BIO

 

GENNI GUNN is a writer, musician and translator. Born in Trieste, she came to Canada  when she was eleven. She has published eight books: two novels—Tracing Iris and Thrice Upon a Time, two short story collections—Hungers and On The Road, two poetry collections— Faceless and Mating in Captivity. As well, she has translated from Italian two collections of poems—Devour Me Too and Traveling in the Gait of a Fox by renowned Italian author, Dacia Maraini. Two of Genni’s books have been translated into Italian.

Her opera, Alternate Visions, produced by Chants Libres premiered in Montreal in 2007 (music by John Oliver) and was projected in a simulcast at The Western Front in Vancouver; and her poem, Hot Summer Nights, has been turned into classical vocal music by John Oliver, and performed widely internationally.

Genni’s works have been finalists for the CBC Literary Awards in all three categories: fiction personal essay and poetry; the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize for Thrice Upon a Time; the Gerald Lampert Award for poetry collection Mating In Captivity; the Premio Internazionale Diego Valeri for literary translation for poetry collection Traveling in the Gait of a Fox; and the John Glassco Translation Prize for poetry collection Devour Me Too. She has received two Praxis Film Development Fellowships for her screenplays.

Her novel, Tracing Iris, has been optioned for film and is in development with TRACING IRIS PRODUCTIONS INC. Italian rights to Tracing Iris have been sold to Excelsior 1881. The novel will be published in Italian in October 2009 under the title Cercando Iris.

Genni’s novels have been taught at U.B.C., the University of Lethbridge and the University of Guelph, and have been the subject of PhD theses in Canada, and translation theses in Italy. Several of her stories appear in post-secondary textbooks such as Breaking Free (Prentice Hall), Cultures in Transition (McGraw-Hill Ryerson Limited), and Pens of a Different Colour: a Canadian Reader (Harcourt, Brace Janovich). Her work has been anthologized both nationally and internationally, and her short stories have appeared in The Journey Prize Anthology (McClelland & Stewart), Best Canadian Stories (Oberon Press), and the now defunct renown American journal Story.

She has performed at hundreds of readings and writers’ festivals, including last year’s Calgary Wordfest, Winnipeg’s Thin Air, and Vancouver’s International Writers’ Festival. She has delivered workshops for writers Canada-wide, most recently 2009 Writers and Writing: Professional Development Workshops during February and March 2009, beginning in Charlottetown and ending in Vancouver. Genni has been interviewed on CBC’s Q, North by Northwest, All in a Weekend (Montreal) and her fiction has been read on Between the Covers. She has attended various conferences where her work was discussed, most recently at the 77th Annual Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences, Vancouver 2008.

Before she turned to writing full-time, Gunn toured Canada extensively with a variety of bands ( bass guitar, piano and vocals).

Her new novel, Solitaria, will be published by Signature Editons in Fall 2010. She is at work on a collection of stories and another novel.

Gunn has a B.F.A. and an M.F.A. from the University of British Columbia. She is a member of the Writers' Union of  CanadaThe Literary Translators Association of Canada, and Pen International.

 

Selected Reviews & Interviews

 

 

"Faceless by Genni Gunn," by Belinda Bruce in Event, Winter 2008.

 

"Faceless by Genni Gunn," by Aaron Tucker in The Dansforth Review, November 6, 2007.

 

"Genni Gunn: scrittrice Udinese in Canada," by Anna Pia De Luca. Shaping History: L'Identita Italo-Canadese Nel Canada Anglofono. De Luca, Anna Pia and Ferraro, Alexxandra, eds. Forum, Udine Italy 2005.

 

"Hungers," by Eric Freeze. Quarter After Eight, Vol 10, Anniversary Editon, 2004. Ohio, U.S.

 

CBC North by Northwest, July 20, 2003

 

"Muted States of Emergency," by Nikki Barrett, The Globe & Mail, November 16, 2002.

 

"Tracing Iris," by Day Helesic. SubTerrain, Fall/Winter 2002.

 

"Poison Arrows on the String," by Len Gasparini. The Toronto Star, September 2002.

 

"Gunn Point," by Quentin Mills-Fenn, Uptown, Winnipeg, September 2002.

 

"A Night of Serious Fun," by Lyle Neff. Interview. The Vancouver Sun, September 2002.

 

"Patterns of Loss -- of People and Civilizations," by Ada Donati. Books in Canada, September 2002.

