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Brian Doyle

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Brian Doyle

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1935-08-12 (Ottawa, Ontario)
Nationality
Canadian
Languages
English
Residence History
Ottawa, Ontario → Gatineau River, Quebec → Chelsea, Quebec

Career

Occupations
novelist, children's literature writer, teacher, reporter
Active Years
1978-2019
Affiliations
Groundwood Books
Nominations
Hans Christian Andersen Award finalist (1998, 2008)

Education

Glebe Collegiate Institute
literature
Country: Canada
Participated in sports and wrote poetry for yearbook

Awards

NSK Neustadt Prize for Children's Literature
2005
Work: body of work
Organization: Neustadt International Prize for Literature Foundation
Result: 受賞
Book of the Year Award, Canadian Library Association
1983
Work: Up to Low
Organization: Canadian Library Association
Result: 受賞
Book of the Year Award, Canadian Library Association
1989
Work: Easy Avenue
Organization: Canadian Library Association
Result: 受賞
Mr. Christie's Book Award
1990
Work: Covered Bridge
Organization: Canadian Children's Book Centre
Result: 受賞
Vicky Metcalf Award
1991
Work: body of work
Organization: Canadian Authors Association
Result: 受賞
CLA Book of the Year Award
1997
Work: Uncle Ronald
Organization: Canadian Library Association
Result: 受賞
Mr. Christie's Book Award
1997
Work: Uncle Ronald
Organization: Canadian Children's Book Centre
Result: 受賞

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Angel Square

1984 Children's literature

Set in Ottawa's Lower Town, portrays racial tensions among neighborhood children. One character based on Doyle's mentally handicapped sister.

racial tensionfamilysense of place
Adaptations
  • [film] Angel Square / Ann Wheeler (1990)

Easy Avenue

1988 young adult novel

Set in 1940s-50s Ottawa, about an impoverished orphan growing up with an elderly relative.

povertyfamilyOttawa life

Up to Low

1982 Children's literature

Set in Quebec's Gatineau Hills, based on childhood experiences at family cabin.

natureadventurechildhood
Adaptations
  • [play] Up to Low / Janet Irwin (2015)

Bibliography

  • Hey, Dad! (1978)
  • You Can Pick Me Up at Peggy's Cove (1979)
  • Up to Low (1982)
  • Angel Square (1984)
  • Easy Avenue (1988)
  • Covered Bridge (1990)
  • Spud Sweetgrass (1992)
  • Spud in Winter (1995)
  • Uncle Ronald (1996)
  • The Low Life: Five Great Tales from Up and Down the River (1999)
  • Mary Ann Alice (2001)
  • Boy O'Boy (2003)
  • Pure Spring (2007)
  • Picking Berries (2019)

Adaptations

  • You Can Pick Me Up at Peggy's Cove (film, 1982)
  • Angel Square (film, 1990)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
Evokes strong sense of placedrawn from childhood experienceshumorous and realistic
Recurring Motifs
Ottawa and Gatineau Valleyfamily strugglesurban and rural life

Legacy

Renowned Canadian children's literature author, winner of NSK Neustadt Prize. Works depict Ottawa area life, adapted to films and plays. Twice finalist for Hans Christian Andersen Award.

Trivia

  • Difficult childhood due to father's excessive drinking and mentally disabled sister.
  • Spent summers at family log cabin on Gatineau River.