Editing Lynn Coady

{{short description|Canadian novelist and journalist}}
{{Infobox writer
| name = Lynn Coady
| birth_name         = 
| image        = Lynn Coady.jpg
| caption      = Lynn Coady in 2014
| birth_date   = {{Birth date and age|1970|1|24}}
| birth_place  = [[Port Hawkesbury]], [[Nova Scotia]]
| occupation   = [[novelist]], [[short story]] writer
| period       = 1990s-present
| nationality  = Canadian
| notableworks = ''Strange Heaven'', ''The Antagonist'', ''[[Hellgoing]]''
| awards        = {{awards|[[Scotiabank Giller Prize]]|2013|Hellgoing}}
| spouse       = 
| website      =
}}
'''Lynn Coady''' (born January 24, 1970)<ref name=canenc>[https://web.archive.org/web/20131028174140/http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/articles/lynn-coady Lynn Coady] at [[The Canadian Encyclopedia]].</ref> is a Canadian [[novelist]] and [[journalist]].

==Life and career==
Coady was born and grew up in [[Port Hawkesbury]], [[Nova Scotia]].<ref name=canenc /> After high school, she attended [[Carleton University]] in [[Ottawa]]; after graduating, she moved to [[New Brunswick]], where she worked at odd jobs for several years and began a career as a playwright.<ref name=quill>{{cite web |url=http://www.quillandquire.com/authors/profile.cfm?article_id=1244/  |title="Heaven on earth" |author=<!--Not stated-->|url-access=subscription  |website=Quill and Quire }}</ref> In 1996, she relocated to [[Vancouver]], [[British Columbia]], where she earned a Master of Fine Arts degree in creative writing from the [[University of British Columbia]].<ref name=quill/> In 2006 she moved to Edmonton and taught creative writing at [[Athabasca University]], where she developed a new course in writing the short story. In 2007 moved to Toronto to work at Anansi Press.

Coady's first book, ''Strange Heaven'' (1998), was nominated for a [[1998 Governor General's Awards|Governor General's Award]].<ref name=quill/> The novel is set in [[Nova Scotia]], giving Coady the opportunity to paint a different picture of her home province. ''Strange Heaven'' touches on the life of Bridget Murphy who has been admitted to a psychiatric ward after birthing a child who was put up for adoption. Upon returning to her [[Cape Breton]] home Murphy sees everything and everyone in a different light but still manages to find solace in this bizarre and somewhat dysfunctional home.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Halim|first1=Nadia|title=Strange Heaven|url=http://www.quillandquire.com/review/strange-heaven/|website=Quill and Quire|date=2 March 2004 |publisher=Goose Lane}}</ref>

Coady's second book, ''Play the Monster Blind'' (2000), was a national bestseller and a "Best Book" of 2000 for ''[[The Globe and Mail]]''. ''Saints of Big Harbour'' (2002) was a ''Globe and Mail'' "Best Book" in 2002.

''Mean Boy'' was recognized as a "Best Book" in 2006. The novel is a first person account of 19-year-old Lawrence Campbell during his first year of university in a small [[New Brunswick]] town. The year is 1975 and Campbell has dreams of becoming a poet. He was drawn away from his rural [[Prince Edward Island]] home by the allure of studying with his poet hero, Jim Arsenault. As Campbell progresses through the year, much of Arsenault's shine wears off and Campbell learns that people are not always what one expects, but rather are complex and multi-dimensional.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Baxter|first1=Gisele|title=Innocence and Experience|url=http://canlit.ca/reviews/innocence_and_experience|website=Canadian Literature|access-date=13 May 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150518094749/http://canlit.ca/reviews/innocence_and_experience|archive-date=18 May 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last1=Dinka|first1=Nicholas|title=Mean Boy|url=http://www.quillandquire.com/review/mean-boy/|website=Quill and Quire|date=May 2006 |publisher=Doubleday Canada}}</ref><ref>Rundle, Lisa. "Debunking the mythical writer's life." ''Globe and Mail'', March 10, 2006.</ref><ref>Van Herk, Aritha. "Campus poets go wild." ''Globe and Mail'', March 3, 2006.</ref>