 

"Hungers," by Jana Prikryl. Quill & Quire, September 2002.

 

"A seasoned Gunn breaks out with Hungers," by Lyle Neff. Interview. The Westender, September 2002.

 

"Tracing Iris." The Vancouver Sun, December 1, 2001.

 

"Who can you trust? The author, for one," by Marnie Woodrow.  The Globe & Mail, November 10, 2001.

 

"Tracing Iris." Quill & Quire, October, 2001.

 

"Motherlode of moody mystery," by Carrie Snyder. The Ottawa Citizen, October, 2001.

 

"When Iris's eyes weren't smiling," BC Bookworld, September 2001.

 

"Feminist author addresses IUN." The Northwest Phoenix, University of Indiana, March 31, 1999.

 

"Mating in Captivity," The Chronicle, May 1994.

 

"Inside other worlds," by E. E. Cran.  Saint John Telegraph-Journal, August 1, 1992.

 

"Author Gunn: writing is a cumulative art," by Dan Davidson.  The Yukon Star, May 4, 1992.

 

"Mordant, discordant tales from rock's darkside," by John Moore.  The Vancouver Sun, January 4, 1992.

 

"Fiction 25, University of Toronto Quarterly, Fall 1991.

 

"Fragmented Lives: from the stages in a performer's life to husbands without wives," by George Robinson. London Free Press, November 2, 1991.

 

"Thrice Upon a Time first time lucky," by Tom Berridge.  The Chronicle, Nov. 4, 1991.

 

"On The Road: A Literary Review of Genni Gunn's Most Recent Work," by Anna Foschi. Lifestyles, Toronto, October 1991.

 

"Old songs played with interesting variations,"  The Globe & Mail, August 21, 1991.

 

"Oberon releases a variable trio," by Leona Gom. The Edmonton Journal, July 14, 1991.

 

"Unconventional Life," by Michael den Tandt.  The Whig-Standard, August 3, 1991.

 

"L'altra faccia della luna," by Anna Foschi. L'Eco D'Italia, June, 1991.

 

"Author writes of the road," by Barrie Abbott.  The Interior News, May 29, 1991.

 

"On the Road," Nite Moves, July 1991.

 

"Special Femmes International," by Christine Lahaie. Nuit Blanche, No. 41, September/October 1990.

 

"Thrice Upon a Time," by Joan McGrath. CM, November, 1990.

 

"Thrice Upon a Time," by Robin Van Heck. BCLA Reporter, Vol. 35, No. 2 (March 1991).

 

"In‑time‑I‑see," by Patricia Lynn. The Whig-Standard, November 17, 1990.

 

"Abandoning women," by Catherine Bush. The Globe & Mail, August 25, 1990.

 

"Thrice Upon a Time," by Tara Kainer. Between the Lines, August 2, 1990.

 

"Herstory written in milk: woman as a girl‑child from the sea," by Linda Rogers. The Vancouver Sun, November 3, 1990.

 

"High Ambitions," by Gary Draper. Books in Canada, October 1990.

 

"Post‑Modern preoccupations, identity, language and ethnicity," by Penny Loome. The Whig-Standard, October, 1990.

 

"Cera una volta," by Anna Foschi.  Il Cittadino Canadese, Montreal.  November, 1990.

 

"In Cerca del Mito Perduto," by Anna Foschi.  L'Eco D'Italia, September 3, 1990.

 

"Come Vivere da Artista...," by Anna Foschi.  L'Eco D'Italia, February 8, 1990.

 

"Inventive Feminist Fiction," by John Van Kannel. The Ottawa Citizen, October, 1990.

 

"Devour Me Too," by Nora Drutz. Canadian Book Review (annual), 1988.

 

"Disguises," by Lorraine York. Canadian Literature No.117, Summer 1988.

 

"Devour Me Too," by Bert Almon. Poetry Canada Review, Vol. 9, No. 3, 1988.

 

"Rest easy: short‑story writing in alive and well in Canada," by James Dunn.  Review of Best Canadian Stories:88 (Oberon, 1988); The Vancouver Sun, December 31, 1988.

 

"Exemplary mastery of the literary spirit," by William French.  Review of Best Canadian Stories:88 (Oberon, 1988); The Globe & Mail Dec­ember 17, 1988.

 

"Genni dei miracoli," by Anna Foschi. L'Eco D'Italia, September 17, 1987.