Dennis Bock (born August 28, 1964) is a Canadian

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living wage, living writing novels and other fiction, while other ...

and

short story A short story is a piece of prose fiction. It can typically be read in a single sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the old ...

writer, lecturer at the University of Toronto, travel writer and book reviewer. His novel ''Going Home Again'' was published in Canada by HarperCollins and in the US by Alfred A. Knopf in August 2013. It was shortlisted for the 2013

Scotiabank Giller Prize The Giller Prize (known as the Scotiabank Giller Prize from 2005-2023) is a literary award given to a Canadian author of a novel or short story collection published in English (including translation) the previous year, after an annual juried c ...

. ''Going Home Again'' earned a review in ''Kirkus Review''. ''The Communist's Daughter'', published by HarperCollins in Canada and Knopf in the US in 2006, and later in France, the Netherlands, Greece and Poland, is a retelling of the final years in the life of the Canadian surgeon

Norman Bethune Henry Norman Bethune (; March 4, 1890 – November 12, 1939; zh, t=白求恩) was a Canadian thoracic surgeon, early advocate of socialized medicine, and member of the Communist Party of Canada. Bethune came to international prominence fi ...

. His first novel, ''The Ash Garden,'' about various kinds of fallout from the Hiroshima bomb, was published in 2001, and was shortlisted for the

Books in Canada First Novel Award The Amazon Canada First Novel Award, formerly the Amazon.ca First Novel Award and the Books in Canada First Novel Award, is a Canadian literary award, co-presented by Amazon.ca and ''The Walrus'' to the best first novel in English published the p ...

and the

International Dublin Literary Award The International Dublin Literary Award (), established as the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award in 1996, is presented each year for a novel written or translated into English. It promotes excellence in world literature and is solely ...

, the Kiriyama Pacific Rim Prize, and the

Commonwealth Writers' Prize Commonwealth Foundation has presented a number of prizes since 1987. The main award was called the Commonwealth Writers' Prize and was composed of two prizes: the Best Book Prize (overall and regional) was awarded from 1987 to 2011; the Best First ...

(Regional Best Book). It won the 2002 Canada-Japan Literary Award and has been published in translation in Spain, Argentina, Japan, the Netherlands, Italy, Germany, France and Greece. Bock was reviewed in ''The Los Angeles Times'' and ''The New York Times'' (by Michiko Kakutani). His editor at Knopf, starting with The Ash Garden, is

Gary Fisketjon Gary Fisketjon (born 1954) was an Editor and vice-president of Knopf Publishing until his dismissal in May 2019. also accesherevia Wayback Machine Fisketjon created the Vintage Contemporaries line of paperbacks at Random House. He was the editorial ...

. After serving as fiction editor at the literary journal ''Blood & Aphorisms'' and holding writing residences at

Yaddo Yaddo is an artists' community located on a estate in Saratoga Springs, New York. Its mission is "to nurture the creative process by providing an opportunity for artists to work without interruption in a supportive environment.". On March ...

, the Banff Centre, and Fundacion Valparaiso, in Spain, Bock published his first book, a short story collection ''Olympia'', in 1998, for which he won the

Danuta Gleed Literary Award The Danuta Gleed Literary Award is a Canadian national literary prize, awarded since 1998. It recognizes the best debut short fiction collection by a Canadian author in English language. The annual prize was founded by John Gleed in honour of his ...

for the best debut short story collection in Canada, the Canadian Authors' Association Jubilee Award, and the

Betty Trask Award The Betty Trask Prize and Awards are for first novels written by authors under the age of 35 who reside in a current or former Commonwealth nation. Each year the awards total at least , with normally one author receiving a larger prize amount ( ...

in the UK. His short stories have appeared in ''Glimmer Train'', ''The Penguin Book of Canadian Short Stories'', ''The Journey Prize Anthology'', and ''Coming Attractions.'' His travel writing and book reviews appear in ''The Globe and Mail, The National Post, The Washington Post'', and ''Outpost Magazine''.

Personal life

Dennis Bock was born August 28, 1964, in

Belleville, Ontario Belleville is a city in Ontario, Canada, situated on the eastern end of Lake Ontario, located at the mouth of the Moira River and on the Bay of Quinte. Its population as of the 2021 Canadian census was 55,071 (Census Metropolitan Area population 1 ...

. He studied

English literature English literature is literature written in the English language from the English-speaking world. The English language has developed over more than 1,400 years. The earliest forms of English, a set of Anglo-Frisian languages, Anglo-Frisian d ...

and

philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

at the

University of Western Ontario The University of Western Ontario (UWO; branded as Western University) is a Public university, public research university in London, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on of land, surrounded by residential neighbourhoods and the Thame ...

, and took one year off during that time to live in Spain. After completing his degree he returned to Madrid, Spain, where he lived for 4 years. It was there he finished writing ''Olympia''. Bock lives in Toronto and has two sons. He teaches at the University of Toronto and is on faculty at Humber College's School for Writers.

Prizes and honours

Bibliography

Novels

* '' The Ash Garden'' (2001) * ''The Communist's Daughter'' (2006) * ''Going Home Again'' (2013) * ''The Good German'' (2020)

Short stories

* ''Olympia'' (1998)

References

External links

Official site Interview with Dennis Bock, ''Quill & Quire'', August 2001
* ttps://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/01/books/review/going-home-again-by-dennis-bock.html New York Times review of ''Going Home Again'', August 30, 2013 {{DEFAULTSORT:Bock, Dennis Canadian male novelists Canadian male short story writers Living people 1964 births University of Western Ontario alumni 20th-century Canadian novelists 21st-century Canadian novelists 20th-century Canadian short story writers 21st-century Canadian short story writers 20th-century Canadian male writers 21st-century Canadian male writers