Susan Juby

{{Short description|Canadian writer (born 1969)}} {{Infobox writer  | name = Susan Juby | image = | caption = | pseudonym = | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1969|03|30|mf=y}} | birth_place = Ponoka, Alberta | death_date = | death_place = | occupation = Novelist | nationality = Canadian | period = | genre = Comedic | subject = | movement = | notableworks = ''Alice, I Think'', ''Republic of Dirt'', ''Mindful of Murder'' | spouse = James Waring | partner = | children = | relatives = | influences = | influenced = | signature = | website = {{URL|http://susanjuby.com/}} }}

'''Susan Juby''' (born March 30, 1969)<ref name=cm>Dave Jenkinson, [http://www.umanitoba.ca/cm/profiles/juby.html "Susan Juby"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150630023837/http://www.umanitoba.ca/cm/profiles/juby.html |date=2015-06-30 }}. ''CM Magazine'', May 11, 2005.</ref> is a Canadian writer. She is currently residing in Nanaimo, British Columbia, where she is a professor of creative writing at Vancouver Island University.

Juby is known for her comedic writing. Her first series started with ''Alice, I Think'' (2000), which was adapted into the television series ''Alice, I Think'' by The Comedy Network.

== Background == Juby was born in Ponoka, Alberta,<ref name=cm/> and later moved to Smithers, British Columbia at the age of six.<ref name=cm/>

Juby initially attended fashion design school, but dropped out after several months.<ref name=cm/> She subsequently started a degree in English literature at the University of Toronto,<ref name=cm/> transferring to the University of British Columbia after two years.<ref name=cm/> After graduating she became an editor at a book publishing company called Hartley and Marks.<ref name=cm/>

==Career== Juby began her first book as a journal which she wrote on the bus on the way to work and at a local coffee shop. Thistledown published her first book ''Alice, I Think'' in 2000.<ref name=misfits>Robert J. Wiersema, [http://www.quillandquire.com/authors/profile.cfm?article_id=6537 "Tales of Teenage Misfits"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140226173143/http://www.quillandquire.com/authors/profile.cfm?article_id=6537 |date=2014-02-26 }}. ''Quill & Quire'', February 2005.</ref> The book was named one of the essential 40 young adult novels by ''Rolling Stone Magazine.'' <ref>{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-lists/when-holden-met-katniss-the-40-best-ya-novels-27973/susin-nielsen-the-reluctant-journal-of-henry-k-larsen-98224/|title = 40 Best YA Novels|magazine = Rolling Stone|date = 22 May 2014}}</ref>

Juby completed a master's degree in publishing (MPub) from Simon Fraser University in 2002.<ref name="Biography">{{Cite web|url=https://susanjuby.com/biography/|title = Biography}}</ref> After publishing ''Alice, I Think'' (2000), HarperCollins offered her a contract for three books. Her second book ''Miss Smithers'' was published in 2004.<ref name=misfits/> To complete the trilogy of ''Alice, I Think'' all under one publisher, the original book was bought by HarperCollins. Her third book under this contact was ''Alice McLeod: Realist at Last'', published in 2005.<ref name=misfits/> The Comedy Network developed ''Alice, I Think'', a television sitcom based on the novel of the same name. The first episode aired in 2006.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0484334/|title = Alice, I Think|website = IMDb}}</ref>

Juby went on to write ''Another Kind of Cowboy'' (2007) and a young adult detective novel, ''Getting the Girl'' (2008).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://susanjuby.com/books/|title = Books}}</ref> In 2010, Viking Canada published ''Nice Recovery,'' Juby's memoir tracing the time between her experience with teenage alcoholism until her sobriety at age 20.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://quillandquire.com/authors/getting-better-all-the-time/|title = Getting better all the time|date = 13 August 2010}}</ref>

HarperCollins published Juby's next book in 2011, ''Home to Woefield'' (also known as ''The Woefield Poultry Collective'' in Canada). This was her first book aimed at an adult audience.<ref name="Biography"/> She would later write a sequel, ''Republic of Dirt'' (2015).<ref name="Biography"/> In 2016, ''Republic of Dirt'' won the Stephen Leacock Award.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20160613114611/http://vancouverisland.ctvnews.ca/nanaimo-author-wins-stephen-leacock-medal-for-humour-1.2942350 "Nanaimo author wins Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour"]. CTV Vancouver Island, June 12, 2016.</ref>

Other books by Juby include the dystopian young adult novel ''Bright's Light'' (2012), as well as ''The Truth Commission'' (2015), and ''The Fashion Committee'' (2017), a pair of young adult novels set in an art high school. Her first novel for middle grade readers is called ''Me Three'' (2022). Her first mystery novel for adults is called ''Mindful of Murder''. The book features Helen Thorpe, a former buddhist nun turned butler, who finds herself embroiled in the mystery of who killed her former employer. ''Mindful of Murder'' debuted at #1 in Canada's independent bookstores list of bestsellers.