Coady's 2011 novel ''The Antagonist'' concerns the life of Gordon Rankin, Coady's fictional character known more commonly in the novel as Rank. The character reflects how being cast as a hockey goon and tough guy impacted his life. In response to a novel written about him by an old university friend Rank dedicates himself to providing his own account of events from his past. The reader is brought into Rank's world and exposed to his hurts, joys, and ultimately the realization that one must narrate their own lives and reject the labels others may try to give you.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Blunt|first1=Giles|title=The Antagonist, by Lynn Coady|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books-and-media/the-antagonist-by-lynn-coady/article593679/|website=The Globe and Mail|date=9 September 2011 |access-date=14 May 2015}}</ref> This novel was shortlisted for the 2011 [[Scotiabank Giller Prize]];.<ref>[https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/books/the-giller-prize/meet-this-years-giller-nominees/article2190461/ "Meet this year's Giller nominees"]</ref>

Coady's 2013 book, ''[[Hellgoing]]'' is a collection of short stories, each about characters going through their own personal versions of hell. Despite this, the stories prompt laughing far more often than tears.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Hunter|first1=Jennifer|title=Hellgoing by Lynn Coady: Review|url=https://www.thestar.com/entertainment/books/2013/07/26/hellgoing_by_lynn_coady_review.html|website=thestar.com|date=26 July 2013 |publisher=Toronto Star|access-date=14 May 2015}}</ref> This book was the winner of the 2013 [[Scotiabank Giller Prize]].

Coady has been awarded the Canadian Authors Association/Air Canada Award for the best writer under thirty, as well as the Dartmouth Book and Writing Award for fiction. Her articles and reviews have been featured in many publications, including ''[[Saturday Night (magazine)|Saturday Night]]'', ''[[This (Canadian magazine)|This Magazine]]'', and ''[[Chatelaine (magazine)|Chatelaine]]''. She has written several plays, and contributes regularly to ''The Globe and Mail''.

In 2017, Coady was announced as juror for the 2017 [[Scotiabank Giller Prize]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Introducing the 2017 Scotiabank Giller Prize Jury |publisher=[[Scotiabank Giller Prize]] |url=http://www.scotiabankgillerprize.ca/introducing-the-2017-scotiabank-giller-prize-jury/ |date=January 16, 2017}}</ref>
 
Coady now lives in [[Toronto]], [[Ontario]].

==Bibliography==

===Novels===
*''Strange Heaven'' (1998)
*''[[Saints of Big Harbour]]'' (2002)
*''Mean Boy'' (2006)
*''The Antagonist'' (2011)
*''Watching You Without Me'' (2019)

===Short stories===
*''Play the Monster Blind'' (2000)
*''[[Hellgoing]]'' (2013) (won the 2013 [[Scotiabank Giller Prize]])

===Non-fiction===
*''Who Needs Books? Reading in the Digital Age'' (University of Alberta Press, 2016)

===Anthologies===
*''Victory Meat: New Fiction from Atlantic Canada'' (2003) (editor)
*''Penguin Book of Contemporary Canadian Women's Short Stories'' (2006) (contributor)
*''Penguin Book of Canadian Short Stories'' (2007) (contributor) 
*''The Anansi Reader: Forty Years of Very Good Books'' (2007) (editor)
*''The Journey Prize Stories 20: The Best of Canada's New Writers'' (2008) (co-editor)
*''Great Expectations'' (2008) House of Anansi (contributor)
*''Sex and Death'' (2016) (contributor)

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.lynncoady.com/ Lynn Coady]
*[http://www.lib.sfu.ca/system/files/28909/Coady.pdf Records of Lynn Coady are held by Simon Fraser University's Special Collections and Rare Books]

{{Giller Prize}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Coady, Lynn}}
[[Category:1970 births]]
[[Category:People from Inverness County, Nova Scotia]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Canadian women novelists]]
[[Category:Canadian satirists]]
[[Category:Canadian satirical novelists]]
[[Category:20th-century Canadian novelists]]
[[Category:21st-century Canadian novelists]]
[[Category:Carleton University alumni]]
[[Category:University of British Columbia alumni]]
[[Category:20th-century Canadian women writers]]
[[Category:21st-century Canadian women writers]]
[[Category:Canadian women short story writers]]
[[Category:Canadian women satirists]]
[[Category:20th-century Canadian short story writers]]
[[Category:21st-century Canadian short story writers]]
[[Category:Canadian Film Centre alumni]]
[[Category:Canadian women non-fiction writers]]
[[Category:Novelists from Nova Scotia]]