Susan Juby

Susan Juby (born March 30, 1969) is a Canadian novelist who works in several genres but is most widely recognized for her work in humorous young adult fiction.

Biography

Juby was born in Ponoka, Alberta and moved with her family to Smithers, British Columbia when she was six years old.^[1] Juby was raised in Smithers until she moved to Toronto, Ontario when she was 20 years old. There, she spent a short time as a fashion design student. Her career as a student of fashion was short lived because "[she'd] spent every penny...and had to leave school because [she] couldn't pay [her] tuition".^[1] Juby's alcoholism which began as a teenager and continued through this period contributed significantly to her difficulties. She describes that drinking “drowned all the fear and anxiety”.^[2] Juby struggled to overcome her alcoholism and after a series of low paying jobs, ultimately returned to school where she pursued a degree in English Literature at the University of Toronto, which she completed at the University of British Columbia five years later.^[1]

After graduation, Juby began work at a publishing company, Hartley & Marks Publishers,^[3] in Vancouver. She started as an intern and worked her way up to a position as managing editor.

Juby began writing her first novel during her daily public transit commute.^[4] The resulting novel, Alice, I Think, was published in 2000 by Thistledown, a small Canadian press. Juby recounts that she "wrote the book for [her] 50-year-old godfather",^[4] and felt taken aback to discover that her work was identified by her publisher as a young adult novel.^[3] Alice, I Think was nominated for the Books in Canada First Novel Award^[4] in its year of publication. Shortly thereafter, Juby left Hartley & Marks Publishers to study at Simon Fraser University where she entered the Master of Publishing program.

Juby now writes full-time, and lives in Nanaimo, British Columbia with her husband James and her dog Rodeo. She is a professor at Vancouver Island University, where she teaches a creative writing course.

Bibliography

• The Alice Macleod Trilogy chronicles the social struggles of a home-schooled teenage girl in Smithers, British Columbia as she enters mainstream teen society. It was adapted into the television series Alice, I Think.
  • Alice, I Think (2000)
  • Miss Smithers (2004)
  • 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). Juby's first non-fiction book, Nice Recovery recounts the story of her struggle with alcoholism as a youth.
• Home to Woefield / The Woefield Poultry Collective (2011)(adult novel)
• Bright's Light (2012)
• Republic of Dirt (2015, sequel to Home to Woefield)
• The Truth Commission (2015, forthcoming)

References

• Dave Jenkinson, “Susan Juby”, CM Magazine, May 11, 2005
• Susan Juby Website
• Robert J. Wiersema, "Tales of Teenage Misfits", Quill and Quire, February 2005
• M.A.C. Farrant, "Up by Her Bootstraps", The Globe and Mail, March 19, 2010