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Wendy Phillips

ウェンディ・フィリップス

Wendy Phillips

Profile

Gender
Female
Born
Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada
Nationality
Canada
Languages
English
Residence History
Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada → Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada → Lesotho → Ottawa, Canada → South Africa → Australia → Richmond, British Columbia, Canada

Career

Occupations
Teacher, Librarian, Children's Novelist, Journalist, Bookbinder
Active Years
2010-
Affiliations
MacNeill Secondary School
Influenced By
Margaret Laurence, Alice Munro, Barbara Kingsolver, Margaret Atwood, Douglas Coupland, Annie Proulx, Haruki Murakami, Martha Brooks, Budge Wilson, Susan Juby, Sharon Creech, Robert Koertge, Pamela Porter, Sonya Sones, Karen Hesse, Alison Acheson

Education

University of British Columbia
Children's Literature
Degree: Children's Literature Degree
Country: Canada
Degrees in journalism, English, education, and children's literature

Awards

Governor General's Literary Award
2010
Work: Fishtailing
Category: Children's Literature (text)
Organization: Office of the Governor General of Canada
Result: winner

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Fishtailing

2010 Young adult fiction

A verse novel following four Vancouver high school students: Natalie (abused, self-harms), Tricia (Japanese-Canadian influenced by Natalie), Kyle (music vs trades), Miguel (immigrant from war-torn country). Explores violence, bullying, desires to fit in, with teacher and counselor perspectives.

violencebullyingself-harmimmigration traumamulticulturalismteacher-student disconnect

Bibliography

  • Fishtailing

Style & Themes

Literary Style
verse novelpoetic formmultiple first-person perspectives
Recurring Motifs
students' home issuesmulticultural diversitynegative school behaviors

Legacy

Known for winning the 2010 Governor General's Literary Award for Children's Literature with Fishtailing, drawing from her experiences as a teacher and librarian in young adult fiction.

Trivia

  • Wrote her first book at the age of 11.
  • Has lived in Lesotho, Ottawa, South Africa, and Australia.
  • Currently works as a teacher-librarian.
  • Has two children.