Dianne Warren (born August 28, 1950) is a Canadian novelist, dramatist and short story writer.

Background

Warren was born in

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Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

. Her mother grew up on a farm in Saskatchewan and worked in Ottawa during the 1940s. Her father, a World War II veteran, was from a small lumber town in the Ottawa Valley. Her parents met in Ottawa after the war, married, had two babies, and then moved to Saskatchewan. Although the family travelled back to Ottawa every few years to visit that side of the family, the extended family that Dianne grew up with was her mother's family, who remain farm and ranch people. She spent as much time as possible with her grandparents on the farm and grew up loving the prairie landscape. She studied art at university and graduated with a degree in Fine Arts. She continued writing during those years, although in isolation and without the benefit of mentors or writing friends. About the time that she turned thirty, she decided she needed to learn more about writing. She took some writing classes through the English Department at her local university, and met several published and emerging writers that remain friends and colleagues to this day. She was invited to join a writing group called The Bombay Bicycle Club and the diligence with which its members approached the art of literary critique set her on the path to becoming a published writer.

Career

Warren's first short story was published in 1982 in the anthology ''Saskatchewan Gold''. Her fiction has appeared in anthologies such as ''The Old Dance'', ''Fire Beneath the Cauldron'' and ''Concrete Forest''. Her short story collections include ''The Wednesday Flower Man'' (1987), ''Bad Luck Dog'' (1993) and ''A Reckless Moon'' (2002). Her novel ''Cool Water'' (released as ''Juliet in August'' in the US) won the Governor General's Award for English fiction in Canada. It has been published in several countries since then, including France and Australia. Her first book, ''The Wednesday Flower Man,'' was published in 1987 by the burgeoning Saskatchewan press Coteau Books. Two more story collections followed: ''Bad Luck Dog'' in 1993 and ''A Reckless Moon'' in 2002. She has a soft spot for ''Bad Luck Dog'' because it won the Saskatchewan Book of the Year Award about the same moment that Joe Carter hit the home run that won the Toronto Blue Jays the World Series. The room at the Saskatchewan Book Awards erupted in cheers (for Joe Carter). She also wrote three stage plays in those years, all of which were produced by 25th Street Theatre in Saskatchewan. Her play ''Serpent in the Night Sky'' was short-listed for the Governor General's Award for drama in 1989. She no longer writes plays. Her first novel ''Cool Water'' was published in 2010 in Canada and in 2012 in the US (as ''Juliet'' in August). She claims to have been working on this book her whole life since it is informed by the iconography of the western books and movies she grew up with, and the shadow of the past in the novel is, in a sense, her family's past. On June 2, 2020 her latest novel, ''The Diamond House'', was published."47 works of Canadian fiction to watch for in spring 2020"

CBC Books CBC Arts () is the division of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation that creates and curates written articles, short documentaries, non-fiction series and interactive projects that represent the excellence of Canada's diverse artistic communitie ...

, February 5, 2020.

Personal life

Dianne lives in Regina, Saskatchewan with her husband, visual artist Bruce Anderson. They have two sons. Her hobbies are still reading and horses.

Awards

''Bad Luck Dog'' won three Saskatchewan Book Awards, including Book of the Year. Warren also won the National Magazine Gold Award for Fiction and the Western Magazine Award for Fiction. She won the

Writers' Trust Engel/Findley Award The Writers' Trust Engel/Findley Award is a Canadian literary award, presented by the Writers' Trust of Canada to an established Canadian author to honour their body of work. Presented for the first time in 2008 under the name Notable Author Awar ...

from the

Writers' Trust of Canada The Writers' Trust of Canada () is a registered charity which provides financial support to Canadian writers. Founded by Margaret Atwood, Pierre Berton, Graeme Gibson, Margaret Laurence, and David Young (Canadian playwright), David Young; the W ...

in 2004. She published her first novel, ''Cool Water'', in 2010. The novel won the

Governor General's Award for English-language fiction The Governor General's Award for English-language fiction is a Canadian literary award that annually recognizes one Canadian writer for a fiction book written in English.2010 Governor General's Awards,"Regina's Dianne Warren wins Gov-Gen Award for ‘Cool Water’"
. ''The Globe and Mail'', November 16, 2010. and was also longlisted for the

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 co ...

. In 2021, she won the inaugural Glengarry Book Prize for her latest novel, ''The Diamond House''. The award is presented by the Saskatchewan Foundation for the Arts.

List of works

Plays

* ''Serpent in the Night Sky'' (1992) * ''Club Chernobyl'' (1994) * ''The Last Journey of Captain Harte'' (1999) All three plays premiered at Twenty-Fifth Street Theatre and were all directed by Tom Bentley-Fisher. Warren also wrote several dramatic works for

CBC Radio CBC Radio is the English-language radio operations of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The CBC operates a number of radio networks serving different audiences and programming niches, all of which (regardless of language) are outlined below ...

Fiction

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Warren, Dianne 1950 births Living people Canadian women dramatists and playwrights Canadian women novelists Governor General's Award–winning fiction writers Canadian women short story writers 20th-century Canadian novelists 21st-century Canadian novelists 20th-century Canadian dramatists and playwrights 21st-century Canadian dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Canadian women writers 21st-century Canadian women writers 20th-century Canadian short story writers 21st-century Canadian short story writers Novelists from Ottawa