Linda Svendsen 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...

 screenwriter and author. She was born in Vancouver

Vancouver

Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...

 and has lived there for most of her life.

Her works include many critically acclaimed short stories. Her stories were anthologized and published in magazines such as Atlantic Monthly and Saturday Night

Saturday Night (magazine)

Saturday Night was a Canadian general interest magazine. It was founded in Toronto, Ontario in 1887.The publication was first established as a weekly broadsheet newspaper about public affairs and the arts, which was later expanded into a general interest magazine. The editor, Edmund E. Sheppard,...

. She won first prize in the American Short Story Contest in 1980, and was a three-time finalist for the O. Henry Awards.

In 1992, she published a book called Marine Life, which was also translated into German which was a finalist for the 1993 Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize

Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize

The Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize, established in 1985 as one of the BC Book Prizes, is awarded annually to the best work of fiction by a resident of British Columbia, Canada....

. In 2000, Marine Life was adapted into a film starring Cybill Shepherd

Cybill Shepherd

Cybill Lynne Shepherd is an American actress, singer and former model. Her best known roles include starring as Jacy in The Last Picture Show, as Betsy in Taxi Driver, as Madeleine Spencer in Psych, as Maddie Hayes on Moonlighting, as Cybill Sheridan on Cybill, and as Phyllis Kroll on The L...

 and Peter Outerbridge

Peter Outerbridge

Peter Outerbridge is a Canadian actor, best known for his role as Dr. David Sandstrom in the TMN series ReGenesis, as William in Saw VI and his role as Dan Farmer in Happy Town.-Life and career:...

.

Svendsen wrote the television film adaptation of The Diviners

The Diviners

The Diviners is a novel by Margaret Laurence. Published by McClelland & Stewart in 1974, it was Laurence's final novel, and is considered one of the classics of Canadian literature....

, as well as the miniseries Human Cargo

Human Cargo

Human Cargo is a 2004 Canadian television miniseries. The series won seven Gemini Awards and two Directors Guild of Canada Awards. It premiered on CBC Television on January 4, 2004 and starred Kate Nelligan, Cara Pifko, and Nicholas Campbell....

and the television film At the End of the Day: The Sue Rodriguez Story

At the End of the Day: The Sue Rodriguez Story

At the End of the Day: The Sue Rodriguez Story is a 1998 Canadian documentary/drama film about the life of Canadian right to die advocate Sue Rodriguez....

. She won a Gemini Award

Gemini Award

The Gemini Awards are annual television broadcasting industry awards in Canada.First awarded in 1986, the Geminis celebrate the achievements of TV members of the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television. Essentially, it presents awards for the best television productions in Canada. Awards are...

 for the Human Cargo screenplay. She also teaches creative writing

Creative writing

Creative writing is considered to be any writing, fiction, poetry, or non-fiction, that goes outside the bounds of normal professional, journalistic, academic, and technical forms of literature. Works which fall into this category include novels, epics, short stories, and poems...

 at the University of British Columbia

University of British Columbia

The University of British Columbia is a public research university. UBC’s two main campuses are situated in Vancouver and in Kelowna in the Okanagan Valley...

.