Juby was inducted into the Royal Society of Canada's College of New Scholars, Artists, and Scientists in 2014.<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://rsc-src.ca/sites/default/files/College%20Citations%202014.pdf | title=College of new scholars, artists and scientists | website=rsc-src.ca}}</ref>

On February 22, 2020,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://virl.bc.ca/event/author-talk-and-reading-with-susan-juby-author-of-the-alice-i-think-series-and-the-woefield-poultry-collective/|title=Author Talk and Reading with Susan Juby, author of the ALICE, I THINK series and THE WOEFIELD POULTRY COLLECTIVE|website=Vancouver Island Regional Library|language=en-CA|access-date=2020-03-06}}{{Dead link|date=March 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> Juby read excerpts from two as-yet-unpublished works at the Vancouver Island Regional Library's Nanaimo Harbourfront branch. ''Mindful of Murder'' is Juby's first crime novel for adults. ''Me 3'' is a middle-grade novel that addresses the #MeToo movement from a child's perspective.<ref name="nanaimobulletin.com">{{Cite web|url=https://www.nanaimobulletin.com/entertainment/author-and-viu-professor-susan-juby-previewing-pair-of-unpublished-books/|title=Author and VIU professor Susan Juby previewing pair of unpublished books|date=2020-02-18|website=Nanaimo News Bulletin|language=en-US|access-date=2020-03-06}}</ref>

==Personal life== Juby is an environmental rights activist in her community.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Holmes |first1=Ian |title=Nanaimo Council rejects Linley Valley housing proposal |url=https://nanaimonewsnow.com/article/562479/nanaimo-council-rejects-linley-valley-housing-proposal |website=Nanaimo News Now |accessdate=19 July 2018}}</ref> She is a creative writing professor at Vancouver Island University, in Nanaimo, British Columbia.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://ah.viu.ca/creative-writing-and-journalism/faculty/susan-juby|title=Susan Juby {{!}} Creative Writing and Journalism {{!}} VIU|website=ah.viu.ca|access-date=2020-03-06}}{{Dead link|date=March 2026 |bot=InternetArchiveBot }}</ref>

== Published works == * ''Alice, I Think'' (2000) * ''I'm Alice (Beauty Queen?)'' (2004) (Published as ''Miss Smithers'' in the United States) * ''Alice Macleod: Realist at Last'' (2005) * ''Another Kind of Cowboy'' (2007) * ''Getting the Girl: A Guide to Private Investigation, Surveillance and Cookery'' (2008) * ''Nice Recovery'' (2010) * ''The Woefield Poultry Collective'' (2011) (Published as ''Home to Woefield'' in the United States) * ''Bright's Light'' (2012) * ''Republic of Dirt'' (2015) * ''The Truth Commission'' (2015) * ''The Fashion Committee'' (2017) * ''Mindful of Murder'' (2022)<ref>[https://www.cbc.ca/books/66-works-of-canadian-fiction-to-watch-for-in-spring-2022-1.6283875 "66 works of Canadian fiction to watch for in spring 2022"]. CBC Books, January 11, 2022.</ref> * ''Me Three'' (2022)<ref name="nanaimobulletin.com"/> * ''A Meditation On Murder'' (2024)

== References == {{reflist|2}}

==External links== *{{official website|http://susanjuby.com/}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Juby, Susan}} Category:1969 births Category:Living people Category:People from Ponoka, Alberta Category:20th-century Canadian novelists Category:21st-century Canadian novelists Category:20th-century Canadian women novelists Category:21st-century Canadian women novelists Category:Canadian writers of young adult literature Category:Stephen Leacock Award winners Category:Canadian women writers of young adult literature Category:Academic staff of Vancouver Island University Category:University of Toronto alumni Category:University of British Columbia alumni Category:Simon Fraser University alumni Category:Canadian humorists Category:Canadian women humorists Category:Novelists from Alberta