Michael Crummey
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Michael Crummey (born November 18, 1965) is a Canadian poet and a writer of
historical fiction Historical fiction is a literary genre in which a fictional plot takes place in the Setting (narrative), setting of particular real past events, historical events. Although the term is commonly used as a synonym for historical fiction literatur ...
. His writing often draws on the history and landscape of
Newfoundland and Labrador Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region of Labrador, having a total size of . As of 2025 the populatio ...
. He won the 2025
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 ...
.


Life and education

Crummey was born in Buchans,
Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region of Labrador, having a total size of . As of 2025 the population ...
. He grew up there and in
Wabush Wabush is a small town in the western tip of Labrador, bordering Quebec, known for transportation and iron ore operations. Economy Wabush is the twin community of Labrador City. At its peak population in the late 1970s, the region had a populati ...
,
Labrador Labrador () is a geographic and cultural region within the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It is the primarily continental portion of the province and constitutes 71% of the province's area but is home to only 6% of its populatio ...
, where he moved with his family in the late 1970s. He began to write poetry while studying at
Memorial University Memorial University of Newfoundland, or MUN (), is a Public university, public research university in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, based in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, St. John's, with satellite campuses in Corner Brook ...
in St. John's, where he won the university's Gregory J. Power Poetry Contest in 1986 and received a B.A. in English in 1987. He completed a M.A. at Queen's University in
Kingston Kingston may refer to: Places * List of places called Kingston, including the six most populated: ** Kingston, Jamaica ** Kingston upon Hull, England ** City of Kingston, Victoria, Australia ** Kingston, Ontario, Canada ** Kingston upon Thames, ...
,
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 ...
, in 1988, later leaving the Ph.D. program to pursue his writing career. He is married to Holly Hogan, a biologist and science writer.


Career

In 1994, he became the first winner of the
Bronwen Wallace Memorial Award The RBC Bronwen Wallace Award for Emerging Writers is a Canadian literary award, presented annually by the Writers' Trust of Canada to a writer who has not yet published his or her first book. Formerly restricted to writers under age 35, the age li ...
for young unpublished writers. His first volume of poetry, ''Arguments with Gravity'' (1996), won the Writer's Alliance of Newfoundland and Labrador Book Award for Poetry. ''Hard Light'' (1998), his second collection, was nominated for the Milton Acorn People's Poetry Award in 1999. Also in 1998, Crummey published a collection of short stories, ''Flesh and Blood'', all of which take place in the fictional mining community of Black Rock, which strongly resembles Buchans. That year Crummey was nominated for the Journey Prize. Crummey returned to St. John's in 2001. In that year he published his debut novel, ''River Thieves'', which details the contact and conflict between European settlers and the last of the
Beothuk The Beothuk ( or ; also spelled Beothuck) were a group of Indigenous peoples in Canada, Indigenous people of Canada who lived on the island of Newfoundland (island), Newfoundland. The Beothuk culture formed around 1500 CE. This may have been ...
in the early 19th century, including the capture of Demasduit. The book became a Canadian bestseller, and won the Thomas Head Raddall Award, the Winterset Award for Excellence in Newfoundland Writing, and the Atlantic Independent Booksellers' Choice Award. It was also shortlisted 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 ...
, the Commonwealth Writers' Prize, the Books in Canada First Novel Award, and was long-listed for the
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 ...
. Crummy's second novel, ''The Wreckage'' was published in 2005; the story of young Newfoundland soldier Wish Fury and his beloved Sadie Parsons during and after
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, it was longlisted for the 2007 IMPAC Award. His third novel ''Galore'', was published in 2009, won a Commonwealth Writers Prize, and was shortlisted for the 2011 IMPAC Award. Crummey continued to write prose and poetry with themes related to Newfoundland and Labrador. The poems and prose in ''Hard Light'' are inspired by the stories of his father and other relatives. Crummey also researched and wrote the 2014
National Film Board of Canada The National Film Board of Canada (NFB; ) is a Canadian public film and digital media producer and distributor. An agency of the Government of Canada, the NFB produces and distributes documentary films, animation, web documentaries, and altern ...
multimedia short film ''54 Hours'' on the 1914 Newfoundland Sealing Disaster, co-directed by Paton Francis and Bruce Alcock. His 2014 novel, ''Sweetland'', was nominated for a Governor General's Award. In 2018, his play ''Her Mark'', set in Newfoundland, was staged in Strathcona. His 2019 novel ''The Innocents'' was shortlisted for the 2019 Giller Prize, and for the
Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize The Atwood Gibson Writers' Trust Fiction Prize, formerly known as the Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize, is a Canadian literary award presented by the Writers' Trust of Canada after an annual juried competition of works submitted by publishers ...
. In August 2020,
Telefilm Canada Telefilm Canada is a Canadian Crown corporation that supports Canada's audiovisual industry. Headquartered in Montreal, Telefilm Canada provides services to the Canadian audiovisual industry with four regional offices in Vancouver, British Colu ...
announced it had selected the film adaptation of ''Sweetland'' as one of its English-language feature film projects to fund. '' Sweetland'' was directed by Christian Sparkes and filmed in Newfoundland, and premiered at the 2023 Atlantic International Film Festival. In 2025, his novel ''The Adversary'', a story of sibling rivalry set in nineteenth-century Newfoundland, won the
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 ...
.


