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Anne Michaels

アン・マイケルズ

Anne Michaels

Profile

Gender
Female
Born
1958-04-15 （Toronto, Ontario, Canada）
Nationality
Canada
Languages
English
Religion
Judaism
Residence History
Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Career

Occupations
novelist, poet
Active Years
1985-
Affiliations
University of Toronto (adjunct faculty)
Memberships
Royal Society of Literature (International Writer)
Influenced By
John Berger (collaborator/influence)
Nominations
Governor General's Award (shortlist), Griffin Poetry Prize (shortlist), Scotiabank Giller Prize (shortlist), Booker Prize (shortlist)

Education

University of Toronto
Department of English
Country: Canada
Has served as an adjunct faculty member in the Department of English

Awards

Giller Prize
2024
Work: Held
Organization: Scotiabank Giller Prize
Result: Winner
Vine Awards for Canadian Jewish Literature
2019
Work: Infinite Gradation
Category: Non-Fiction
Organization: Vine Awards
Result: Winner
Orange Prize (Women's Prize for Fiction)
1997
Work: Fugitive Pieces
Organization: Women's Prize for Fiction
Result: Winner
Guardian Fiction Prize
1997
Work: Fugitive Pieces
Organization: The Guardian
Result: Winner
Lannan Literary Award for Fiction
1997
Work: Fugitive Pieces
Organization: Lannan Foundation
Result: Winner
Commonwealth Poetry Prize for the Americas
1986
Work: The Weight of Oranges
Organization: Commonwealth Foundation
Result: Winner
Canadian Authors' Association Award
1991
Work: Miner's Pond
Organization: Canadian Authors' Association
Result: Winner
Helen and Stan Vine Book Award
2013
Work: Correspondences
Organization: Vine Awards
Result: Winner

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Fugitive Pieces

1996 Novel (history, memory, loss)

The story of a Holocaust survivor exploring history, memory and the work of recovery after profound loss.

memoryhistorylosslove
Adaptations
  • [Film] Fugitive Pieces (film) / Jeremy Podeswa (2007)
  • [Radio drama] Fugitive Pieces (BBC Radio 3)
Translations
  • Translated into over 45 countries/languages

The Winter Vault

2009 Novel (history and personal grief)

Links three historic events—the dismantling/rebuilding of Abu Simbel, the St. Lawrence Seaway project, and Warsaw's reconstruction—to explore collective and private memory.

memoryreconstructionhistory and the individual

Held

2023 Novel (generational)

A generations-spanning novel. Winner of the 2024 Giller Prize.

generationsmemoryfamily

The Weight of Oranges

1986 Poetry collection

Early poetry collection noted for technical precision and meditative depth; winner of the Commonwealth Poetry Prize (Americas).

memoryembodimentloss

Miner's Pond

1991 Poetry collection

Poetry collection that won the Canadian Authors' Association Award and established Michaels as a leading Canadian poet.

memoryplacepersonal history

Skin Divers

1999 Poetry collection

Poetry collection later adapted into a ballet by the National Ballet of Canada.

the bodymemorythe body as archive
Adaptations
  • [Ballet] Skin Divers (National Ballet of Canada) / Dominique Dumais (2009)

Correspondences

2013 Book-length poem (accordion format, readable frontwards or backwards)

An elegy alternating poetry and portraits of 20th-century writers and thinkers; winner of the Helen and Stan Vine Book Award.

elegyhomage to writers/intellectualsmemory

Infinite Gradation

2017 Non-fiction / Essay

A work of non-fiction; winner of the 2019 Vine Award (Non-Fiction).

memoryliterary meditationhistory

Bibliography

  • The Weight of Oranges (1986)
  • Miner's Pond (1991)
  • Skin Divers (1999)
  • Poems (2000)
  • Fugitive Pieces (1996)
  • The Winter Vault (2009)
  • Railtracks (2011)
  • Correspondences (2013)
  • All We Saw (2017)
  • Infinite Gradation (2017)
  • Held (2023)
  • The Adventures of Miss Petitfour (2015)
  • The Further Adventures of Miss Petitfour (2022)

Adaptations

  • Fugitive Pieces (film adaptation, 2007)
  • Fugitive Pieces (BBC Radio 3 radio drama)
  • Skin Divers (adapted as a ballet by the National Ballet of Canada, 2009)

Translations of Works

  • French translations
  • German translations
  • Japanese translations

Style & Themes

Literary Style
poetic and concise prosesymbolic, meditative narration
Recurring Motifs
memory and historyloss and reconstructionplace and displacement

Legacy

Anne Michaels is internationally acclaimed as both poet and novelist, noted for deep meditations on memory and history. Her work has won numerous awards, been widely translated and adapted for film, radio and dance, influencing contemporary literary discussions on memory and loss.

Academic Societies

  • Royal Society of Literature (International Writer)

Archives

  • University of Toronto archives (possible holdings related to the author)

In Popular Culture

  • Fugitive Pieces film adaptation (2007) contributed to mainstream cultural visibility
  • Skin Divers adapted as a ballet (2009), impacting the dance community

Quotes

  • We don't need repeated proof of violence or horror - a single incident convinces us - but we do need proof, again and again, of the strength, the power, the reach, and the consequences of love.
    Source: The Guardian (interview, 2009) (2009)

Trivia

  • Born in Toronto in 1958.
  • Served as Toronto's Poet Laureate (2015–2019).
  • Fugitive Pieces was adapted into a film and screened at TIFF in 2007.
  • Won the 2024 Giller Prize for the novel Held.