close
Jump to content

Suzette Mayr

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Suzette Mayr
Suzette Mayr at the Eden Mills Writers' Festival in 2017
Mayr at the Eden Mills Writers' Festival, 2017
Born1967 (age 58–59)
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Occupation
  • Author
  • professor
LanguageEnglish
EducationUniversity of Calgary (BA)
University of Alberta (MA)
University of New South Wales (PhD)
Period1991–present

Suzette Mayr is a Canadian novelist who has written six critically acclaimed novels and is currently a professor at the University of Calgary's Faculty of Arts.[1] Mayr's works have won and been nominated for several literary awards.

Biography

[edit]

Suzette Mayr was born in Calgary, Alberta.[2] Originally planning to study science in her post-secondary career, Mayr changed focus due to her strong performance in English. A creative writing course at the University of Calgary led to her decision to pursue a writing career.[3] She graduated with a bachelor's degree in English. Following her graduation from the University of Calgary, Mayr went on to acquire a Master of Arts in Creative Writing from the University of Alberta and a PhD from the University of New South Wales.[1]

Mayr worked as a waitress and sandwich maker before establishing herself as a professional writer.[2] In addition to her six novels (Moon Honey, The Widows, Venous Hum, Monoceros, Dr. Edith Vane and the Hares of Crawley Hall, and The Sleeping Car Porter),[4] Mayr has published books of poetry[5] and co-edited a literary anthology.[6] Her novels and other literary works have been nominated for several awards.[1] In 2002, Mayr participated in the Calgary Distinguished Writers Program at the University of Calgary,[7] where she is now a professor in the Department of English and teaches courses on creative writing and contemporary literature studies.[1] Mayr is of German and Afro-Caribbean descent[2] and often explores issues of race, identity, and sex in her writing[8] through the stylistic use of humour,[9] cultural mythologies,[10] and surreal imagery.[11]

Mayr is a past president of the Writers' Guild of Alberta.[12] In 2010, she served on the jury for the Dayne Ogilvie Prize for LGBTQ Emerging Writers, selecting Nancy Jo Cullen as that year's prize winner.[13]

The Sleeping Car Porter (2022)

[edit]

The Sleeping Car Porter, published in 2022, centres on R.T. Baxter, a closeted gay Black Canadian man working as a porter on a cross-Canada railway.[14] Publishers Weekly named it one of the best works of fiction published in 2022.[15]

The novel was the winner of the 2022 Giller Prize.[16] In 2023, it was longlisted for the inaugural Carol Shields Prize for Fiction,[17] and shortlisted for the Governor General's Award for English-language fiction at the 2023 Governor General's Awards.[18] It was also shortlisted for the 2024 Dublin Literary Award.[19]

Awards

[edit]
YearWorkAwardCategoryResultRef
1996 Moon Honey Alberta Literary Awards Georges Bugnet Award for Best Novel Shortlisted [20]
Henry Kreisel Award for Best First Book Shortlisted
2004 The WidowsCommonwealth Writers' PrizeBest Book (Canada and the Caribbean)Shortlisted[citation needed]
2011 Monoceros Ferro-Grumley AwardLGBTQ FictionShortlisted[21]
Giller Prize—Longlisted[22]
Alberta Literary AwardsCity of Calgary W.O. Mitchell Book PrizeWon [citation needed]
2012 ReLit AwardsNovelWon [23]
2022 The Sleeping Car Porter Giller Prize—Won[16]
2023 Carol Shields Prize for Fiction—Longlisted[17]
Governor General's AwardEnglish-language fictionShortlisted[18]
2024 Dublin Literary AwardFictionShortlisted[19]

Works

[edit]

Novels

[edit]
  • Moon Honey (1995)
  • The Widows (1998)
  • Venous Hum (2004)
  • Monoceros (2011)
  • Dr. Edith Vane and the Hares of Crawley Hall (2017)
  • The Sleeping Car Porter (2022)
Poetry
  • Zebra Talk (1991)
  • Tale (2001)

Anthologized works

[edit]
  • "Scalps" in Boundless Alberta (1993)
  • "Glass Anatomy" in Eye Wuz Here (1996)
  • "Toot Suite Matricia" in Threshold (1999) and So Long Been Dreaming (2004)
  • "Nipple Gospel" in And Other Stories (2001)

