David Demchuk Explained
David Demchuk is a Canadian playwright and novelist,[1] who received a longlisted Scotiabank Giller Prize nomination in 2017 for his debut novel The Bone Mother.[2]
Life
Born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, of Ukrainian descent,[3] he moved to Toronto, Ontario in 1984.
Literary work
His plays have included Rosalie Sings Alone (1985),[4] If Betty Should Rise (1985),[5] Touch (1986),[6] The World We Live On Turns So That the Sun Appears to Rise (1987), Stay (1990), Mattachine (1991),[7] Thieves in the Night (1992)[8] and The Power of Invention.[9] He received a special Dora Mavor Moore Award in 1986 for Touch.[10] In 1992, Touch was included in Making Out, the first anthology of Canadian plays by gay writers, alongside works by Ken Garnhum, Sky Gilbert, Daniel MacIvor, Harry Rintoul and Colin Thomas.[11]
After the mid-1990s, Demchuk stopped writing new plays, concentrating on his work at the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and on writing scripts for radio, film and television.[12] In 1999, he wrote the radio drama Alice in Cyberspace, a contemporary reworking of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, which aired for ten episodes on CBC Radio's This Morning.[13] His other radio dramas included Alaska, The Island of Dr. Moreau, and The Winter Market. In June 2012, he became a contributing writer for the online magazine Torontoist.[14]
The Bone Mother was published in 2017 by ChiZine Publications.[15] It was the first horror-themed novel ever to receive a nomination for the Giller, an award more commonly associated with conventional literary fiction rather than genre fiction.[16] The book was a shortlisted finalist for the 2018 amazon.ca First Novel Award.[17] His new novel, RED X, published by Strange Light, an imprint of Penguin Random House, was released on August 31, 2021.[18]
Biblio
Plays
- Book: Demchuk . Rosalie Sings Alone . 1985 . 2.
- Book: Demchuk . If Betty Should Rise . 1985 . 2.
- Book: Demchuk . Touch . 1986 . 2.
- Book: Demchuk . The World We Live On Turns So That the Sun Appears to Rise . 1987 . 2.
- Book: Demchuk . Stay . 1990 . 2.
- Book: Demchuk . Mattachine . 1991 . 2.
- Book: Demchuk . Thieves in the Night . 1992 . 2.
Collections
- Book: Demchuk . The Bone Mother . ChiZine Publications . 2017 . 9781771484213 . 2.
Novel
- Book: Demchuk . RED X . . 2021 . 9780771025013 . 2.
Notes and References
- http://www.canadiantheatre.com/dict.pl?term=Demchuk%2C%20David "Demchuk, David"
- http://winnipeg.ctvnews.ca/winnipeg-born-author-on-giller-prize-long-list-1.3595025 "Winnipeg-born author on Giller Prize long list"
- Web site: November 28, 2018 . Writing the Unsaid and Forgotten: An Interview with David Demchuk . Augur.
- "Trio of one-act plays doesn't add up to much". The Globe and Mail, August 16, 1985.
- "Powerful, well-acted drama gains little from new first act". Toronto Star, August 8, 1986.
- "Two plays provide exception to stock fare at Rhubarb '86". The Globe and Mail, February 24, 1986.
- "Fringe helped his Betty to rise again". Toronto Star, June 28, 1991.
- "Fistful of gems at new play fest". Toronto Star, July 19, 1992.
- "The dark is needed to appreciate the light". Toronto Star, August 12, 1989.
- "Dora smiles on Tarragon with record 17 nominations". The Globe and Mail, May 15, 1986.
- "Book symbolizes gays' advances". The Globe and Mail, June 4, 1992.
- "Whatever happened to that hot young playwright? David Demchuk has gone to CBC but one of his plays returns." Toronto Star, May 13, 1999.
- "Modern Alice". Calgary Herald, December 15, 1999.
- News: Home, a Toronto Indie Game That Will Mess With Your Head. Torontoist. 2012-06-20. Torontoist. 2017-09-23. en-US.
- https://beta.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books-and-media/book-reviews/review-jennifer-nansubuga-makumbis-transit-david-demchuks-the-bone-mother-and-pierre-luc-landrys-listening-for-jupiter/article36087604/ "Review: Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi's Kintu, David Demchuk's The Bone Mother and Pierre-Luc Landry's Listening for Jupiter"
- https://beta.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books-and-media/giller-prize-longlist-announced/article36287952/ "Three first-time authors make Giller Prize longlist"
- http://www.cbc.ca/books/sharon-bala-omar-el-akkad-among-finalists-for-40k-amazon-ca-first-novel-award-1.4638167 "Sharon Bala, Omar El Akkad among finalists for $40K Amazon.ca First Novel Award"
- https://www.cbc.ca/books/red-x-1.5886653 "Listing: RED X by David Demchuk, CBC Books"