David Elias (born 1949) is a Canadian writer from

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Manitoba. It is centred on the confluence of the Red River of the North, Red and Assiniboine River, Assiniboine rivers. , Winnipeg h ...

Manitoba Manitoba is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population ...

Career

Elias was born in

Winkler, Manitoba Winkler is a city in Manitoba, Canada with a population of 13,745 ( census agglomeration 32,655), making it the 4th largest city in Manitoba, as of the 2021 Canadian census. It is located in southern Manitoba, surrounded by the Rural Municipality ...

, in 1949 in a

Mennonite Mennonites are a group of Anabaptism, Anabaptist Christianity, Christian communities tracing their roots to the epoch of the Radical Reformation. The name ''Mennonites'' is derived from the cleric Menno Simons (1496–1561) of Friesland, part of ...

home, a topic that often is addressed in his writing. He later moved to Winnipeg where he completed a degree in Philosophy and English from the

University of Manitoba The University of Manitoba (U of M, UManitoba, or UM) is a public research university in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Founded in 1877, it is the first university of Western Canada. Both by total student enrolment and campus area, the University of ...

, and wrote his first collection of short stories called ''Crossing the Line'' in 1992. Since then he has written six other works of fiction including ''Places of Grace'' (1997), ''Sunday Afternoon'' (2005), ''Waiting for Elvis'' (2009), ''Henry's Game'' (2012), ''Along the Border'' (2014), ''Elizabeth of Bohemia: A Novel about Elizabeth Stuart, the Winter Queen'' (2019) and one work of non-fiction called ''The Truth About the Barn''. His novel ''Sunday Afternoon'' was nominated for the Books in Canada First Novel Award as well as the

McNally Robinson Book of the Year Award The McNally Robinson Book of the Year Award is associated with the Manitoba Book Awards and was established in 1988. It is presented to the Manitoba writer whose adult English language book is judged the best written. The author receives a cash awar ...

and the

Margaret Laurence Jean Margaret Laurence (née Wemyss; July 18, 1926 – January 5, 1987) was a Canadian novelist and short story writer, and is one of the major figures in Canadian literature. She was also a founder of the Writers' Trust of Canada, a non-pr ...

Award for Fiction. ''Elizabeth of Bohemia'' was also nominated for the Margaret Laurence Award for Fiction. He is married to

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

Brenda Sciberras.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Elias, David 1949 births Canadian male novelists Canadian Mennonites Living people Mennonite writers People from Winkler, Manitoba Writers from Winnipeg