Barbara Gowdy
Encyclopedia
Barbara Gowdy, CM
(born 25 June 1950) is a Canadian
novelist and short story
writer. Born in Windsor
, Ontario
, she is the long-time partner of poet Christopher Dewdney
and resides in Toronto
.
by director Scott Smith, from an adaptation written by Esta Spalding
, in 2002. The novel focuses on a nuclear family in a 1960s Ontario suburb. The main characters are three sisters who come of age in a house run by their abusive and womanizing father and must constantly find ways to take care of their depressed
and alcoholic
mother. Gowdy says her inspiration for the book was the idea of a Canadian family living during the Cold War
and practicing using their bomb shelter in the back yard. In the novel and movie, the family spend two weeks trapped in the bomb shelter as an "exercise" rather than going on a family trip to Disneyland.
Authors such as Alice Munro
and Carol Shields
look at the everyday, but the bulk of Gowdy's work reflects upon the opposite. Gowdy's stories look at the extreme, the strange and the abnormal, but she attempts to make her characters relatable and poignant. She often draws on magic realism
as a writing style, combining the fantastic or unusual with realistic and believable descriptions, placing her within the tradition of Southern Ontario Gothic
.
The narrator and main character of the title short story of her 1992 collection, We So Seldom Look On Love, for instance, is an assistant embalmer at a funeral home who makes love to the bodies of attractive young men before they are buried. The story was the inspiration for the 1996 Canadian independent film
Kissed
, directed by Lynne Stopkewich
and starring Molly Parker
. The story is based on Frank O'Hara's poem "Ode to Necrophilia
", and was inspired by a newspaper article Gowdy read about a young California
woman who hijacked a hearse on its way to a funeral, took the corpse of the young man inside the coffin to a motel room and had sex with it for several days before being caught by the police. We So Seldom Look On Love is meant as a compilation of circus
-type characters and their quest to find connection with others. Another story features a two-headed man who removes one of his heads. A third story in that collection, "93 Million Miles Away" involves a woman who masturbates
and exposes herself through the window of her apartment to a man in his apartment across the street. This story was made into the film Arousal.
Similarly, her novel Mister Sandman revolves around the family of Joan, a young autistic
girl with a savant
talent for playing classical music on the piano, and her novel The White Bone
is written from the perspective of an elephant
.
(1998), and Helpless (2007). The White Bone
was also nominated for the Giller Prize. The Romantic
(2003), a best-seller in Canada, was nominated for several awards, including the Man Booker Prize. It was a finalist for the Rogers Writers' Trust Prize and the Commonwealth Writers' Prize for Best Book. Helpless also won the Trillium Award.
She was appointed a member of the Order of Canada
effective 5 October 2006.
's Book at Bedtime
. This resulted in several listeners complaining that the novel was 'dark', 'disturbing' and had '(frightened) the life out of them'. One listener described it as 'inappropriate for any time of day least of all at bedtime' and another claimed that Gowdy's graphic description made him feel 'physically sick'. Commissioning editor Caroline Raphael defended the BBC's choice stating "It is about a very difficult subject ... Unfortunately, writers do want to write about disturbing things" she also added unhappy listeners could simply "turn off".
Order of Canada
The Order of Canada is a Canadian national order, admission into which is, within the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, the second highest honour for merit...
(born 25 June 1950) is a Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
novelist and short story
Short story
A short story is a work of fiction that is usually written in prose, often in narrative format. This format tends to be more pointed than longer works of fiction, such as novellas and novels. Short story definitions based on length differ somewhat, even among professional writers, in part because...
writer. Born in Windsor
Windsor, Ontario
Windsor is the southernmost city in Canada and is located in Southwestern Ontario at the western end of the heavily populated Quebec City – Windsor Corridor. It is within Essex County, Ontario, although administratively separated from the county government. Separated by the Detroit River, Windsor...
, Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
, she is the long-time partner of poet Christopher Dewdney
Christopher Dewdney
Christopher Dewdney is a Canadian writer and poet.He was born in London, Ontario, and presently lives in Toronto, where he is a professor at York University. He is the long-time partner of writer Barbara Gowdy. Winner of the 2007 Harbourfront Festival Prize, he is the author of four books of...
and resides in Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
.