Publications


Poetry

* ''Arguments With Gravity'' (1996) * ''Hard Light'' (1998). A selection called ''Hard Light: 32 Little Stories'' was released as an audiobook in 2003, narrated by Crummey &
Ron Hynes Ron Hynes (December 7, 1950 – November 19, 2015) was a folk singer-songwriter from Newfoundland and Labrador. He was especially known for his composition " Sonny's Dream", which has been recorded worldwide by many artists and was named the 41 ...
) * ''Emergency Roadside Assistance'' (2001) * ''Salvage'' (2002) * ''Under the Keel (2013)'' * ''Little Dogs: New and Selected Poems'' (2016) * ''Passengers'' (2022)


Short stories

* ''Flesh and Blood'' (Beach Holme, 1998). Later expanded with five additional stories as ''Flesh and Blood: Selected Short Fiction'' (Doubleday Canada, 2003)


Novels

* ''River Thieves'' (2001) * ''The Wreckage'' (2005) * '' Galore'' (2009) * ''Sweetland'' (2014) * ''The Innocents'' (Penguin Random House, 2019) * ''The Adversary'' (2023)


Non-fiction

* ''Newfoundland: Journey Into a Lost Nation'' (with photographer Greg Locke) (2004) * ''Most of What Follows is True: Places Imagined and Real'' (University of Alberta Press, 2019)


Anthologies

* The Breakwater Book of Contemporary Newfoundland Poetry (Breakwater, 2013) * The Harbrace Anthology of Poetry, 5th Edition (Nelson, 2012) * The Penguin Book of Canadian Short Stories, selected and introduced by Jane Urquhart (Penguin Books, 2007) * The New Canon: An Anthology of Canadian Poetry (Signal Editions, 2006) * Canadian Short Stories (Penguin Books, 2004) * Victory Meat (Doubleday Canada, 2003) * ''Coastlines: The Poetry of Atlantic Canada'', ed. Anne Compton, Laurence Hutchman, Ross Leckie and Robin McGrath (Goose Lane Editions, 2002)


Further reading

* Jennifer Bowering Delisle: ''The present of the past,'' in ''Ten Canadian Writers in Context.'' Dir. Curtis Gillespie, Marie J. Carrière, Jason Purcell. University of Alberta Press, Edmonton 2016, pp 37 – 56 (incl. excerpt from ''Sweetland'', pp 46 – 56). Also in
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Crummey, Michael 1965 births Living people Canadian male novelists 20th-century Canadian poets 20th-century Canadian male writers Canadian male poets 21st-century Canadian poets 20th-century Canadian novelists 21st-century Canadian novelists Canadian male short story writers People from Buchans Memorial University of Newfoundland alumni 20th-century Canadian short story writers 21st-century Canadian short story writers 21st-century Canadian male writers Poets from Newfoundland and Labrador Novelists from Newfoundland and Labrador