David Demchuk

{{short description|Canadian playwright and novelist|bot=PearBOT 5}}

David Demchuk is a Canadian playwright and novelist,[http://www.canadiantheatre.com/dict.pl?term=Demchuk%2C%20David "Demchuk, David"]. Canadian Theatre Encyclopedia, March 26, 2009. who received a longlisted Scotiabank Giller Prize nomination in 2017 for his debut novel The Bone Mother.[http://winnipeg.ctvnews.ca/winnipeg-born-author-on-giller-prize-long-list-1.3595025 "Winnipeg-born author on Giller Prize long list"]. CTV Winnipeg, September 18, 2017.

Life

Born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, of Ukrainian descent,{{Cite web |date=November 28, 2018 |title=Writing the Unsaid and Forgotten: An Interview with David Demchuk |url=http://www.augurmag.com/writing-the-unsaid-and-forgotten-an-interview-with-david-demchuk/ |work=Augur}} he moved to Toronto, Ontario in 1984.

Literary work

His plays have included Rosalie Sings Alone (1985),"Trio of one-act plays doesn't add up to much". The Globe and Mail, August 16, 1985. If Betty Should Rise (1985),"Powerful, well-acted drama gains little from new first act". Toronto Star, August 8, 1986. Touch (1986),"Two plays provide exception to stock fare at Rhubarb '86". The Globe and Mail, February 24, 1986. The World We Live On Turns So That the Sun Appears to Rise (1987), Stay (1990), Mattachine (1991),"Fringe helped his Betty to rise again". Toronto Star, June 28, 1991. Thieves in the Night (1992)"Fistful of gems at new play fest". Toronto Star, July 19, 1992. and The Power of Invention."The dark is needed to appreciate the light". Toronto Star, August 12, 1989. He received a special Dora Mavor Moore Award in 1986 for Touch."Dora smiles on Tarragon with record 17 nominations". The Globe and Mail, May 15, 1986. 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."Book symbolizes gays' advances". The Globe and Mail, June 4, 1992.

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."Whatever happened to that hot young playwright? David Demchuk has gone to CBC but one of his plays returns." Toronto Star, May 13, 1999. 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."Modern Alice". Calgary Herald, December 15, 1999. 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.{{Cite news|url=https://torontoist.com/2012/06/home-a-toronto-indie-game-that-will-mess-with-your-head/|title=Home, a Toronto Indie Game That Will Mess With Your Head|last=Torontoist|date=2012-06-20|work=Torontoist|access-date=2017-09-23|language=en-US}}

The Bone Mother was published in 2017 by ChiZine Publications.[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"]. The Globe and Mail, August 25, 2017. 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.[https://beta.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books-and-media/giller-prize-longlist-announced/article36287952/ "Three first-time authors make Giller Prize longlist"]. The Globe and Mail, September 18, 2017. The book was a shortlisted finalist for the 2018 amazon.ca First Novel Award.[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"]. CBC Books, April 28, 2018. His new novel, RED X, published by Strange Light, an imprint of Penguin Random House, was released on August 31, 2021.[https://www.cbc.ca/books/red-x-1.5886653 "Listing: RED X by David Demchuk, CBC Books"].

Biblio

= Plays =

{{cite book |last=Demchuk |title=Rosalie Sings Alone |year=1985 |author-mask=2}}
{{cite book |last=Demchuk |title=If Betty Should Rise |year=1985 |author-mask=2}}
{{cite book |last=Demchuk |title=Touch |year=1986 |author-mask=2}}
{{cite book |last=Demchuk |title=The World We Live On Turns So That the Sun Appears to Rise |year=1987 |author-mask=2}}
{{cite book |last=Demchuk |title=Stay |year=1990 |author-mask=2}}
{{cite book |last=Demchuk |title=Mattachine |year=1991 |author-mask=2}}
{{cite book |last=Demchuk |title=Thieves in the Night |year=1992 |author-mask=2}}