Literary career
Gowdy's novel Falling Angels (1989) was made into a film of the same nameFalling Angels (film)
Falling Angels is a 2003 independent film by Scott Smith, based on the novel of the same name by Barbara Gowdy and adapted for the screen by poet and author Esta Spalding. It is the second feature film by Scott Smith, writer, producer and director of Rollercoaster...
by director Scott Smith, from an adaptation written by Esta Spalding
Esta Spalding
Esta Alice Spalding is a Canadian author, screenwriter and poet who won the Pat Lowther Award in 2000 for Lost August. Born in Boston, Massachusetts to Phillip Spalding and Linda Spalding, she grew up in Hawaii and currently resides in Guelph, Ontario....
, in 2002. The novel focuses on a nuclear family in a 1960s Ontario suburb. The main characters are three sisters who come of age in a house run by their abusive and womanizing father and must constantly find ways to take care of their depressed
Clinical depression
Major depressive disorder is a mental disorder characterized by an all-encompassing low mood accompanied by low self-esteem, and by loss of interest or pleasure in normally enjoyable activities...
and alcoholic
Alcoholism
Alcoholism is a broad term for problems with alcohol, and is generally used to mean compulsive and uncontrolled consumption of alcoholic beverages, usually to the detriment of the drinker's health, personal relationships, and social standing...
mother. Gowdy says her inspiration for the book was the idea of a Canadian family living during the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
and practicing using their bomb shelter in the back yard. In the novel and movie, the family spend two weeks trapped in the bomb shelter as an "exercise" rather than going on a family trip to Disneyland.
Authors such as Alice Munro
Alice Munro
Alice Ann Munro is a Canadian short-story writer, the winner of the 2009 Man Booker International Prize for her lifetime body of work, a three-time winner of Canada's Governor General's Award for fiction, and a perennial contender for the Nobel Prize...
and Carol Shields
Carol Shields
Carol Ann Shields, CC, OM, FRSC, MA was an American-born Canadian author. She is best known for her 1993 novel The Stone Diaries, which won the U.S. Pulitzer Prize for Fiction as well as the Governor General's Award in Canada.-Biography:Shields was born in Oak Park, Illinois...
look at the everyday, but the bulk of Gowdy's work reflects upon the opposite. Gowdy's stories look at the extreme, the strange and the abnormal, but she attempts to make her characters relatable and poignant. She often draws on magic realism
Magic realism
Magic realism or magical realism is an aesthetic style or genre of fiction in which magical elements blend with the real world. The story explains these magical elements as real occurrences, presented in a straightforward manner that places the "real" and the "fantastic" in the same stream of...
as a writing style, combining the fantastic or unusual with realistic and believable descriptions, placing her within the tradition of Southern Ontario Gothic
Southern Ontario Gothic
Southern Ontario Gothic is a sub-genre of the Gothic novel genre and a feature of Canadian literature that comes from Southern Ontario. The term was first used in Graeme Gibson's Eleven Canadian Novelists to recognize an existing tendency to apply aspects of the Gothic novel to writing based in...
.
The narrator and main character of the title short story of her 1992 collection, We So Seldom Look On Love, for instance, is an assistant embalmer at a funeral home who makes love to the bodies of attractive young men before they are buried. The story was the inspiration for the 1996 Canadian independent film
Independent film
An independent film, or indie film, is a professional film production resulting in a feature film that is produced mostly or completely outside of the major film studio system. In addition to being produced and distributed by independent entertainment companies, independent films are also produced...
Kissed
Kissed
Kissed is a 1996 Canadian film, directed and co-written by Lynne Stopkewich, based on Barbara Gowdy's short story "We So Seldom Look On Love"...
, directed by Lynne Stopkewich
Lynne Stopkewich
Lynne Stopkewich is a Canadian film director, particularly notable as the director of the film Kissed .-History:In 1987, Stopkewich obtained her Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in film studies from Concordia University, followed in 1996 by a Master of Fine Arts Degree in film studies from the...
and starring Molly Parker
Molly Parker
Molly Parker is a Canadian actress, notable for her roles in Canadian and American independent films and the HBO television series Deadwood.Parker won a Genie Award in 1997 as Best Actress in a Leading Role for Kissed...
. The story is based on Frank O'Hara's poem "Ode to Necrophilia
Necrophilia
Necrophilia, also called thanatophilia or necrolagnia, is the sexual attraction to corpses,It is classified as a paraphilia by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of the American Psychiatric Association. The word is artificially derived from the ancient Greek words: νεκρός and φιλία...
