Michael Turner (born 1962 in North Vancouver, British Columbia) is a Canadian musician, and writer of poetry, prose and opera librettos. His writing is noted for including detailed and purposeful examination of ordinary things.

Career

Turner was an original member of the Vancouver band

Hard Rock Miners The Hard Rock Miners are a Canadian rockabilly/hillbilly/country/folk band based in Vancouver, British Columbia. Despite their name, they did not perform hard rock music. History In 1987, members of The Hard Rock Miners started out busking on th ...

, formed in 1987, singing and playing guitar and banjo. The band toured across Canada and released four albums of rockabilly music."Michael Turner Interview"
''January Magazine'', Linda Richards, February, 2000 His 1993 book ''

Hard Core Logo ''Hard Core Logo'' is a 1996 Canadian music mockumentary film directed by Bruce McDonald, adapted by Noel S. Baker from the novel of the same name by Michael Turner. The film illustrates the self-destruction of punk rock, documenting a once-pop ...

'' is about his experiences while fronting the band. Turner wrote ''Company Town'' in 1991, and followed it with Hard Core Logo in 1993 and ''Kingsway'' in 1995. Turner employed multi-format and intertextual approaches in his works ''American Whiskey Bar'' (1997), and ''The Pornographer's Poem'' (1999). In 1996, Bruce McDonald directed a film based on ''

''; he also directed a live telecast dramatizing Turner's novel '' American Whiskey Bar'' in 1998, which

Citytv Citytv (sometimes shortened to City, which was the network's official branding from 2012 to 2018) is a Television in Canada, Canadian television network owned by the Rogers Sports & Media subsidiary of Rogers Communications. The network consis ...

produced and aired. That year he founded the literary/visual art imprint Advance Editions, with Arsenal Pulp Press. In 1998, he appeared as the dance MC and announcer in the short film '' Elimination Dance'', directed by McDonald with

Don McKellar Don McKellar (born August 17, 1963) is a Canadian actor, writer, playwright, and filmmaker. He was part of a loosely-affiliated group of filmmakers to emerge from Toronto known as the Toronto New Wave. He is known for directing and writing th ...

and

Michael Ondaatje Philip Michael Ondaatje (; born 12 September 1943) is a Sri Lankan-born Canadian poet, fiction writer and essayist. Ondaatje's literary career began with his poetry in 1967, publishing ''The Dainty Monsters'', and then in 1970 the critically a ...

. Turner's work was adapted to radio, stage, television and feature film, and he has been translated into French, German, Russian, and Korean. He won the

Genie Award The Genie Awards were given out annually by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television to recognize the best of Canadian cinema from 1980–2012. They succeeded the Canadian Film Awards (1949–1978), known as the "Etrog Awards" for sculptor ...

in 1996 for Music/Original Song, the 2000 Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize and was also a finalist for the 1992

Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize The Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize, established in 1986, is awarded annually to the best collection of poetry by a resident of British Columbia, Canada. One of the BC and Yukon Book Prizes, the award was originally known as the B.C. Prize for Poet ...

.BC Book Prizes Winners and Nominees
/ref> Turner collaborated with artist

Stan Douglas Stan Douglas (born October 11, 1960) is a Canadian artist based in Vancouver, British Columbia. Since the late 1980s, he has created works in film and photography as well as theatre productions and other multidisciplinary projects that invest ...

on two experimental-video screenplays, titled ''Journey into Fear'' (Istanbul Biennial, 2001) and ''Suspiria'' (

Documenta Documenta (often stylized documenta) is an Art exhibition, exhibition of contemporary art which takes place every five years in Kassel, Germany. Documenta was founded by artist, teacher and curator Arnold Bode in 1955 as part of the Bundesgarte ...

XI, 2002) and on a screenplay with filmmaker Bruce LaBruce, titled ''Untitled Von Gloeden Project'', based on the life and work of photographer Wilhelm Von Gloeden. He was commissioned to write a libretto for the Modern Baroque Opera Company, based on Wilhelm Busch's ''Max & Moritz''. Turner lives in Vancouver, writes art essays and edits Advance Editions.

Bibliography

Poetry and fiction

*''Company Town'' (Vancouver: Arsenal Pulp, 1991) *''Hard Core Logo'' (Vancouver: Arsenal Pulp, 1993) *''Kingsway'' (Vancouver: Arsenal Pulp, 1995) *''American Whiskey Bar'' (Vancouver: Arsenal Pulp, 1997) *''The Pornographer's Poem'' (Toronto: Doubleday Canada, 1999) *''8x10'' (Toronto: Doubleday Canada, 2009) *''9x11 and other poems like Bird, Nine, x and Eleven'' (Vancouver: New Star Books, 2018) *''Playlist: a Profligacy of Your Least-Expected Poems'' (Vancouver: Anvil Press, 2024)

Anthologies (featured in)

*''Lost Classics'' (Toronto: Knopf Canada, 2000) *''Story of a Nation'' (Toronto: Doubleday Canada, 2001) *''The Notebooks'' (Toronto: Anchor Canada, 2002) *''A Verse Map of Vancouver'' (Vancouver: Anvil Press, 2009)

References

External links

*
Records of Michael Turner are held by Simon Fraser University's Special Collections and Rare Books
{{DEFAULTSORT:Turner, Michael 1962 births Canadian male novelists Canadian male poets Canadian male songwriters Living people Best Original Song Genie and Canadian Screen Award winners People from North Vancouver Musicians from Vancouver Poets from Vancouver 20th-century Canadian novelists 20th-century Canadian poets 20th-century Canadian male musicians 20th-century Canadian male writers 21st-century Canadian novelists 21st-century Canadian poets 21st-century Canadian male musicians 21st-century Canadian male writers 20th-century Canadian screenwriters 21st-century Canadian screenwriters Screenwriters from British Columbia Novelists from Vancouver