{{short description|Canadian novelist (born 1967)}} {{Use Canadian English|date=February 2025}} {{Infobox writer | birth_date = {{birth year and age|1967}} | birth_place = Calgary, Alberta, Canada | occupation = Author, professor | image = Suzette Mayr - Eden Mills Writers' Festival - 2017 (DanH-9032).jpg | alt = Suzette Mayr at the Eden Mills Writers' Festival in 2017 | caption = Mayr at the Eden Mills Writers' Festival, 2017 | language = English | education = Honours B.A. in English, M.A. in Creative Writing, PhD in Creative Practice | alma_mater = University of Calgary, University of Alberta, University of New South Wales | period = 1991–present | genre = Literature }}
'''Suzette Mayr''' is a Canadian novelist who has written six critically acclaimed novels and is currently a professor at the University of Calgary's Faculty of Arts.<ref>"[http://english.ucalgary.ca/profiles/suzette-mayr Suzette Mayr]." University of Calgary.</ref> Mayr's works have won and been nominated for several literary awards.
==Biography==
Suzette Mayr was born in Calgary, Alberta.<ref name = "Making a Difference">Kamboureli, Smaro. ''Making a Difference: Canadian Multicultural Literatures in English''. Don Mills: Oxford UP, 2007. Print.</ref> Originally planning to study science in her post-secondary career, Mayr changed focus due to her strong performance in English.<ref name="In Silhouette">Stallworthy, Bob. "[http://frontenachouse.com/images/uploads/in-silhouette.pdf In Silhouette: Profiles of Alberta Writers] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111004225456/http://frontenachouse.com/images/uploads/in-silhouette.pdf |date=2011-10-04 }}", p. 109. Frontenac House. March 2009.</ref> A creative writing course at the University of Calgary led to her decision to pursue a writing career. She graduated with an Honours bachelor's degree in English. Following her graduation from the University of Calgary, Mayr went on to acquire a Master of Arts in Creative Writing from the University of Alberta and a PhD from the University of New South Wales.
Mayr worked as a waitress and sandwich maker before establishing herself as a professional writer.<ref name="Making a Difference"/> In addition to her six novels (''Moon Honey, The Widows, Venous Hum, Monoceros, Dr. Edith Vane and the Hares of Crawley Hall'', and ''The Sleeping Car Porter''), Mayr has published books of poetry and co-edited a literary anthology. Her novels and other literary works have been nominated for several awards. In 2002, Mayr participated in the Calgary Distinguished Writers Program at the University of Calgary, where she is now a professor in the Department of English and teaches courses on creative writing and contemporary literature studies. Mayr, a Canadian of German and Afro-Caribbean background,<ref name="Making a Difference"/> often explores issues of race, identity and sex in her writing through the stylistic use of humour, cultural mythologies and surreal imagery.
===''The Sleeping Car Porter'' (2022)=== ''The Sleeping Car Porter'', published in 2022, centres on R.T. Baxter, a closeted gay Black Canadian man working as a porter on a cross-Canada railway.<ref>Brett Josef Grubisic, [https://www.thestar.com/entertainment/books/reviews/2022/09/26/suzette-mayrs-novel-the-sleeping-car-porter-an-artfully-constructed-story-that-moves-beguiles-and-satisfies.html "Suzette Mayr’s novel ‘The Sleeping Car Porter’ an artfully constructed story that moves, beguiles, and satisfies"]. ''Toronto Star'', September 26, 2022.</ref> ''Publishers Weekly'' named it one of the top ten works of fiction published in 2022.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Best Books 2022: Publishers Weekly Publishers Weekly |url=https://best-books.publishersweekly.com/pw/best-books/2022/top-10 |access-date=2022-10-27 |website=Publishers Weekly}}</ref>
The novel was the winner of the 2022 Giller Prize.<ref name="wheeler">{{Cite news |date=2022-11-07 |title=Suzette Mayr wins 2022 Scotiabank Giller Prize |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books/article-suzette-mayr-wins-the-100000-giller-prize/ |access-date=2024-11-10 |work=The Globe and Mail |language=en-CA}}</ref> In 2023, it was longlisted for the inaugural Carol Shields Prize for Fiction,<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=2023-03-08 |title=5 Canadians nominated for first Carol Shields Prize for Fiction for women and non-binary writers, worth $150,000 (U.S.) |url=https://www.thestar.com/entertainment/books/5-canadians-nominated-for-first-carol-shields-prize-for-fiction-for-women-and-non-binary/article_c05cf91e-aad9-52f2-bb98-fb6b877e4ec7.html |access-date=2024-11-10 |website=Toronto Star |language=en}}</ref> and shortlisted for the Governor General's Award for English-language fiction at the 2023 Governor General's Awards.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |title=Past GGBooks winners and finalists |url=https://ggbooks.ca/past-winners-and-finalists |access-date=2024-11-10 |website=Governor General's Literary Awards |language=en}}</ref> It was also shortlisted for the 2024 International Dublin Literary Award.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |date=2024-03-27 |title=Wright shortlisted for 2024 Dublin Literary Award |url=https://www.booksandpublishing.com.au/articles/2024/03/27/249559/wright-shortlisted-for-2024-dublin-literary-award/ |access-date=2024-03-28 |publisher=Books+Publishing}}</ref>
