Geoffrey Ursell (March 14, 1943 – February 21, 2021)
''Encyclopedia of Saskatchewan''. was a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

writer, who won the Books in Canada First Novel Award in 1985 for his novel ''Perdue, or How the West Was Lost''."Writer from Regina wins book award". ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Newspapers in Canada, Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in Western Canada, western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of more than 6 million in 2024, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on week ...

'', March 29, 1985.

Career

Predominantly known as a playwright, Ursell's stage and musical plays included ''The Running of the Deer'' (1981), ''Saskatoon Pie'' (1982), ''The Willowbunch Giant'' (1983), ''The Secret Life of Railroaders'' (1986), ''The Rum Runners of Rainbow Ravine'' (1990), ''The Park'' (1994), ''Deer Bring the Sun'' (1998), ''Gold on Ice'' (2003), ''Winning the Prairie Gamble'' (2005), ''The Walnut Tree'' (2010) and ''Dead Midnight'' (2011). He also adapted ''The Rum Runners of Rainbow Ravine'' as a CBC Radio drama, and wrote the teleplay ''Distant Battles'' for

CBC Television CBC Television (also known as CBC TV, or simply CBC) is a Television in Canada, Canadian English-language terrestrial television, broadcast television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcasting, p ...

. With his wife Barbara Sapergia and colleagues Bob Currie and Gary Hyland, Ursell was a cofounder of Coteau Books in the 1970s. In 1987, Ursell and Sapergia pitched a series to

called ''Midnight in Moose Jaw'', a sitcom-variety hybrid set in a Prohibition-era speakeasy which would have centred around live performances by real comedians and musicians,"Moose Jaw TV series pondered by CBC". '' Vancouver Sun'', July 17, 1987. with Jenny Jones and Colin James as the guest performers in the pilot. The series was not picked up by the CBC. His other published books included the poetry collections ''Trap Lines'' (1982), ''The Look-Out Tower'' (1989) and ''Jumbo Gumbo: Songs, Poems, and Stories for Children'' (1990), and the short story collection ''Way Out West'' (1990). He served as president of the Saskatchewan Writers' Guild and the Saskatchewan Playwrights' Centre, was writer-in-residence for the Saskatoon Public Library and the Winnipeg Public Library, was an editor of the literary magazine ''

Grain A grain is a small, hard, dry fruit (caryopsis) – with or without an attached husk, hull layer – harvested for human or animal consumption. A grain crop is a grain-producing plant. The two main types of commercial grain crops are cereals and ...

'',"Local writers in Grain bumper crop". ''

Edmonton Journal The ''Edmonton Journal'' is a daily newspaper published in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It is part of the Postmedia Network. History The ''Journal'' was founded in 1903 by three local businessmen — John Macpherson, Arthur Moore and J.W. Cunn ...

'', May 3, 1992. and taught literature and creative writing at the

University of Regina The University of Regina is a public university located in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. Founded in 1911 as a private denominational high school of the Methodist Church of Canada, it began an association with the University of Saskatchewan as a j ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ursell, Geoffrey 1943 births 2021 deaths 20th-century Canadian novelists 20th-century Canadian dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Canadian poets Canadian male poets 21st-century Canadian dramatists and playwrights Canadian musical theatre composers Male musical theatre composers Canadian male novelists Canadian male short story writers Canadian radio writers Canadian children's writers People from Moose Jaw Canadian book publishers (people) Canadian magazine editors Academic staff of the University of Regina Canadian male screenwriters Canadian male dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Canadian short story writers 21st-century Canadian short story writers 20th-century Canadian male writers 21st-century Canadian male writers 20th-century Canadian screenwriters Canadian male television writers Canadian television writers Amazon.ca First Novel Award winners Screenwriters from Saskatchewan Poets from Saskatchewan Novelists from Saskatchewan