Mary Novik
Encyclopedia
Biography
Born in Victoria, British ColumbiaVictoria, British Columbia
Victoria is the capital city of British Columbia, Canada and is located on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific coast. The city has a population of about 78,000 within the metropolitan area of Greater Victoria, which has a population of 360,063, the 15th most populous Canadian...
and raised in Victoria and Surrey
Surrey, British Columbia
Surrey is a city in the province of British Columbia, Canada. It is a member municipality of Metro Vancouver, the governing body of the Greater Vancouver Regional District...
, Novik now lives in Vancouver
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
. Her debut novel, Conceit
Conceit (novel)
Conceit is a novel by the Canadian author Mary Novik, published in 2007 by Doubleday Canada.Set in 17th century London, Conceit is the story of Pegge Donne, the daughter of the metaphysical poet John Donne, a contemporary of Shakespeare...
(Doubleday Canada, 2007) is about Pegge Donne, the daughter of the Metaphysical poet John Donne
John Donne
John Donne 31 March 1631), English poet, satirist, lawyer, and priest, is now considered the preeminent representative of the metaphysical poets. His works are notable for their strong and sensual style and include sonnets, love poetry, religious poems, Latin translations, epigrams, elegies, songs,...
, and is set in 17th century London
Stuart London
This article covers the history of London during the Stuart period from 1603 to 1714.-James I:The preparations for the coronation of King James I were interrupted by a severe plague epidemic, which may have killed over thirty thousand people...
. Other fictional characters based on historical people are Donne's wife Ann More, the diarist Samuel Pepys
Samuel Pepys
Samuel Pepys FRS, MP, JP, was an English naval administrator and Member of Parliament who is now most famous for the diary he kept for a decade while still a relatively young man...
, and the fisherman Izaak Walton
Izaak Walton
Izaak Walton was an English writer. Best known as the author of The Compleat Angler, he also wrote a number of short biographies which have been collected under the title of Walton's Lives.-Biography:...
.
Conceit
Conceit (novel)
Conceit is a novel by the Canadian author Mary Novik, published in 2007 by Doubleday Canada.Set in 17th century London, Conceit is the story of Pegge Donne, the daughter of the metaphysical poet John Donne, a contemporary of Shakespeare...
won the Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize
Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize
The Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize, established in 1985 as one of the BC Book Prizes, is awarded annually to the best work of fiction by a resident of British Columbia, Canada....
and was long-listed for the Scotiabank Giller Prize
Scotiabank Giller Prize
The Scotiabank Giller Prize, or Giller Prize, is a literary award given to a Canadian author of a novel or short story collection published in English the previous year, after an annual juried competition between publishers who submit entries...
. It was chosen as a Book of the Year by both The Globe and Mail
The Globe and Mail
The Globe and Mail is a nationally distributed Canadian newspaper, based in Toronto and printed in six cities across the country. With a weekly readership of approximately 1 million, it is Canada's largest-circulation national newspaper and second-largest daily newspaper after the Toronto Star...
and Quill & Quire
Quill & Quire
Quill & Quire, a Canadian magazine about the book and publishing industry, was launched in 1935 and has an average circulation of 5,000 copies per issue, but its publisher claims a readership of 25,000...
and as a Canadian Book of the Year by Abebooks
Abebooks
AbeBooks is an online marketplace for books. Most books listed are used, many are rare or out-of-print, and a growing number are new books. The company is based in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, with offices in Düsseldorf, Germany, and in the US. It was incorporated in 1995 and launched its...
.
Novik belongs to the Vancouver writing group, SPiN, which includes Jen Sookfong Lee
Jen Sookfong Lee
Jen Sookfong Lee is the author of The End of East, a novel told through the eyes of its protagonist, Sammy Chan, a 20-something Chinese-Canadian woman...
and June Hutton. She has also taught creative writing at Langara College
Langara College
Langara College is a public degree-granting college in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada which serves approximately 20,000 students annually through its university, career, and continuing studies programs...
.