News UK, whi ...

'', ''

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

'', ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', ''

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'' 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 ...

''. His latest work is ''How To Breathe Underwater'' (2014), a collection of his award-winning magazine writing from the last 15 years. He is currently working on a new book for Simon & Schuster with a working title of ''The Patch'', which will be an analysis of the importance and history of the oilsands. Turner was the recipient of a Fleck Fellowship at the Banff Centre in 2010. In 2009 he co-founded CivicCamp in Calgary. He was featured speaker for the Deakin Innovation Lectures in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

, 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, or artist residencies, encompass a wide spectrum of artistic programs which involve a collaboration between artists and hosting organisations, institutions, or communities. They are programs which provide artists with space a ...

at Berton House in Dawson City, Yukon. Turner lives in

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, makin ...

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 ...

, 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''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: * ''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.

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 social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence. Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundation ...

candidate for the

Calgary Centre Calgary Centre (french: Calgary-Centre; formerly known as Calgary South Centre) is a federal electoral district in Alberta, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 1968. The riding consists of many young adul ...

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 People from Moose Jaw Writers from Saskatchewan Queen's University at Kingston alumni Toronto Metropolitan University alumni Green Party of Canada candidates in byelections Alberta candidates for Member of Parliament