Pearl Luke (born 21 March 1958) is a Canadian

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living wage, living writing novels and other fiction, while othe ...

. Born in

Peace River The Peace River (french: links=no, rivière de la Paix) is a river in Canada that originates in the Rocky Mountains of northern British Columbia and flows to the northeast through northern Alberta. The Peace River joins the Athabasca River ...

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

, Luke attended

University of Calgary The University of Calgary (U of C or UCalgary) is a public research university located in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The University of Calgary started in 1944 as the Calgary branch of the University of Alberta, founded in 1908, prior to being inst ...

and earned first a BA and then an MA in English Literature. Luke lived in Alberta until 2001, and was active in the literary community, especially in Calgary, where she was an editor-at-large for ''Dandelion Magazine'' and worked for book publishers Detselig Enterprises and Thomson/Carswell. She gave many public readings and taught numerous writing workshops. In 2001, she moved to British Columbia and was similarly active in the literary community there. On

Salt Spring Island Salt Spring Island or Saltspring Island is one of the Gulf Islands in the Strait of Georgia between mainland British Columbia, Canada, and Vancouver Island. The island was initially inhabited by various Salishan peoples before being settle ...

she was a founding member of Salt Spring Writers and Friends, a charity that provides scholarships for beginning writers on the island. From 2008 to 2011 she served on the Author's Committee for the

Writers' Trust of Canada The Writers' Trust of Canada (french: La Société d'encouragement aux écrivains du Canada) is a registered charity which provides financial support to Canadian writers. Founded by Margaret Atwood, Pierre Berton, Graeme Gibson, Margaret Laur ...

. In her award-winning first novel, ''Burning Ground'', Luke writes a love story about a character working in a fire lookout in northern Alberta. This book won her the 2001

Commonwealth Writers' Prize Commonwealth Foundation presented a number of prizes between 1987 and 2011. 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 Bes ...

for Best First Book (Caribbean and Canada Region), and was a finalist for the George Bugnet Award, the Chapters/Robertson Davies First Novel Award and the Libris Award. ''Burning Ground'' was based in part on her experiences as a student working summers on various fire towers. Her second novel, ''Madame Zee'' is a fictional account of the life of Mabel Rowbotham, mistress to the infamous

Brother Twelve Edward Arthur Wilson (25 July 1878 - 7 November 1934), better known as Brother XII, was an English mystic who, in the late 1920s, founded a spiritual community located just south of the city of Nanaimo on Vancouver Island, off the west coast of Br ...

and his 1920s British Columbia cult of "gold, sex, and black magic", as written about by non-fiction author John Oliphant. ''Madame Zee'' was a long-list nominee for the

International Dublin Literary Award The International Dublin Literary Award ( ga, Duais Liteartha Idirnáisiúnta Bhaile Átha Chliath), established as the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award in 1996, is presented each year for a novel written or translated into English. ...

and was selected as a book of the month pick by both ''

Chatelaine Chatelaine may refer to: *Chatelaine (chain), a set of short chains on a belt worn by women and men for carrying keys, thimble and/or sewing kit, etc. * Chatelaine (horse), a racehorse * ''Chatelaine'' (magazine), an English-language Canadian wom ...

'' and ''

Canadian Living ''Canadian Living'' is a monthly Canadian lifestyle magazine, which publishes articles relating to food, fashion, crafts, and health and family advice. History and profile The magazine was created by Clem Compton-Smith and his business partner ...

''. A former instructor of Advanced Composition for

DeVry University DeVry University () is a private for-profit university with its headquarters in Naperville, Illinois. It was founded in 1931 by Herman A. DeVry and is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. DeVry is predominantly an online educator bu ...

, and writing mentor for the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public university, public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks a ...

program ''Booming Ground'', Luke now works as a writing coach and literary editor through her website Luke stated in an interview that she is out as

bisexual Bisexuality is a romantic or sexual attraction or behavior toward both males and females, or to more than one gender. It may also be defined to include romantic or sexual attraction to people regardless of their sex or gender identity, wh ...

."Lunch with Hilles"
. ''

FFWD ''FFWD'' is an eponymous album by FFWD - Robert Fripp, Thomas Fehlmann, Kris Weston, and Dr. Alex Paterson. The title is also a play on the abbreviation often used on the fast forward control of a tape deck or CD player, also referenced i ...

'', April 15, 2004.

Bibliography

*''Burning Ground'' (2000) *''Madame Zee'' (2006)

References

External links

Pearl Luke's website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Luke, Pearl 1958 births Living people Canadian women novelists Writers from Alberta Writers from British Columbia Bisexual women writers 21st-century Canadian novelists Canadian LGBT novelists 21st-century Canadian women writers Canadian bisexual women Canadian bisexual writers Bisexual novelists 21st-century Canadian LGBT people