Anne Simpson

Anne Simpson studied at Queen's University and OCAD University. The recorded working language is English. The field of work recorded is essay. Residence is recorded at Antigonish. Distinctions recorded are Gerald Lampert Award, Atlantic Poetry Prize, Dartmouth Book Award and Thomas Raddall Atlantic Fiction Award.

• Born — 1956 • Education — Queen's University at Kingston (B.A., M.A.) OCAD University • Awards — Journey Prize (1997)

Simpson received her Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts degrees from Queen's University, and graduated in Fine Arts from OCAD University (formerly the Ontario College of Art). Subsequently, she worked as a CUSO volunteer English teacher for two years in Nigeria. Simpson has been the writer-in-residence at a number of institutions, including the University of New Brunswick, the Medical Humanities Program at Dalhousie University (2004), the Saskatoon Public Library, the University of Prince Edward Island, Dalhousie University (2011), and Memorial University. She has been a faculty member at Sage Hill Writing Experience and the Banff Centre. She is an adjunct professor at St. Francis Xavier University, where she established the Writing Centre. Simpson lives in Antigonish, Nova Scotia.

Simpson was the co-winner of the 1997 Journey Prize, awarded for her short story Dreaming Snow. Her second collection of poetry, Loop (McClelland & Stewart, 2003), was the winner of the 2004 Canadian Griffin Poetry Prize. Loop contains many poems composed in sequences, including, notably, a poetic demonstration of a Möbius strip. Her other poetry collections include Light Falls Through You (McClelland & Stewart, 2000), winner of the Gerald Lampert Award and the Atlantic Poetry Prize, Quick (McClelland & Stewart, 2007), winner of the Pat Lowther Award, and Is (McClelland & Stewart, 2011) in which Simpson 'negotiates an ever-changing path between language and structure'. Simpson has written three novels: Speechless (Freehand, 2020), Canterbury Beach (Penguin, 2001) and Falling (McClelland & Stewart, 2008), which was a Canadian bestseller and winner of the Dartmouth Fiction Award. It was long-listed for the International Dublin Literary Award. She has also written a book of essays on poetics, The Marram Grass: Poetry and Otherness (Gaspereau, 2009).

• Poetry • Light Falls Through You – 2000 (winner of the Gerald Lampert Award and the Atlantic Poetry Prize) • Loop – 2003 (shortlisted for the 2003 Governor General's Award, winner of the 2004 Canadian Griffin Poetry Prize) • Quick – 2007 (winner of the 2008 Pat Lowther Award) • Is – 2011 • Novels • Canterbury Beach – 2001 (shortlisted for the Thomas Head Raddall Award) • Falling – 2008 • Speechless – 2020 • Essays • A Ragged Pen: Essays on Poetry & Memory – 2006 Gaspereau Press • The Marram Grass: Poetry & Otherness – 2009 Gaspereau Press • Experiments in Distant Influence – 2020 Gaspereau Press