Annabel Lyon

{{short description|Canadian novelist and short-story writer|bot=PearBOT 5}}

{{distinguish|text=the American ballet dancer Annabelle Lyon}}{{Infobox author

| birth_date = {{birth year and age|1971}}

| birth_place = Brampton, Ontario, Canada

| occupation = Novelist and short-story writer

| education = Simon Fraser University (BA)

University of British Columbia (MFA)

}}

Annabel Lyon (born 1971){{Cite web |last=Wunker |first=Erin |date=April 15, 2014 |title=Annabel Lyon |url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/annabel-lyon |access-date=2023-05-20 |website=The Canadian Encyclopedia |archive-date=2022-12-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221201160724/https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/annabel-lyon |url-status=live }} is a Canadian novelist and short-story writer. She has published two collections of short fiction, two young adult novels, and two adult historical novels, The Golden Mean and its sequel, The Sweet Girl.

Life and work

Born in Brampton, Ontario, Lyon grew up in Coquitlam, British Columbia, where she and her family moved when she was a year old.{{Cite web |last=Lederman |first=Marsha |date=2009-10-21 |title=Annabel Lyon: CanLit's newest golden girl |url=http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/annabel-lyon-canlits-newest-golden-girl/article1326472/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091123094321/http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/annabel-lyon-canlits-newest-golden-girl/article1326472/ |archive-date=2009-11-23 |access-date=2023-05-20 |website=The Globe and Mail}} She completed her Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy at Simon Fraser University and an MFA in Creative Writing at the University of British Columbia. In addition, she attended the University of British Columbia's Faculty of Law for one year.

Lyon published her first book, Oxygen, a collection of stories, in 2000. The Best Thing for You, a collection of three novellas, followed in 2004 and was nominated for the Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize.

Her first novel, The Golden Mean, which imagines the relationship between Alexander the Great and his teacher, Aristotle, was published in 2009. It held the distinction of being the only book nominated that year for all three of Canada's major fiction prizes: the Scotiabank Giller Prize,Farquharson, Vanessa. "Familiar names missing from Giller Prize list". Regina Leader-Post, October 7, 2009. the Governor General's Award for English-language fiction,Adrian Chamberlain, "Bookstore clerk's first offering vies with Alice Munro for top prize". Victoria Times-Colonist, October 15, 2009. and the Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize.{{Cite web |date=2009-11-25 |title=Annabel Lyon wins Writer's Trust award |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091128093906/http://www.theglobeandmail.com/books/annabel-lyon-wins-writers-trust-award/article1376820/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=http://www.theglobeandmail.com/books/annabel-lyon-wins-writers-trust-award/article1376820/ |archive-date=2009-11-28 |access-date=2023-05-21 |website=The Globe and Mail}} Of the three, she won the Rogers Prize.{{Cite web |last=Lederman |first=Marsha |date=2009-10-21 |title=Annabel Lyon: CanLit's newest golden girl |url=http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/annabel-lyon-canlits-newest-golden-girl/article1326472/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091123094321/http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/annabel-lyon-canlits-newest-golden-girl/article1326472/ |archive-date=2009-11-23 |access-date=2023-05-21 |website=The Globe and Mail}} The book has been translated into six languages.{{Cite web |last= |title=Annabel Lyon author biography |url=https://www.bookbrowse.com/biographies/index.cfm/author_number/1944/annabel-lyon |access-date=2023-05-21 |website=BookBrowse |language=en |archive-date=2019-04-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190428023053/https://www.bookbrowse.com/biographies/index.cfm/author_number/1944/annabel-lyon |url-status=live }} A sequel, The Sweet Girl, which explores the life of Aristotle's daughter, Pythias, was published in September 2012.{{Cite news |date=2012-09-21 |title=The Sweet Girl: Aristotle’s other, forgotten child |language=en-CA |work=The Globe and Mail |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books-and-media/book-reviews/the-sweet-girl-aristotles-other-forgotten-child/article4558469/ |access-date=2023-05-21 |archive-date=2021-01-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210126051626/http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books-and-media/book-reviews/the-sweet-girl-aristotles-other-forgotten-child/article4558469/ |url-status=live }}

Her novel Consent was longlisted for the Giller Prize in 2020.{{Cite web |last=Dundas |first=Deborah |date=2020-09-08 |title=Thomas King, Emma Donoghue make the 2020 Giller longlist in a year marked by firsts |url=https://www.thestar.com/entertainment/books/2020/09/08/thomas-king-emma-donoghue-make-the-2020-giller-longlist-in-a-year-marked-by-firsts.html |access-date=2023-05-20 |website=Toronto Star |language=en |archive-date=2022-11-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221103054233/https://www.thestar.com/entertainment/books/2020/09/08/thomas-king-emma-donoghue-make-the-2020-giller-longlist-in-a-year-marked-by-firsts.html |url-status=live }}

She lives in New Westminster, British Columbia, one of 13 cities in Metro Vancouver.

Awards and honors

class="wikitable sortable mw-collapsible"

|+Awards for Lyon's writing

!Year

!Title

!Award

!Result

!Ref.

2005

|{{sortname|The|Best Thing for You|nolink=1}}

|Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize

|Shortlist

|

2009

|The Golden Mean

|Giller Prize

|Shortlist

|

2009

|The Golden Mean

|Governor General's Award for English-language fiction

|Finalist

|

2009

|The Golden Mean

|Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize

|Winner

|

2010

|{{sortname|The|Golden Mean|nolink=1}}

|Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize

|Shortlist

|

2012

|The Sweet Girl

|Giller Prize

|Longlist

|"Lyon, Richardson among authors on Giller long list". Prince George Citizen, September 5, 2012.

2020

|Consent

|Giller Prize

|Longlist

|

2021

|Consent

|Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize

|Shortlist

|{{Cite web |last=Porter |first=Ryan |date=2021-04-08 |title=Eight shortlists announced for BC and Yukon Book Prizes |url=https://quillandquire.com/omni/eight-shortlists-announced-for-bc-and-yukon-book-prizes/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220808073040/https://quillandquire.com/omni/eight-shortlists-announced-for-bc-and-yukon-book-prizes/ |archive-date=2022-08-08 |access-date=2023-04-22 |website= Quill and Quire |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Takeuchi |first=Craig |date=2021-04-08 |title=B.C. and Yukon Book Prize shortlists announced for 2021 |url=https://www.straight.com/arts/bc-and-yukon-book-prize-shortlists-announced-for-2021 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210408203227/https://www.straight.com/arts/bc-and-yukon-book-prize-shortlists-announced-for-2021 |archive-date=2021-04-08 |access-date=2023-04-22 |website=The Georgia Straight |language=en}}

Bibliography

=Short fiction=

  • Oxygen (2000) McClelland & Stewart
  • The Best Thing for You (2004) McClelland & Stewart
  • Saturday Night Function (2004) Biblioasis
  • Imagining ancient women. 2012. Henry Kreisel Memorial Lecture Series, University of Alberta Press

=Novels=

  • All-Season Edie (2009) Orca Book Publishers {{ISBN|978-1-55143-713-2}}
  • The Golden Mean (2009) Random House Canada {{ISBN|978-0-307-35620-8}}
  • Encore Edie (2010) Puffin Canada
  • The Sweet Girl (2012) Random House Canada {{ISBN|978-0-307-35944-5}}
  • Consent (2020)

References