Helen Tansey / Sundari Photography
about meI am an award-winning writer from Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, and the author of the novels BOY (Dundurn Press), NOTHING BUT LIFE (Dundurn Press), SAINTS, UNEXPECTED (Invisible Publishing), as well as the short story collection CUT ROAD (forthcoming from Guernica Editions in spring 2022). My stories have won THE BRISTOL SHORT STORY PRIZE THE LUSH TRIUMPHANT LITERARY AWARD THE FIDDLEHEAD BEST SHORT STORY AWARD THE WRITER MAGAZINE'S "OUR DARKEST HOUR" PRIZE THE FREDA WALDON FICTION AWARD THE ALVIN A. LEE CREATIVE NONFICTION AWARD THE SHORT WORKS PRIZE and can also be found in such notable publications as The New Quarterly subTerrain The Short Story Advent Calendar The Fiddlehead The Writer Magazine Riddle Fence Litro Magazine The Puritan The Sycamore Review Prairie Fire Magazine EVENT Magazine The Dalhousie Review Hamilton Magazine The Bristol Short Story Prize Anthology The Prairie Journal The New Guard Literary Review The Nottingham Review Urban Graffiti and elsewhere. I have received Canada Council for the Arts Research and Creation grants (2018 and 2020), two Ontario Arts Council Works in Progress grants (2017 and 2019), and numerous Ontario Arts Council Recommender/Writer's Reserve grants (2015, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021). I’m also a certified educator with more than a decade of teaching experience, and am eager to help others tell their stories. Click here to see how I can help you tell your story, too! I am a member of The Writers' Union of Canada. |
the extended narrative
Brent has spent much of his vertical life telling stories and communicating. In high school he rediscovered the spoken word -- we talk early then spend lifetimes talking, but how often do we really listen to ourselves? -- and used his confidence and comfort with language to embark upon and achieve a diploma in Radio Broadcasting. A brief stint as a low-paid weekend overnight host on a London, Ontario radio station taught him the value of self-editing his spoken words, as well as developing a keen ear for the sound of language.
After a year off, where he traveled through New Zealand and Australia, a pipsqueak of an inner monologue convinced him to go back to school for a degree in English Literature. He used his degree to teach in a private language school in Gwangju, South Korea for a year, but realized quickly that what he wanted to do most was teach literature and write. So, armed with that desire, he settled in the Toronto area and taught English, Creative Writing, Computers, PE, and Drama, at a small, private high school north of the city.
Then he got married, and his world just opened up.
His love of language took him to Kuwait, where he spent four years teaching English, Journalism, and Film at The American International School of Kuwait. Living in the Middle East from 2005-2009 brought many challenges, not least of which were the barriers to free thinking and creativity that are pervasive in Kuwait, a very conservative country. He returned to South Korea in 2009 to teach English literature at Seoul Foreign School, the top international school in Korea.
Brent came back to Canada in 2011, and now lives in the Westdale neighbourhood of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada with his wife Rosalee and daughters Nora and Alida. When he's not crafting stories, he works at the Hamilton Public Library and teaches writing to college/university students and other aspiring scribes.
After a year off, where he traveled through New Zealand and Australia, a pipsqueak of an inner monologue convinced him to go back to school for a degree in English Literature. He used his degree to teach in a private language school in Gwangju, South Korea for a year, but realized quickly that what he wanted to do most was teach literature and write. So, armed with that desire, he settled in the Toronto area and taught English, Creative Writing, Computers, PE, and Drama, at a small, private high school north of the city.
Then he got married, and his world just opened up.
His love of language took him to Kuwait, where he spent four years teaching English, Journalism, and Film at The American International School of Kuwait. Living in the Middle East from 2005-2009 brought many challenges, not least of which were the barriers to free thinking and creativity that are pervasive in Kuwait, a very conservative country. He returned to South Korea in 2009 to teach English literature at Seoul Foreign School, the top international school in Korea.
Brent came back to Canada in 2011, and now lives in the Westdale neighbourhood of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada with his wife Rosalee and daughters Nora and Alida. When he's not crafting stories, he works at the Hamilton Public Library and teaches writing to college/university students and other aspiring scribes.
With grateful acknowledgment of granting support from:
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