Marina Endicott (born September 14, 1958) is a Canadian novelist and short story writer. Her novel ''Good to a Fault'' won the 2009

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 ...

for Canada and the Caribbean. It was a finalist 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 ...

and was longlisted for the Dublin IMPAC award. Her next, ''The Little Shadows'', was longlisted for the Giller Prize and shortlisted for the

Governor General's Literary Award 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 ...

. ''Close to Hugh'' was longlisted for the Giller Prize and named one of

CBC CBC may refer to: Media * Cadena Baja California or Grupo Cadena, a radio and television broadcaster in Mexico * Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Canada's radio and television public broadcaster ** CBC Television ** CBC Radio One ** CBC Music ** ...

's Best Books of 2015. ''The Difference'' won the City of Edmonton Robert Kroetsch Prize. It was published in the US by

W. W. Norton W. W. Norton & Company is an American publishing company based in New York City. Established in 1923, it has been owned wholly by its employees since the early 1960s. The company is known for its Norton Anthologies (particularly '' The Norton ...

as ''The Voyage of the Morning Light'' in June 2020. Her latest book, ''The Observer,'' won the City of Saskatoon Book Prize and the Saskatchewan Book of the Year Award in 2023.

Personal life

Endicott was born in Golden,

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

in 1958, the daughter of an Anglican priest; she grew up in Vancouver, Halifax and Yarmouth,

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, located on its east coast. It is one of the three Maritime Canada, Maritime provinces and Population of Canada by province and territory, most populous province in Atlan ...

, and

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 ...

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 ...

. She worked as an actor before moving to

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 ...

, England, where she began to write fiction. Returning to Canada in 1984, she went west to Saskatoon and worked in theatre as a

director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...

and

dramaturge A dramaturge or dramaturg (from Ancient Greek δραματουργός – dramatourgós) is a literary adviser or editor in a theatre, opera, or film company who researches, selects, adapts, edits, and interprets scripts, libretti, texts, and pr ...

. She was for many years the dramaturge of the Saskatchewan Playwrights Centre. In 1992 she went farther west with husband Peter Ormshaw to

Mayerthorpe Mayerthorpe is a town in central Alberta, Canada. It is approximately northwest of Edmonton at the intersection of Highway 43 and Highway 22 (Cowboy Trail). The town is surrounded by Lac Ste. Anne County and is in Alberta's Census Division ...

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

, on his first posting with the RCMP; they have since lived in Cochrane, Edmonton, and Saskatoon. They have two children: Willow (1993) and Rachel (1996). They presently (2021) live in

Saskatoon Saskatoon () is the largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It straddles a bend in the South Saskatchewan River in the central region of the province. It is located along the Trans-Canada Hig ...

Writing career

Endicott was an actor, director, and dramaturge before beginning a second career as a writer of fiction. When asked why she switched, she explained: :Being an actor isn't an easy life. The work is so ephemeral... I write novels instead of plays because I like the intimate link of the silent writer and the silent reader. Endicott's first short story appeared in ''

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 ...

'' in 1985. Her stories have been anthologized in '' Coming Attractions'' and shortlisted for the 1993 Journey Prize. Her first novel, ''Open Arms'' (2001), was a finalist for the Amazon.ca First Novel Award and was broadcast on

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 ...

's ''Between the Covers'' in 2003. ''Good to a Fault'' was selected for the 2010 edition of CBC Radio's ''

Canada Reads ''Canada Reads'' is an annual "battle of the books" competition organized and broadcast by Canada's public broadcaster, the CBC. The program has aired in two distinct editions, the English-language ''Canada Reads'' on CBC Radio One, and the Fre ...

''. Her long poem about the Mayerthorpe incident, "The Policeman's Wife, Some Letters", was shortlisted for the CBC Literary Awards in 2006. Her third novel, ''The Little Shadows'', published by Doubleday in 2011, was longlisted for the Giller Prize and shortlisted for the Governor General's Award for Fiction. She co-wrote the screenplay for the 2012 documentary film, ''

Vanishing Point A vanishing point is a point (geometry), point on the projection plane, image plane of a graphical perspective, perspective rendering where the two-dimensional perspective projections of parallel (geometry), parallel lines in three-dimensional ...

''. ''Close to Hugh'' was published in May, 2015 and was also longlisted for the

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 ...

.The Scotiabank Giller Prize Presents Its 2015 Longlist
/ref> Her 2019 novel, ''The Difference'', Knopf Canada, won the Robert Kroetsch City of Edmonton Book Prize and the Dartmouth Fiction Award, and was one of the Globe & Mail's Best Books of 2019. It was published by W.W. Norton in the US as ''The Voyage of the Morning Light'' in June 2020. In 2023 Endicott's novel ''The Observer'', Knopf Canada, won the Saskatoon City Book Prize and the Saskatchewan Book of the Year award. Although fiction, it pulls deeply from Endicott's own experiences in Mayerthorpe, Alberta, her husband's first posting with the RCMP; it was written many years after her poems on the same subject.

Prize and honours

*1993 Shortlist, Journey Prize *2002 Finalist, Amazon.ca First Novel Award (for ''Open Arms'') *2008 Shortlisted,

(for ''Good to a Fault'') *2009

for Best Book, Canada and the Caribbean (for ''Good to a Fault'') *2010 Longlisted,

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 ...

*2011 Longlisted,

(for ''The Little Shadows'') *2011 Finalist,

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.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 ...

(for ''Close to Hugh'') *2020 Robert Kroetsch City of Edmonton Book Prize (for ''The Difference'') *2020 City of Dartmouth Fiction Prize (for ''The Difference'') *2024 Saskatchewan Book of the Year Award *2024 City of Saskatoon Book Prize

Bibliography

* * * * * * * * *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Endicott, Marina 1958 births Living people Canadian women novelists People from the Columbia-Shuswap Regional District 21st-century Canadian novelists Canadian women short story writers 21st-century Canadian women writers 21st-century Canadian short story writers Novelists from Saskatchewan Novelists from British Columbia