Frances Susan Itani is a Canadian

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...

 fiction writer, poet

Poetry

Poetry is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning...

 and essayist.

Itani was born in Belleville

Belleville, Ontario

Belleville is a city located at the mouth of the Moira River on the Bay of Quinte in Southern Ontario, Canada, in the Quebec City-Windsor Corridor. It is the seat of Hastings County, but is politically independent of it. and the centre of the Bay of Quinte Region...

, Ontario

Ontario

Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....

 and grew up in Quebec

Quebec

Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....

. She studied nursing

Nursing

Nursing is a healthcare profession focused on the care of individuals, families, and communities so they may attain, maintain, or recover optimal health and quality of life from conception to death....

 in Montreal

Montreal

Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...

 and North Carolina

North Carolina

North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...

, a profession which she taught and practised for eight years. However, after enrolling in a writing class taught by W. O. Mitchell

W. O. Mitchell

William Ormond Mitchell, PC, OC better known as W.O. Mitchell was a Canadian writer.-Early life and career:...

, she decided to change careers.

Itani has published ten books, ranging from fiction and poetry to a children's book. Her 2003 novel Deafening

Deafening

Deafening is a 2003 novel written by Frances Itani.Author Frances Itani brings the reader to a small, pre-World War I Ontario town called Deseronto, where the O'Neil family owns a hotel. The book follows the story of Grania O'Neil, a girl who lost her hearing when she was five years old as a result...

won the Commonwealth Writers Prize, Caribbean and Canada region, and has been published in 16 countries.

Awards and recognition

• Canadian Fiction magazine, best short story, "After the Rain," 1987.
• Ottawa-Carleton Book Award (Fiction) for Man Without Face, 1994.
• Drummer General's Award for fiction, Deafening, 2003.
• 2004 Commonwealth Writers' Prize
  Commonwealth Writers' Prize
  Commonwealth Writers is an initiative by the Commonwealth Foundation to unearth, develop and promote the best new fiction from across the Commonwealth. It's flagship are two literary awards and a website...
  
   for Best Book (Caribbean & Canada region), Deafening.
• Shortlisted for the William Saroyan International Literary Prize, Deafening, 2005.
• Shortlisted for International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award
  International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award
  The International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award is an international literary award for a work of fiction, jointly sponsored by the city of Dublin, Ireland and the company IMPAC. At €100,000 it is one of the richest literary prizes in the world...
  
  , Deafening.
• Deafening
  Deafening
  Deafening is a 2003 novel written by Frances Itani.Author Frances Itani brings the reader to a small, pre-World War I Ontario town called Deseronto, where the O'Neil family owns a hotel. The book follows the story of Grania O'Neil, a girl who lost her hearing when she was five years old as a result...
  
  was chosen for the inclusion in Canada Reads 2006
  Canada Reads
  Canada Reads is an annual "battle of the books" competition organized and broadcast by Canada's public broadcaster, the CBC.-Overview:During Canada Reads, five personalities champion five different books, each champion extolling the merits of one of the titles. The debate is broadcast over a series...
  
  , championed by law
  Law
  Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...
  
  yer and author Maureen McTeer
  Maureen McTeer
  Maureen Anne McTeer is a Canadian author and a lawyer, married to Joe Clark, the 16th Prime Minister of Canada.-Life and career:...
  
  .
• Une coquille de silence, the French-language translation of Deafening, was chosen for inclusion in Le combat des livres 2006
  Canada Reads
  Canada Reads is an annual "battle of the books" competition organized and broadcast by Canada's public broadcaster, the CBC.-Overview:During Canada Reads, five personalities champion five different books, each champion extolling the merits of one of the titles. The debate is broadcast over a series...
  
  , where it was also championed by McTeer.

Selected bibliography

• Linger By the Sea — 1979
• A Season of Mourning — 1988
• Pack Ice and Truth or Lies — 1989
• Man Without Face — 1994
• Leaning, Leaning Over Water — 1998
• Deafening — 2003
• Poached Egg on Toast — 2004
• Remembering The Bones — 2007
• Requiem — 2011

External links

• Biography at Canada Reads