References

[edit]
  1. 1 2 3 4 "Suzette Mayr". UCalgary Profiles | University of Calgary. Retrieved 2026-07-26.
  2. 1 2 3 Kamboureli, Smaro, ed. (2007). Making a Difference: Canadian Multicultural Literatures in English (2nd ed.). Oxford University Press Canada. ISBN 9780195422887.
  3. ↑ Stallworthy, Bob (2006). In Silhouette: Profiles of Alberta Writers (PDF). p. 119.
  4. ↑ "Suzette Mayr's novel The Sleeping Car Porter uses magic realism to highlight Black Canadian history". CBC Books. November 3, 2022.
  5. ↑ Nurse, Donna Bailey (2023-01-09). "An Interview with Suzette Mayr". Black Iris. Retrieved 2026-07-26.
  6. ↑ Blackburn, Daniel; Arsov, Alexander (2016). "Somerset Maugham's Apocryphal 'Second-Rate' Status: Setting the Record Straight". English Literature in Transition, 1880-1920. 59 (2): 149.
  7. ↑ "CDWP Past Writers-in-Residence". University of Calgary. Retrieved 2026-07-26.
  8. ↑ Petersen, Katie (2004-01-01). "Defying Categorization: The Work of Suzette Mayr". Canadian Woman Studies/les cahiers de la femme. 23 (2): 71. ISSN 0713-3235.
  9. ↑ Volmers, Eric (June 2, 2017). "Suzette Mayr's new novel looks at the horrors of academia through a satirical lens". Calgary Herald. Archived from the original on 2022-05-17. Retrieved 2026-07-26.
  10. ↑ Bölling, Gordon (Spring 2013). "Mythical Worlds". Canadian Literature 216. Archived from the original on 2025-11-09. Retrieved 2026-07-26.
  11. ↑ Grubisic, Brett Josef (2011-06-15). "Novelist Suzette Mayr on teen life in Catholic school". Xtra Magazine. Retrieved 2026-07-26.
  12. ↑ "Suzette Mayr wins $100K Scotiabank Giller Prize for novel The Sleeping Car Porter". CBC Books. November 7, 2022.
  13. ↑ Vallejos, Jorge Antonio (2010-09-08). "Writer Nancy Jo Cullen is a rising talent". Xtra Magazine. Retrieved 2026-07-26.
  14. ↑ Grubisic, Brett Josef (2022-09-26). "Suzette Mayr's novel 'The Sleeping Car Porter' an artfully constructed story that moves, beguiles, and satisfies". The Toronto Star. ISSN 0319-0781. Retrieved 2026-07-26.
  15. ↑ "Best Books 2022: Publishers Weekly - Fiction". Publishers Weekly.
  16. 1 2 Wheeler, Brad (2022-11-07). "Suzette Mayr wins 2022 Scotiabank Giller Prize". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 2024-11-10.
  17. 1 2 Dundas, Deborah (2023-03-08). "5 Canadians nominated for first Carol Shields Prize for Fiction for women and non-binary writers, worth $150,000 (U.S.)". Toronto Star. Retrieved 2024-11-10.
  18. 1 2 "Past GGBooks winners and finalists". Governor General's Literary Awards. Retrieved 2024-11-10.
  19. 1 2 "Wright shortlisted for 2024 Dublin Literary Award". Books+Publishing. 2024-03-27. Retrieved 2024-03-28.
  20. ↑ "Alberta Literary Competitions Finalists". Writers Guild of Alberta. Archived from the original on 2011-07-06.
  21. ↑ "The Ferro-Grumley Awards". The Publishing Triangle. Retrieved 2025-02-15.
  22. ↑ Medley, Mark (September 6, 2011). "Michael Ondaatje and Guy Vanderhaeghe among writers on Giller Prize longlist". National Post.
  23. ↑ Jinje, Safa (2012-10-30). "ReLit Awards 2012 winners announced". Quill and Quire. Retrieved 2025-02-15.
[edit]
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Suzette_Mayr&oldid=1366459585"