Geoffrey Ursell

{{Infobox writer

| name = Geoffrey Ursell

| image =

| caption =

| birth_date = {{birth date|1943|03|14}}

| birth_place = Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan

| occupation = playwright, novelist, poet

| nationality = Canadian

| notableworks = Perdue, or How the West Was Lost, Saskatoon Pie

| spouse = Barbara Sapergia

| children =

| years_active = 1970s-2021

| death_date = {{death date and age|2021|02|21|1943|03|14}}

| death_place = Saskatoon, Saskatchewan

}}

Geoffrey Ursell (March 14, 1943 – February 21, 2021)[http://esask.uregina.ca/entry/ursell_geoffrey_1943-.html "Ursell, Geoffrey (1943–)"]. Encyclopedia of Saskatchewan. was a Canadian writer, who won the Books in Canada First Novel Award in 1985 for his novel Perdue, or How the West Was Lost."Writer from Regina wins book award". The Globe and Mail, March 29, 1985.

Career

Predominantly known as a playwright, Ursell's stage and musical plays included The Running of the Deer (1981), Saskatoon Pie (1982),"Ursell's 'Pie' cooling on windowsill". Saskatoon Star-Phoenix, July 9, 1999. The Willowbunch Giant (1983), The Secret Life of Railroaders (1986),"Three win playwriting competition". Ottawa Citizen, May 13, 1986. The Rum Runners of Rainbow Ravine (1990), The Park (1994), Deer Bring the Sun (1998),"Baby plays nurtured at festival". Saskatoon Star-Phoenix, May 15, 1998. Gold on Ice (2003),"Curtain rises on dream season: There's something for everyone in this year's theatre lineup". Saskatoon Star-Phoenix, September 13, 2002. Winning the Prairie Gamble (2005),"WDM launches play". Saskatoon Star-Phoenix, July 6, 2005. The Walnut Tree (2010)"Persephone plays in a bigger sandbox; Theatre announces 2009-10 season lineup". Saskatoon Star-Phoenix, April 7, 2009. and Dead Midnight (2011)."Dead Midnight thrills and chills". Saskatoon Star-Phoenix, September 15, 2011. He also adapted The Rum Runners of Rainbow Ravine as a CBC Radio drama, and wrote the teleplay Distant Battles for CBC Television.

With his wife Barbara Sapergia and colleagues Bob Currie and Gary Hyland, Ursell was a cofounder of Coteau Books in the 1970s. In 1987, Ursell and Sapergia pitched a series to CBC Television called Midnight in Moose Jaw, a sitcom-variety hybrid set in a Prohibition-era speakeasy which would have centred around live performances by real comedians and musicians,"Moose Jaw TV series pondered by CBC". Vancouver Sun, July 17, 1987. with Jenny Jones and Colin James as the guest performers in the pilot. The series was not picked up by the CBC.

His other published books included the poetry collections Trap Lines (1982), The Look-Out Tower (1989) and Jumbo Gumbo: Songs, Poems, and Stories for Children (1990), and the short story collection Way Out West (1990)."Stories bare male violence". Ottawa Citizen, April 7, 1990.

He served as president of the Saskatchewan Writers' Guild and the Saskatchewan Playwrights' Centre, was writer-in-residence for the Saskatoon Public Library"Writers' reunion planned for public library". Saskatoon Star-Phoenix, May 4, 1996. and the Winnipeg Public Library, was an editor of the literary magazine Grain,"Local writers in Grain bumper crop". Edmonton Journal, May 3, 1992. and taught literature and creative writing at the University of Regina.