Craig Davidson (born 1975) is a Canadian author of short stories and novels, who has published work under both his own name and the

pen name A pen name, also called a ''nom de plume'' or a literary double, is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen na ...

s Patrick Lestewka and Nick Cutter. His style has been compared to that of Chuck Palahniuk.

Early life

Born in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most pop ...

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 ...

, he was raised 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, maki ...

and

St. Catharines St. Catharines is the largest city in Canada's Niagara Region and the sixth largest urban area in the province of Ontario. As of 2016, it has an area of , 136,803 residents, and a metropolitan population of 406,074. It lies in Southern Ontario ...

."Craig Davidson: The fighter returns"
''

National Post The ''National Post'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet newspaper available in several cities in central and western Canada. The paper is the flagship publication of Postmedia Network and is published Mondays through Saturdays, with ...

'', September 13, 2013. Davidson attended both

Trent University Trent University is a public liberal arts university in Peterborough, Ontario, with a satellite campus in Oshawa, which serves the Regional Municipality of Durham. Trent is known for its Oxbridge college system and small class sizes.

and the

University of New Brunswick The University of New Brunswick (UNB) is a public university with two primary campuses in Fredericton and Saint John, New Brunswick, Saint John, New Brunswick. It is the oldest English-language university in Canada, and among the oldest public un ...

Career

His first short story collection, '' Rust and Bone'', was later published in September 2005 by Penguin Books Canada, and was a finalist for the 2006 Danuta Gleed Literary Award. Stories in ''Rust and Bone'' have also been adapted into a play by Australian playwright Caleb Lewis and a Golden Globe-nominated film by French director Jacques Audiard. Davidson also released a novel in 2007 named ''The Fighter''. During the course of his research of the novel, Davidson went on a 16-week steroid cycle. To promote the release of the novel, Davidson participated in a fully sanctioned boxing match against Toronto poet Michael Knox at Florida Jack's Boxing Gym; for the novel's subsequent release in the United States, his publisher organized a similar promotional boxing match against Jonathan Ames. Davidson lost both matches. His 2013 novel ''

Cataract City ''Cataract City'' is a 2013 novel by Craig Davidson published in Canada by Doubleday. The title refers to the city nickname of Niagara Falls and is derived from the Latin word for waterfalls. Summary The novel is about two childhood friends, D ...

'' was named as a shortlisted nominee for the 2013 Scotiabank Giller Prize. In addition to his literary fiction, Davidson has also published several works of horror literature using the pseudonyms Patrick Lestewka and Nick Cutter. In 2014, he released the thriller novel ''The Troop'', with ''The Deep'' following in 2015. In 2018, his memoir ''Precious Cargo'', about a year spent driving a bus for disabled children in Calgary, was a finalist for

Canada Reads ''Canada Reads'' is an annual "battle of the books" competition organized and broadcast by Canada's public broadcaster, the CBC. The program has aired in two distinct editions, the English-language ''Canada Reads'' on CBC Radio One, and the Fren ...

. His 2018 novel ''The Saturday Night Ghost Club'' was a shortlisted finalist for the

Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize The Atwood Gibson Writers' Trust Fiction Prize, formerly known as the Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize, is a Canadian literary award presented by the Writers' Trust of Canada after an annual juried competition of works submitted by publishers. ...

and was an

American Booksellers Association The American Booksellers Association (ABA) is a non-profit trade association founded in 1900 that promotes independent bookstores in the United States. ABA's core members are key participants in their communities' local economy and culture, and to ...

Indie Next Great Reads selection in July 2019. This novel tells the story of a young boy who is coming-to-age while spending Saturdays catching ghosts with his eccentric Uncle Calvin. It explores themes of

grief Grief is the response to loss, particularly to the loss of someone or some living thing that has died, to which a bond or affection was formed. Although conventionally focused on the emotional response to loss, grief also has physical, cogn ...

, depression, family, friendship, and growing into adulthood. Davidson's work has received acclaim from notable authors such as

Stephen King Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author of horror, supernatural fiction, suspense, crime, science-fiction, and fantasy novels. Described as the "King of Horror", a play on his surname and a reference to his high ...

, Scott Smith and

Jonathan Maberry Jonathan Maberry (born May 18, 1958) is an American suspense author, anthology editor, comic book writer, magazine feature writer, playwright, content creator and writing teacher/lecturer. He was named one of the Today's Top Ten Horror Writers. ...

Bibliography

*'' Rust and Bone'' (2005) *''The Fighter'' (2008) *''Sarah Court'' (2010) *''

'' (2013) (shortlisted for the 2013 Scotiabank Giller Prize) *''Precious Cargo'' (2016) *''The Saturday Night Ghost Club'' (2018) *''Cascade'' (2020)

as Patrick Lestewka

*''Mother Bitchfight'' (2003) *''The Preserve'' (2004) *''Imprint'' (2011) *''The Coliseum'' (2011) *''Vehicles'' (2012)

as Nick Cutter

*'' The Troop'' (2014) *''The Deep'' (2015) *''The Acolyte'' (2015) *''Little Heaven'' (2017) *''The Breach'' (2020)

References

External links

Craig Davidson
{{DEFAULTSORT:Davidson, Craig 1976 births Canadian male novelists Living people Canadian male short story writers Writers from Calgary Writers from Toronto Trent University alumni University of New Brunswick alumni 21st-century Canadian short story writers 21st-century Canadian male writers 21st-century Canadian novelists