Marina Endicott

Marina Endicott (born in 1958) is a Canadian novelist and short story writer. Her novel, Good to a Fault, won the 2009 Commonwealth Writers Prize for Canada and the Caribbean and was a finalist for the Giller Prize. Her next, The Little Shadows, was long-listed for the Giller and short-listed for the Governor General's Literary Award. Her latest novel, Close to Hugh, was long-listed for the Giller Prize and named one of CBC's Best Books of 2015.

Personal life

Endicott was born in Golden, British Columbia in 1958, the daughter of an Anglican priest; she grew up in Vancouver, Halifax and Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, and Toronto, Ontario. She worked as an actor before moving to London, England, where she began to write fiction. Returning to Canada in 1984, she went west to Saskatoon and worked in theatre as a director and dramaturge. She was for many years the dramaturge of the Saskatchewan Playwrights Centre. In 1992 she went farther west with husband Peter Ormshaw to Mayerthorpe, Alberta, on his first posting with the RCMP;^[1] they have since lived in Cochrane and Edmonton, and have two children: Will (1993) and Rachel (1996). They presently (2016) live in Edmonton.

Writing career

Endicott was an actor and director for many years before beginning a second career as a writer of fiction. When asked why she switched, she explained:

Being an actor isn't an easy life. The work is so ephemeral... I write novels instead of plays because I like the intimate link of the silent writer and the silent reader.^[2]

Endicott’s first short story appeared in Grain in 1985. Her stories have been anthologized in Coming Attractions and short-listed for the 1993 Journey Prize. Her first novel, Open Arms (2001), was a finalist for the Amazon.ca/Books in Canada First Novel Award and was broadcast on CBC Radio's Between the Covers in 2003. Good to a Fault was selected for the 2010 edition of CBC Radio's Canada Reads. Her long poem about the Mayerthorpe incident, "The Policeman's Wife, Some Letters", was short-listed for the CBC Literary Awards in 2006.

Her third novel, The Little Shadows, published by Doubleday in 2011, was longlisted for the Giller and shortlisted for the Governor General's Award for Fiction.

She co-wrote the screenplay for the 2012 documentary film, Vanishing Point.^[3]

Her novel Close to Hugh was published in May, 2015 ^[4] and was longlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize.^[5]

Prize and honours

• 1993 Shortlist, Journey Prize
• 2003 Finalist, Amazon.ca/Books In Canada First Novel Award (for Open Arms)
• 2008 Finalist, Giller Prize (for Good to a Fault)
• 2009 Commonwealth Writers Prize for Best Book, Canada and the Caribbean (for Good to a Fault)
• 2010 Longlisted, International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award
• 2011 Longlisted, Giller Prize (for The Little Shadows)
• 2011 Finalist, Governor General's Award for English-language fiction, Canada, (for The Little Shadows)
• 2015 Longlisted, Giller Prize (for Close to Hugh)

Bibliography

• Open Arms (2001) Douglas & McIntyre ISBN 978-1-55111-932-8
• Good to a Fault (2008) Freehand Books ISBN 978-1-55111-999-1
• Open Arms (2009) Republished by Freehand Books
• New Year's Eve (2011) GoodReads/HarperCollins ISBN 978-1-926583-33-4
• The Little Shadows (2011) Doubleday Canada ISBN 0-385-66891-0
• Close to Hugh (2015) Doubleday Canada ISBN 978-0385678605

References