Gemma Files is a Canadian horror writer, journalist, and

film critic Film criticism is the analysis and evaluation of films and the film medium. In general, film criticism can be divided into two categories: Academic criticism by film scholars, who study the composition of film theory and publish their findin ...

. Her short story, "The Emperor's Old Bones", won the

International Horror Guild Award The International Horror Guild Award (also known as the IHG Award) was an accolade recognizing excellence in the field of horror/dark fantasy, presented by the International Horror Guild (IHG) from 1995 to 2008. The IHG Awards were determined by ...

for Best Short Story of 1999. Five of her short stories were adapted for the television series '' The Hunger''.

Biography

Gemma Files was born in 1968 in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

to the actors Elva Mai Hoover and Gary Files. Her family relocated to

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

in 1969. Files graduated from

Ryerson Polytechnic University Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU, or Toronto Met), formerly Ryerson University, is a Public university, public research university located in Toronto, Canada. The university's core campus is situated within the Garden District, Toronto, Gar ...

in 1991 with a degree in journalism. She published her first horror fiction, "Fly-by-Night" in 1993. Various freelance assignments eventually led to a continuing position with entertainment periodical ''

Eye Weekly ''Eye Weekly'' was a free weekly newspaper published in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was owned by Torstar, the parent company of the ''Toronto Star'', and was published by their Star Media Group until its final issue on May 5, 2011. The followin ...

'', where she wrote about the horror genre, independent films and Canadian

cinema Cinema may refer to: Film * Film or movie, a series of still images that create the illusion of moving image ** Film industry, the technological and commercial institutions of filmmaking ** Filmmaking, the process of making a film * Movie theate ...

. She was listed by

Cameron Bailey Cameron Bailey is a Canadian film critic and festival programmer, who is the CEO of the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). Biography Born in London, England to parents from Barbados,NOW Now most commonly refers to the present time. Now, NOW, or The Now may also refer to: Organizations * Natal Organisation of Women, a South African women's organization * National Organization for Women, an American feminist organization * Na ...

'' as one of the Top 10 Coolest People in Canadian Cinema for 1996. In 2000 her award-winning story "The Emperor's Old Bones" was reprinted in '' The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror Thirteenth Annual Collection'' (ed.

Terri Windling Terri Windling (born December 3, 1958, in Fort Dix, New Jersey) is an American editor, artist, essayist, and the author of books for both children and adults. She has won nine World Fantasy Awards, the Mythopoeic Fantasy Award, and the Bram St ...

and Ellen Datlow). In 2010 her

Shirley Jackson Award The Shirley Jackson Awards are literary awards named after Shirley Jackson in recognition of her legacy in writing. These awards for outstanding achievement in the literature of psychological suspense, horror and dark fantasy are presented at Rea ...

-nominated novelette "each thing i show you is a piece of my death" was reprinted in '' The Best Horror of the Year, Volume Two'' (ed. Ellen Datlow). Her short story "The Jacaranda Smile" was also a 2009

finalist. Her first novel, ''A Book of Tongues'', won the 2010 Black Quill Award for "Best Small Press Chill" from ''Dark Scribe Magazine''; it was followed by the sequels ''A Rope of Thorns'' (2011) and ''A Tree of Bones'' (2012), together comprising her ''The Hexslinger'' series. ''A Rope of Thorns'' was considered a "powerful sequel" to ''A Book of Tongues'' by ''

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of ...

''. Her book ''We Will All Go Down Together'' (about a

coven A coven () is a group or gathering of Witchcraft, witches. The word "coven" (from Anglo-Norman language, Anglo-Norman ''covent, cuvent'', from Old French ''covent'', from Latin ''conventum'' = convention) remained largely unused in English lan ...

witches Witchcraft is the use of magic by a person called a witch. Traditionally, "witchcraft" means the use of magic to inflict supernatural harm or misfortune on others, and this remains the most common and widespread meaning. According to ''Enc ...

and

changeling A changeling, also historically referred to as an auf or oaf, is a human-like creature found throughout much of European folklore. According to folklore, a changeling was a substitute left by a supernatural being when kidnapping a human being. ...

s) was given a favorable review by

NPR National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

. Her novel ''Experimental Film'' (2015) won the

for Best Novel and the

Sunburst Award The Sunburst Award for Canadian Literature of the Fantastic is an annual literary award given for a speculative fiction novel or a book-length collection, first awarded in 2001. A young adult category was created in 2008, to differentiate from ad ...

for Best Canadian Speculative Fiction (Novel) in 2016. Files married science fiction and fantasy author Stephen J. Barringer (with whom she co-wrote "'each thing i show you is a piece of my death"") in 2002. They have one child.

Bibliography

''The'' ''Hexslinger'' series

* * * *

Novels

Collections

* * * * * * * *

Poetry

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Files, Gemma 1968 births Living people Canadian horror writers Cthulhu Mythos writers Toronto Metropolitan University alumni Canadian people of Australian descent 20th-century Canadian women writers Canadian women horror writers 21st-century Canadian women writers 20th-century Canadian short story writers 21st-century Canadian short story writers Writers from London 21st-century Canadian novelists Canadian women short story writers Canadian women novelists Novelists from Toronto English emigrants to Canada Canadian women film critics Canadian film critics