Chandra Mayor
Encyclopedia
Chandra Mayor is a Canadian
poet and novelist whose writings, among other topics, dive into worlds of urban
and alternative
cultures. She resides in Winnipeg
, Manitoba
.
and won the Eileen McTavish Sykes Award for Best First Book. She received the 2004 John Hirsch Award for Most Promising Writer, and the following year she followed that up with her novel, Cherry, which won the Carol Shields Winnipeg Book Award. Mayor, who is openly
lesbian
, was shortlisted for a 2008 CBC Literary Award for the title story from her most recent book, All the Pretty Girls (Conundrum Press
), a collection of short stories. All the Pretty Girls won the 2009 Lambda Award for Best Lesbian Fiction.
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
poet and novelist whose writings, among other topics, dive into worlds of urban
Urban culture
Urban culture is the culture of towns and cities. In the United States, Urban culture may also sometimes be used as a euphemistic reference to contemporary African American culture.- African American culture :...
and alternative
Alternative culture
Alternative culture is a type of culture that exists outside or on the fringes of mainstream or popular culture, usually under the domain of one or more subcultures...
cultures. She resides in Winnipeg
Winnipeg
Winnipeg is the capital and largest city of Manitoba, Canada, and is the primary municipality of the Winnipeg Capital Region, with more than half of Manitoba's population. It is located near the longitudinal centre of North America, at the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers .The name...
, Manitoba
Manitoba
Manitoba is a Canadian prairie province with an area of . The province has over 110,000 lakes and has a largely continental climate because of its flat topography. Agriculture, mostly concentrated in the fertile southern and western parts of the province, is vital to the province's economy; other...
.
Publishing career
Mayor's writing has appeared in several anthologies, including Interruptions: 30 Women Tell the Truth about Motherhood, Breathing Fire 2: Canada’s New Poets, and Post-Prairie. Her first book, August Witch, a book of poetry, was short-listed for four Manitoba Book AwardsBrave New Words: The Manitoba Writing and Publishing Awards
Brave New Words: The Manitoba Writing and Publishing Awards is a gala, held annually in April in Winnipeg, Manitoba, celebrating the best of Manitoban publishing from the previous year...
and won the Eileen McTavish Sykes Award for Best First Book. She received the 2004 John Hirsch Award for Most Promising Writer, and the following year she followed that up with her novel, Cherry, which won the Carol Shields Winnipeg Book Award. Mayor, who is openly
Coming out
Coming out is a figure of speech for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people's disclosure of their sexual orientation and/or gender identity....
lesbian
Lesbian
Lesbian is a term most widely used in the English language to describe sexual and romantic desire between females. The word may be used as a noun, to refer to women who identify themselves or who are characterized by others as having the primary attribute of female homosexuality, or as an...
, was shortlisted for a 2008 CBC Literary Award for the title story from her most recent book, All the Pretty Girls (Conundrum Press
Conundrum Press (Canada)
Conundrum Press is a book publishing company located in Montreal, Canada, founded in 1995 by Andy Brown.-Affiliated authors:Conundrum is renowned in Canadian publishing for its innovative, wide-ranging, often genre-defying, books of fiction, cultural history, graphic novels, spoken word and artist...
), a collection of short stories. All the Pretty Girls won the 2009 Lambda Award for Best Lesbian Fiction.
Awards
- Winner, Lambda Award for Best Lesbian Fiction, 2009
- Winner, Carol Shields Winnipeg Book AwardBrave New Words: The Manitoba Writing and Publishing AwardsBrave New Words: The Manitoba Writing and Publishing Awards is a gala, held annually in April in Winnipeg, Manitoba, celebrating the best of Manitoban publishing from the previous year...
, 2005 - Winner, John Hirsch Award for the Most Promising Manitoba WriterBrave New Words: The Manitoba Writing and Publishing AwardsBrave New Words: The Manitoba Writing and Publishing Awards is a gala, held annually in April in Winnipeg, Manitoba, celebrating the best of Manitoban publishing from the previous year...
, 2004 - Winner, Eileen McTavish Sykes Award for Best First BookBrave New Words: The Manitoba Writing and Publishing AwardsBrave New Words: The Manitoba Writing and Publishing Awards is a gala, held annually in April in Winnipeg, Manitoba, celebrating the best of Manitoban publishing from the previous year...
, 2003
Quotes
Chandra Mayor on writing:
"Telling the truth is harder than telling lies. Which makes writing hard work. But it's also what makes it resonate, makes it mean something to the person who reads it. Writing is exhibitionism. Writing is dragging something out of you, kicking and screaming. Writing is also craft, which is only achieved through pure drudgery. At the end of it all, someone says, 'you spoke to me,' and it's all worth it."