==Awards==
Mayr's first published novel, ''Moon Honey'', was nominated for two Alberta Literary Awards: the Georges Bugnet Award for Best Novel and the Henry Kreisel Award for Best First book.<ref>"[http://www.writersguild.ab.ca/AlbertaLiteraryCompetitionsFinalists.asp#Awards1996 Alberta Literary Competition Finalists] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110706163935/http://www.writersguild.ab.ca/AlbertaLiteraryCompetitionsFinalists.asp |date=6 July 2011 }}." Writers Guild of Alberta.</ref> ''The Widows'', Mayr's second novel, was shortlisted for the Commonwealth Writers' Prize for best book in the Canadian-Caribbean region.{{Citation needed|date=November 2024}}
Mayr's fourth novel, ''Monoceros'', won the ReLit Award and W. O. Mitchell Award. It was also nominated for a Ferro-Grumley Award, and longlisted for the 2011 Giller Prize.<ref name=":0">Mark Medley, "Ondaatje, Vanderhaeghe on Giller Prize longlist". ''Ottawa Citizen'', September 8, 2011.</ref>
In 2022, Mayr won the Giller Prize for her novel ''The Sleeping Car Porter''.<ref name=wheeler/> {| class="wikitable sortable" ! Year !! Work !! Award !! Category !! Result !! Ref |- ! rowspan=1| 2004 | ''The Widows'' || Commonwealth Writers' Prize || Book (Canadian-Caribbean) || {{sho}} || {{Citation needed|date=November 2024}} |- ! rowspan="3" |2011 | rowspan="4" |''Monoceros'' | Ferro-Grumley Award|| LGBTQ Fiction || {{sho}} ||<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Ferro-Grumley Awards |url=https://publishingtriangle.org/awards/ferro-grumley-awards/ |access-date=2025-02-15 |website=The Publishing Triangle |language=en-US}}</ref> |- | Giller Prize|| — || {{nom|Longlisted}} || <ref name=":0" /> |- |W. O. Mitchell Award||—|| {{won}} |{{Citation needed|date=November 2024}} |- !2012 |ReLit Awards ||Novel || {{won}} |<ref>{{Cite web |date=2012-10-30 |title=ReLit Awards 2012 winners announced - Quill and Quire |url=https://quillandquire.com/authors/2012/10/30/relit-awards-2012-winners-announced/ |access-date=2025-02-15 |website=Quill and Quire - Canada's magazine of book news and reviews |language=en}}</ref> |- ! rowspan=1| 2022 | rowspan=4|''The Sleeping Car Porter'' | Giller Prize || — || {{won}} || <ref name="wheeler" /> |- ! rowspan=2| 2023 | Carol Shields Prize for Fiction || — || {{nom|Longlisted}} || <ref name=":1" /> |- | Governor General's Award || English-language fiction|| {{sho}} || <ref name=":2" /> |- ! rowspan=1| 2024 | International Dublin Literary Award || Fiction || {{sho}} || <ref name=":3" /> |}
==List of works==
=== Novels === * ''Moon Honey'' (1995) * ''The Widows'' (1998) * ''Venous Hum'' (2004) * ''Monoceros'' (2011) * ''Dr. Edith Vane and the Hares of Crawley Hall'' (2017) * ''The Sleeping Car Porter'' (2022)
;Poetry * ''Zebra Talk'' (1991) * ''Tale'' (2001)
=== Anthologized works === * "Scalps" in ''Boundless Alberta'' (1993) * "Glass Anatomy" in ''Eye Wuz Here'' (1996) * "Toot Suite Matricia" in ''Threshold'' (1999) and ''So Long Been Dreaming'' (2004) * "Nipple Gospel" in ''And Other Stories'' (2001)
==Other== Mayr is a past president of the Writers' Guild of Alberta.<ref>{{cite web |title=WGA Board of Directors Archive |url=https://writersguild.ca/about/board-of-directors/ |website=WGA website |accessdate=21 January 2019}}</ref> In 2010, she served on the jury for the Dayne Ogilvie Prize, a literary award for emerging LGBT writers in Canada, selecting Nancy Jo Cullen as that year's prize winner.<ref name=cullen>[http://www.xtra.ca/public/Toronto/Writer_Nancy_Jo_Cullen_is_a_rising_talent-9131.aspx "Writer Nancy Jo Cullen is a rising talent"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120721070334/http://www.xtra.ca/public/Toronto/Writer_Nancy_Jo_Cullen_is_a_rising_talent-9131.aspx |date=2012-07-21 }}. ''Xtra!'', 9 September 2010.</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * [https://www.frontenachouse.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/InSilhouette.pdf In Silhouette: Portraits of Alberta Writers] at Fontenac House, 2009, by Bob Stallworthy (See pages 118–124 for detailed profile of Suzette Mayr). * [http://english.ucalgary.ca/profiles/suzette-mayr# Suzette Mayr's University of Calgary profile]
{{Giller Prize}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mayr, Suzette}} Category:20th-century Canadian LGBTQ people Category:20th-century Canadian novelists Category:20th-century Canadian women novelists Category:21st-century Canadian LGBTQ people Category:21st-century Canadian novelists Category:21st-century Canadian women novelists Category:1967 births Category:Academic staff of the University of Calgary Category:Black Canadian LGBTQ people Category:Black Canadian women poets Category:21st-century Canadian women poets Category:Canadian lesbian writers Category:Canadian LGBTQ novelists Category:Lesbian novelists Category:Living people Category:University of Alberta alumni Category:Western Canada High School alumni Category:Poets from Calgary Category:Black Canadian novelists Category:Black Canadian women novelists Category:21st-century Canadian poets Category:Black Canadian poets Category:Canadian LGBTQ poets Category:Novelists from Alberta