Gail Anderson-Dargatz

Gail Anderson-Dargatz
Born
Gail Kathryn Anderson

(1963-11-14) November 14, 1963 (age 62)
EducationUniversity of Victoria
OccupationNovelist
Writing career
Period1990s–present
Notable works

Gail Kathryn Anderson-Dargatz (born November 14, 1963) is a Canadian novelist.

Anderson-Dargatz was born in Kamloops, British Columbia, and grew up in Salmon Arm. She studied creative writing at the University of Victoria and taught in the MFA program at the University of British Columbia. She published her debut short story collection The Miss Hereford Stories in 1994, and received a nomination for the Stephen Leacock Memorial Medal for Humour in 1995.

Her first novel, The Cure for Death by Lightning (1996), was an experimental work with a story that unfolded partly through narrative and partly through a collection of recipes and household tips belonging to the narrator's mother. A Canadian bestseller that year, it won the Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize, and was nominated for the Giller Prize and the Books in Canada First Novel Award.

Her second novel, A Recipe for Bees, was published in 1998. Based on her own parents' early relationship, her process of researching the book led her parents to their remarriage to each other after having divorced in 1981. The book was a Giller Prize finalist in 1998.

She has since published the novels A Rhinestone Button (2002), Turtle Valley (2007), The Spawning Grounds (2016), The Almost Wife (2021), The Almost Widow (2023), and The Atlas Keeper (2026).

Bibliography

Short story collections

Novels

References

  1. 1 2 Busby, Brian John (February 20, 2007). "Gail Anderson-Dargatz". The Canadian Encyclopedia. Retrieved 2026-08-23.
  2. ↑ "Success Story with Gail Anderson-Dargatz". The Darling Axe. 8 March 2020.
  3. ↑ "Montreal writer wins humor award". Toronto Star. May 4, 1995.
  4. ↑ "Lightning strikes genius in first novel". Edmonton Journal. May 12, 1996.
  5. ↑ "B.C. Book Prizes: 'Lightning' strikes at awards". The Province. May 18, 1997.
  6. ↑ "Giller Prize goes to Atwood". Montreal Gazette. November 7, 1996.
  7. ↑ "Anne Michaels awarded $5,000 first novel prize". Toronto Star. May 28, 1997.
  8. ↑ "Book research prompts her parents to remarry". Victoria Times-Colonist. September 18, 1998.
  9. ↑ "Quality evident in Giller nominations: Canadian authors recognized internationally for originality". St. Catharines Standard. October 17, 1998.
  10. ↑ "Words, images woven with skill: Author describes everyday life in small rural community". Victoria Times-Colonist. December 15, 2002.
  11. ↑ "Ghosts weave in and out of Turtle Valley for a scary read". Hamilton Spectator. September 29, 2007.
  12. ↑ "A river runs through it: Gail Anderson-Dargatz's latest novel is a coming-of-age story with a very strange supernatural twist". The Globe and Mail. September 17, 2016.
  13. ↑ "The Almost Wife". HarperCollins Canada. Retrieved September 4, 2025.
  14. ↑ "The Almost Widow". HarperCollins Canada. Retrieved September 4, 2025.
  15. ↑ "Most Anticipated: Our Fall 2026 Fiction Preview". 49th Shelf. July 9, 2026. Retrieved 2026-08-23.