Thomas Wharton (born 25 February 1963) 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 ...

Life

Born in

Grande Prairie Grande Prairie is a city in northwest Alberta, Canada within the southern portion of an area known as Peace River Country. It is located at the intersection of Highway 43 (part of the CANAMEX Corridor) and Highway 40 (the Bighorn Highway), a ...

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 ...

, Wharton attended the

University of Alberta The University of Alberta, also known as U of A or UAlberta, is a public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford,"A Gentleman of Strathcona – Alexander Cameron Ruth ...

and the

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 ...

. He was a student of

Rudy Wiebe Rudy Henry Wiebe (born 4 October 1934) is a Canadian author and professor emeritus in the department of English at the University of Alberta since 1992.

and

Greg Hollingshead Gregory Hollingshead, CM (born February 25, 1947) is a Canadian novelist. He was formerly a professor of English at the University of Alberta, and he lives in Toronto, Ontario.Kristjana Gunnars Kristjana Gunnars (born March 19, 1948 in Reykjavík) is an Icelandic-Canadian poet and novelist. She immigrated to Canada in 1969. Her works explore, among other themes, the 19th century Icelandic settler experience in Canada's prairie provinces. ...

. He worked on his PhD at Calgary with Aritha van Herk. Wharton is currently an associate professor of writing and English at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, and head of the creative writing program.

Writing and awards

Wharton's first book, ''Icefields'' (1995), was awarded the "Best First Book" in the Canada and Caribbean division of the

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 ...

, the

Writers Guild of Alberta The Writers' Guild of Alberta (WGA) was founded in 1980 as a non-profit organization for writers based in Alberta, Canada. It claims to be the largest provincial writers' organization in Canada, representing approximately 1,000 writers throughout t ...

's "Best First Book Award", and the

Banff Mountain Book Festival The Banff Mountain Book Festival is an annual book festival held at the Banff Centre in Banff, Canada. Grand Prize * 1994: Chris Bonington and Audrey Saukeld (editors), ''Heroic Climbs'' * 1995: Thomas Wharton, ''Icefields'' * 1996: Stephen Ve ...

Grand Prize.Wharton
item at English-Canadian writers,

Athabasca University Athabasca University (AU) is a Canadian public research university that primarily operates through online distance education. Founded in 1970, it is one of four comprehensive academic and research universities in Alberta, and was the first ...

''Icefields'' was a finalist in the

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 Fren ...

competition in early 2008. His second book, ''Salamander'' (2002), won the Georges Bugnet Award for Fiction and was short-listed for the

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 ...

for Fiction, and the Grant MacEwan Author's Award (2002). It was also a finalist 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. ...

. ''The Logogryph'' was short listed 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. ...

.CBC
Wharton shortlisted for richest literary prize
Wharton has published a three-volume fantasy novel for younger readers, The Perilous Realm. The three books are The Shadow of Malabron (2008), The Fathomless Fire (2012), and The Tree of Story (2013), published by Doubleday Canada and Walker/Candlewick (US/UK). Wharton's most recent book is the self-published novel Every Blade of Grass (2014), the story of a decades-long correspondence between a man and woman who share a love for the wonders and oddities of nature.

Bibliography

*''Icefields''. Edmonton:

NeWest Press NeWest Press is a Canadian publishing company. Established in Edmonton, Alberta, in 1977,George Melnyk, ''The Literary History of Alberta Volume Two: From the End of the War to the End of the Century''. University of Alberta Press, 1999. . p. 173 ...

, 1995 *''Salamander''. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 2001 *''The Logogryph: A Bibliography of Imaginary Books''. Kentville, Nova Scotia:

Gaspereau Press Gaspereau Press is a Canadian book publishing company, based in Kentville, Nova Scotia. Established in 1997 by Andrew Steeves and Gary Dunfield, the company's philosophy emphasizes "making books that reinstate the importance of the book as a ph ...

, 2004 *''The Shadow of Malabron: Book One of The Perilous Realm''. Toronto: Doubleday, 2008. London: Walker Books, 2008 *"The Fathomless Fire: Book Two of The Perilous Realm". Toronto: Doubleday, 2012 *The Tree of Story: Book Three of the Perilous Realm. Toronto: Doubleday, 2013

References

External links

Author's Website

at Athabasca University

Macleans: Magic and real life

Captain Marvel

Quill & Quire ''Quill & Quire'' is a Canadian magazine about the book and publishing industry. The magazine was launched in 1935 and has an average circulation of 5,000 copies per issue, with a publisher-claimed readership of 25,000. ''Quill & Quire'' reviews ...

Author Profile: 1963 births Canadian male novelists Living people {{Canada-writer-stub