Sharon Butala (born Sharon Annette LeBlanc, 1940 in Nipawin, Saskatchewan) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

writer and

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 ...

Life

Butala was born in an outpost hospital in Nipawin, Saskatchewan. She was the second of five daughters born to Amy Graham and Achille LeBlanc, who ran a sawmill near Garrick, Saskatchewan. In 1946 her family moved to the

French-Canadian French Canadians (referred to as Canadiens mainly before the twentieth century; french: Canadiens français, ; feminine form: , ), or Franco-Canadians (french: Franco-Canadiens), refers to either an ethnic group who trace their ancestry to Fren ...

town of

St. Louis, Saskatchewan St. Louis ( 2016 population: ) is a village in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan within the Rural Municipality of St. Louis No. 431 and Census Division No. 15. It is south of the City of Prince Albert and northeast of Batoche. It was f ...

, and moved again when she was thirteen years old to the city of

Saskatoon, Saskatchewan Saskatoon () is the largest city in the 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 Yellowhead Highway, and has served as ...

. She attended the

University of Saskatchewan A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase ''universitas magistrorum et scholarium'', which ...

obtaining both a Bachelor of Arts degree and a Bachelor of Education degree. Between her third and fourth year of university she married for the first time. This marriage lasted 14 years, and her son, Sean Hoy, was born during this time. After graduating she taught English in Saskatchewan and

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include ...

and also taught in a special program for the YMCA in

Halifax, Nova Scotia Halifax is the capital and largest municipality of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the largest municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of the 2021 Census, the municipal population was 439,819, with 348 ...

. In 1969 she returned to Saskatoon and worked in special education at

Princess Alexandra School Princess Alexandra School is a school located in Hay River, Northwest Territories, Canada providing public education for students in grades 4 through 7. The administration of the school is the responsibility of the South Slave Divisional Educati ...

. In 1972 she returned to the University of Saskatchewan to work on a post-graduate diploma in education and began teaching for the College of Education. By 1975 she was divorced and working on her Master of Education degree with a budding academic career when she met Peter Butala. She abandoned her degree, and they were married on May 21, 1976, after which she moved to his ranch near Eastend, Saskatchewan. It was here that she began writing seriously, and this environment became the setting of much of her writing. Her first book, ''Country of the Heart'', was published in 1984 and was shortlisted for the Books in Canada First Novel Award. As head of the Eastend Arts Council she spearheaded the creation of the Wallace Stegner House Residence for Artists in which

Wallace Stegner Wallace Earle Stegner (February 18, 1909 – April 13, 1993) was an American novelist, short story writer, environmentalist, and historian, often called "The Dean of Western Writers". He won the Pulitzer Prize in 1972 and the U.S. National Boo ...

's childhood home was turned into a retreat for writers and artists. She lived near Eastend until 14 months after Peter's death in 2007. She now lives in

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, maki ...

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 ...

. She was shortlisted for the Governor General's award three times, once for fiction for ''Queen of the Headaches,'' and twice for nonfiction, for ''The Perfection of the Morning'' and ''Where I Live Now.'' The Fall 2012 issue of '' Prairie Fire'', entitled ''The Visionary Art of Sharon Butala'' was dedicated to Butala and her work and influence. She and her husband, Peter Butala, were also involved in the creation of the Old Man on His Back Prairie and Heritage Conservation Area. The Butala homestead is now the interpretive centre for this area of original and restored mixed grass prairie.

Awards

Marian Engel Award Marian may refer to: People * Mari people, a Finno-Ugric ethnic group in Russia * Marian (given name), a list of people with the given name * Marian (surname), a list of people so named Places * Marian, Iran (disambiguation) * Marian, Queensla ...

(1998) * Officer of the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the c ...

(2001) * Honorary Doctor of Laws, University of Regina (2000) * Honorary Doctor of Letters,

(2004) * Honorary Doctor of Letters, University of Alberta (2013) *

Saskatchewan Order of Merit The Saskatchewan Order of Merit (french: Ordre du Mérite de la Saskatchewan) is a civilian honour for merit in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. Instituted in 1985 by Lieutenant Governor Frederick Johnson, on the advice of the Cabinet und ...

(2009) * Cheryl and Henry Kloppenburg Award for Literary Excellence. (2012) * Five Conservation Awards

Works

Fiction

*''A Tropical Holiday,'' Branch Lines, 1981; Southwest Saskatchewan Writers Project *''Fever'', HarperCollins, 1990 *''Upstream'', Fifth House, 1991; HarperCollins, 1996 *''Country of the Heart'', Fifth House, 1984; HarperCollins, 1999 *''The Fourth Archangel'', HarperCollins, 1992 *''Luna'', HarperPerennial Canada, 1994 *''Queen of the Headaches'', Coteau Books, 1994 (nominated for a

Governor General's 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 ...

) *''The Gates of the Sun'', HarperCollins, 2001 *''The Garden of Eden'', HarperFlamingo Canada- A Phyllis Bruce Book, 2002 *''Real Life'', HarperFlamingo Canada – A Phyllis Bruce Book, 2002 *''Wild Rose'', Coteau Books, 2015 *''Zara's Dead'', Coteau Books, 2018 *''Season of Fury and Wonder'', 2019 (winner of the 2019 W.O. Mitchell City of Calgary Book Award)

Non-fiction

*''Harvest, Fifth House'', 1992 *''The Perfection of the Morning: An Apprenticeship in Nature'', HarperCollins, 1994 (nominated for a

) *''Coyote's Morning Cry: Meditations & Dreams From a Life in Nature'', HarperCollins, 1995 *''Wild Stone Heart: An Apprenticeship in the Fields'', HarperFlamingo Canada, 2000 *''Old Man on His Back: Portrait of a Prairie Landscape'', HarperCollins – A Phyllis Bruce Book, 2002 (with Courtney Milne) *''Lilac Moon'', HarperPerennial – A Phyllis Bruce Book, 2005 (winner of the 2005

Saskatchewan Book Award Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a province in western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dako ...

for non-fiction) *''The Girl in Saskatoon: A Meditation on Friendship, Memory and Murder'', HarperCollins – A Phyllis Bruce Book, 2008 *''Where I Live Now: A Journey through Love and Loss to Healing and Hope'', Simon & Schuster, 2017 (nominated for a

) *''This Strange Visible Air: Essays on Aging and the Writing Life'', Freehand Books, 2021

References

External links

Western American Literature Journal: Sharon Butala

2008 Interview at books site Pickle Me This

SharonButala.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Butala, Sharon 1940 births Living people Officers of the Order of Canada Canadian women novelists People from Nipawin, Saskatchewan Writers from Saskatchewan Writers from Calgary University of Saskatchewan alumni Franco-Albertan people Fransaskois people 20th-century Canadian novelists 21st-century Canadian novelists 20th-century Canadian women writers 21st-century Canadian women writers