About
I grew up with a bunch of brothers and sisters on a small farm in the south-east corner of Saskatchewan, a bleak, flat, sublime landscape that continues to define my identity and sensibilities. I was never interested in farming —and my parents knew I would likely lose a limb trying to do it—so I went to university. And then I went some more. And then some more. Eventually, I completed a PhD in sixteenth-century literature from the University of Toronto. ​I taught for a while in the south of France, and then for twelve years at the University of Winnipeg, in Manitoba. I really enjoyed teaching.
While I was in Winnipeg, I also started doing writing and broadcasting for CBC radio, first for a regional show and then for a national show called Definitely Not the Opera. My "gig" was talking about the intersections of language and culture. Eventually, I broadcast more than a hundred columns. Also while in Winnipeg, I co-founded the Winnipeg International Writers Festival, and wrote four nonfiction books, and more than fifty columns for Gastronomica: A Journal of Food and Culture published by the University of California Press.
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Best of all, while in Winnipeg I met my wife (I mean she wasn't my wife yet, but she became that😊). She—Melanie Cameron—is also a writer, having published two award-winning books.
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We moved to Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario, where I started working at the Centre for Teaching Excellence at the University of Waterloo. Melanie and I then adopted two older children—Brandon and Laika—and then, a few years later, two more—Rukhsana and Matthew. Not surprisingly, our writing screeched to a halt while we devoted ourselves to raising our children (and our four dogs—dogs have always been integral to our family!). All of our kids are now are in their twenties and are doing well.
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After our kids grew up, I started writing again, but I shifted to fiction. That's when I wrote The Headmasters, which was published by Shadowpaw Press. I've also completed another novel and have started writing a third one.
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More about me on Wikipedia.