Russell Wangersky 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...

 journalist and short story writer. Born in New Haven, Connecticut

New Haven, Connecticut

New Haven is the second-largest city in Connecticut and the sixth-largest in New England. According to the 2010 Census, New Haven's population increased by 5.0% between 2000 and 2010, a rate higher than that of the State of Connecticut, and higher than that of the state's five largest cities, and...

 and raised in Canada since the age of 3, Wangersky was educated at Acadia University

Acadia University

Acadia University is a predominantly undergraduate university located in Wolfville, Nova Scotia, Canada with some graduate programs at the master's level and one at the doctoral level...

.

He is currently the editorial page editor of The Telegram

The Telegram

The Telegram is a daily newspaper published in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador.-History:The Evening Telegram was first published on April 3, 1879 by William James Herder. It adopted its current name in 1998, although it was also briefly published under this name in 1881...

in St. John's, as well as a columnist and magazine writer. He has been nominated for the National Newspaper Award four times, and has won once, as well as several Canadian awards for creative non-fiction writing. He is also a four-time National Magazine Award finalist. He published his debut short story collection, The Hour of Bad Decisions, in 2006. The collection was named to the initial longlist for the 2006 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...

, and was also a finalist for the Winterset Award

Winterset Award

The Winterset Award is a Canadian literary award, presented annually by the Newfoundland and Labrador Arts Council to a work judged to be the best book, regardless of genre, published by a writer from Newfoundland and Labrador....

, the Commonwealth Writers First Book Prize - Canada and the Caribbean, and the Danuta Gleed Literary Award

Danuta Gleed Literary Award

The Danuta Gleed Literary Award recognizes a first collection of short fiction by a Canadian author writing in English. The award is presented annually by the Writers' Union of Canada and was endowed by John Gleed in honour of his late wife....

. His latest book, Burning Down the House: Fighting Fires and Losing Myself — a non-fiction memoir of his 20 years as a volunteer firefighter — was released in Canada by Thomas Allen Publishers in March 2008. It was a finalist for the Writers' Trust Non-Fiction Prize, and won British Columbia's National Award for Canadian Non-Fiction

British Columbia's National Award for Canadian Non-Fiction

British Columbia's National Award for Canadian Non-fiction is a Canadian literary award. It is awarded annually since 2005 by the British Columbia Achievement Foundation. It is the largest non-fiction prize in Canada, rising from $25,000 2005-2007 to $40,000 since 2008...

, the Edna Staebler Award

Edna Staebler Award

The Edna Staebler Award is an annual Canadian literary award, presented to the year's best work of creative nonfiction. The award was established in 1991 by writer Edna Staebler, and is administered by Wilfrid Laurier University.-Winners:...

, the Drummer-General Prize for Non-Fiction, and the Rogers Television Newfoundland and Labrador Non-Fiction prize. His next book, the novel The Glass Harmonica, will be released in the spring of 2010.