Aislinn Hunter (born 1969 in Belleville, Ontario) is a Canadian poetry and fiction author.
Early life She studied art history and writing at the University of Victoria where she received her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. Her Master of Fine Arts degree came from the University of British Columbia, her MSc in Writing and Cultural Politics came from the University of Edinburgh as did her PhD where she wrote on writers' houses/museums and resonant things with a focus on the Victorian era and thing theory via Heidegger. She currently teaches Creative Writing part-time at Kwantlen Polytechnic University. Hunter's research interests include material culture, museums, books-as-things, Victorian writers, and ephemera.
Career Her 2002 novel Stay was adapted for film by Wiebke Von Carolsfeld and released as a Telefilm / Irish Film Board co-production in 2013, premiering at the Toronto International Film Festival. It stars Aidan Quinn and Taylor Schilling. Her novel, The World Before Us, set in a UK museum, was published by Doubleday, Canada in 2014 and by Hamish Hamilton in the UK, Hogarth Press in the US, and Marchand de Feuilles in Quebec. It won the 2015 Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize and was a New York Times Editor's Choice Book, an NPR 'Best Book' and a Chatelaine Book Club pick.
In the spring of 2017 her third book of poetry, Linger, Still, was published by Gaspereau Press. It won the Fred Cogswell Award for Excellence in Poetry and was long-listed for the Pat Lowther Poetry Prize.
Dr Hunter was selected to be a Canadian War Artist and in 2018 she worked with the Canadian Armed Forces and with NATO Forces at CFB Suffield.
Her most recent novel The Certainties was released in 2020 and published by Knopf Canada. It was shortlisted for the Ethel Wilson Fiction prize and was a best-seller.
Personal life She was married for 25 years but lost her husband to brain cancer in 2018. She lives in Vancouver, British Columbia with her partner Tait and step-son Freddy.
Bibliography
Fiction 2001: French translation by Carole Noël: 2002: 2014: 2020:
Poetry
2001: 2004: 2017:
Essay collection 2009:
Awards and recognition YearWorkAwardCategoryResultRef1996—Journey PrizePoetry—National Book AwardFiction2000—National Magazine Award—2002Into the Early HoursGerald Lampert Award—Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize—What's Left UsDanuta Gleed Literary Award—ReLit AwardFiction2003StayAmazon Canada First Novel Award—2004The Possible PastDorothy Livesay Poetry Prize—Pat Lowther Award—ReLit AwardPoetry2015The World Before UsEthel Wilson Fiction Prize—2017Linger, StillFred Cogswell Award for Excellence in Poetry—2018Pat Lowther Award—
External links Aislinn Hunter official website
References