Keath Fraser (born 25 December 1944) is a Canadian fiction author. He lived in London from 1970 to 1973, where he studied at the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

and earned his PhD He later taught English in

Calgary Calgary () is a major city in the Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the third-largest city and fifth-largest metropolitan area in C ...

, Alberta, Canada for five years as a tenured professor. He then stopped teaching to become a full-time author.
Author Bio ABC Bookworld. Fraser has travelled widely in Asia, Europe, Australia, India and

Cambodia Cambodia, officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. It is bordered by Thailand to the northwest, Laos to the north, and Vietnam to the east, and has a coastline ...

, and these experiences have contributed to his work. Fraser edited the books ''Bad Trips'' (1991) and ''Worst Journeys: The Picador Book of Travel'' (1992), both humorous anthologies authored by various writers concerning their experiences in foreign lands.

Writing style

Bronwyn Drainie Bronwyn D. A. Drainie (born 1945) is a Canadian arts journalist. She was the editor-in-chief of the ''Literary Review of Canada'' from 2003 to 2015. She has also been a columnist and book reviewer for ''The Globe and Mail''. Drainie served as a ...

writes, "''If you really want to journey into the heart of darkness, you'd be advised to travel with Vancouver writer Keath Fraser, a man of extraordinary talents''.
Books in Canada: Keath Fraser Interview." Fraser's dark, vivid and incredibly distinctive writing style ranges very widely in genre, settings and voices and is clearly characterized by his love of the city of Vancouver, his birthplace and home since his return from London in 1973. In 1997 what turned out to be a controversial biography by him of the novelist

Sinclair Ross James Sinclair Ross, CM (January 22, 1908 – February 29, 1996) was a Canadian banker and author, who wrote novels and short fiction about life on the Canadian Prairies. He is best known for his first novel, '' As For Me and My House''. Life a ...

was published, ''As For Me and My Body: A Memoir of Sinclair Ross''. In it Fraser made public knowledge of Ross's thus-far little-known homosexuality.

Vocal impairment

Fraser suffers from

spasmodic dysphonia Spasmodic dysphonia, also known as laryngeal dystonia, is a disorder in which the muscles that generate a person's voice go into periods of spasm. This results in breaks or interruptions in the voice, often every few sentences, which can make a p ...

, a voice disorder caused by involuntary movements of one or more muscles of the voice box that causes the voice to sound stiff and strangled., NIDC: Spasmodic Dysphonia. He has written a memoir of his battles to regain control of his voice called ''The Voice Gallery''.

Bibliography

* 1976: "

Norman Douglas George Norman Douglas (8 December 1868 – 7 February 1952) was a British writer, now best known for his 1917 novel ''South Wind''. His travel books, such as ''Old Calabria'' (1915), were also appreciated for the quality of their writing. ...

and D.H. Lawrence: A Sideshow in Modern Memoirs", ''The D.H. Lawrence Review'', vol. 9, no. 2, pp. 283–295. * 1982: ''Taking Cover'' (Oberon Press) * 1985: ''Foreign Affairs'' (Stoddart) * 1991: ''Bad Trips'', editor, foreword for collection of anecdotes (Vintage) * 1995: ''Popular Anatomy'' (Porcupine's Quill) * 1996: ''Telling My Love Lies'', with various authors (Porcupine's Quill) * 1997: ''As For Me and My Body: A Memoir of

'' (ECW Press) * 2002: ''The Voice Gallery: Travels With a Glass Throat'', non-fiction memoir (Thomas Allen) * 2005: ''13 Ways of Listening to a Stranger'' (short stories compilation, Thomas Allen)

Awards and recognitions

*1985: fiction finalist,

Governor General's Awards The Governor General's Awards are a collection of annual awards presented by the governor general of Canada, recognizing distinction in numerous academic, artistic, and social fields. The first award was conceived and inaugurated in 1937 by the ...

for ''Foreign Affairs'' *1986: winner,

Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize The Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize, established in 1985 as one of the BC and Yukon Book Prizes, is awarded annually to the best work of fiction by a resident of British Columbia, Canada. The award is named after novelist and short story A short ...

for ''Foreign Affairs'' *1995: winner,

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 ...

for ''Popular Anatomy'' *2003: finalist,

Hubert Evans Non-Fiction Prize The Hubert Evans Non-Fiction Prize, established in 1985, is awarded annually as the BC Book Prize for the best non-fiction book by a resident of British Columbia, Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fraser, Keath Canadian male novelists Novelists from Vancouver Living people 1944 births 20th-century Canadian novelists 20th-century Canadian male writers 21st-century Canadian novelists 21st-century Canadian male writers Amazon.ca First Novel Award winners