", and was inspired by a newspaper article Gowdy read about a young California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
woman who hijacked a hearse on its way to a funeral, took the corpse of the young man inside the coffin to a motel room and had sex with it for several days before being caught by the police. We So Seldom Look On Love is meant as a compilation of circus
Circus
A circus is commonly a travelling company of performers that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, unicyclists and other stunt-oriented artists...
-type characters and their quest to find connection with others. Another story features a two-headed man who removes one of his heads. A third story in that collection, "93 Million Miles Away" involves a woman who masturbates
Masturbation
Masturbation refers to sexual stimulation of a person's own genitals, usually to the point of orgasm. The stimulation can be performed manually, by use of objects or tools, or by some combination of these methods. Masturbation is a common form of autoeroticism...
and exposes herself through the window of her apartment to a man in his apartment across the street. This story was made into the film Arousal.
Similarly, her novel Mister Sandman revolves around the family of Joan, a young autistic
Autism
Autism is a disorder of neural development characterized by impaired social interaction and communication, and by restricted and repetitive behavior. These signs all begin before a child is three years old. Autism affects information processing in the brain by altering how nerve cells and their...
girl with a savant
Savant syndrome
Savant syndrome , sometimes referred to as savantism, is a rare condition in which people with developmental disorders have one or more areas of expertise, ability, or brilliance that are in contrast with the individual's overall limitations...
talent for playing classical music on the piano, and her novel The White Bone
The White Bone
The White Bone is a Canadian novel written by Barbara Gowdy and published by HarperCollins in 1999. Sometimes compared to Richard Adams's Watership Down, it is an adult fantasy story about animals—in this case, African elephants--in a realistic natural setting but given the ability to speak to one...
is written from the perspective of an elephant
Elephant
Elephants are large land mammals in two extant genera of the family Elephantidae: Elephas and Loxodonta, with the third genus Mammuthus extinct...
.
Recognition
Gowdy was nominated for a Governor General's Award for her novels Mister Sandman (1995), The White BoneThe White Bone
The White Bone is a Canadian novel written by Barbara Gowdy and published by HarperCollins in 1999. Sometimes compared to Richard Adams's Watership Down, it is an adult fantasy story about animals—in this case, African elephants--in a realistic natural setting but given the ability to speak to one...
(1998), and Helpless (2007). The White Bone
The White Bone
The White Bone is a Canadian novel written by Barbara Gowdy and published by HarperCollins in 1999. Sometimes compared to Richard Adams's Watership Down, it is an adult fantasy story about animals—in this case, African elephants--in a realistic natural setting but given the ability to speak to one...
was also nominated for the Giller Prize. The Romantic
The Romantic
The Romantic is the sixth novel by Canadian novelist and short story writer Barbara Gowdy. It was longlisted for the Man Booker Prize in the same year- Plot summary :"Louise Kirk learns about love and loss at an early age...
(2003), a best-seller in Canada, was nominated for several awards, including the Man Booker Prize. It was a finalist for the Rogers Writers' Trust Prize and the Commonwealth Writers' Prize for Best Book. Helpless also won the Trillium Award.
She was appointed a member of the Order of Canada
Order of Canada
The Order of Canada is a Canadian national order, admission into which is, within the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, the second highest honour for merit...
effective 5 October 2006.
Controversy
In June 2008, Gowdy's 2007 novel Helpless, which follows the stalking and kidnap of a nine-year-old girl, was abridged and adapted for BBC Radio 4BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...
's Book at Bedtime
Book at Bedtime
Book at Bedtime is a long-running radio programme on BBC Radio 4, broadcast each weekday evening at 10.45–11.00 pm.Book at Bedtime offers fiction including modern classics, new works by leading writers and literature from around the world. Books are usually abridged and serialised each evening for...
. This resulted in several listeners complaining that the novel was 'dark', 'disturbing' and had '(frightened) the life out of them'. One listener described it as 'inappropriate for any time of day least of all at bedtime' and another claimed that Gowdy's graphic description made him feel 'physically sick'. Commissioning editor Caroline Raphael defended the BBC's choice stating "It is about a very difficult subject ... Unfortunately, writers do want to write about disturbing things" she also added unhappy listeners could simply "turn off".
External links
- Barbara Gowdy at The Canadian EncyclopediaThe Canadian EncyclopediaThe Canadian Encyclopedia is a source of information on Canada. It is available online, at no cost. The Canadian Encyclopedia is available in both English and French and includes some 14,000 articles in each language on a wide variety of subjects including history, popular culture, events, people,...
- HarperCollins Canada
- Interview from CBC Words at Large