Wayne Johnston (writer)

Wayne Johnston
Wayne Johnston at the Eden Mills Writers' Festival in 2013
Wayne Johnston at the Eden Mills Writers' Festival in 2013
Born (1958-05-22) 22 May 1958
Goulds, Newfoundland, Canada
OccupationNovelist
Writing career
GenreHistorical fiction
Notable workThe Colony of Unrequited Dreams
Websitewaynejohnston.ca

Wayne Johnston (born May 22, 1958) is a Canadian novelist. His fiction deals primarily with the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, often in a historical setting. In 2011 Johnston was awarded the Writers' Trust Engel/Findley Award in recognition of his contribution to Canadian literature.[1]

Early life and education

Johnston was born on May 22, 1958, in Goulds, Newfoundland, and graduated from Memorial University of Newfoundland in 1978 with a bachelor's degree in English. He worked for three years as a reporter for the St. John's Daily News.[1]

In 1981, he moved to Ottawa and began to pursue writing full-time. He graduated with an MA from the University of New Brunswick in 1983.[1]

Career

Fiction

His first novel, The Story of Bobby O'Malley—which was written while he was a graduate student—won the SmithBooks/Books in Canada First Novel Award in 1985.[1][2]

His second novel, The Time of Their Lives, won the Air Canada/Canadian Authors Association Award for Most Promising Young Canadian Writer in 1988.[3] His novel won the 1991 Thomas Head Raddall Award and was subsequently adapted into a film of the same name.[4] Johnston wrote the screenplay for the film, which won best screenplay in the Atlantic Film Festival and was nominated for an ACTRA Award.[3]

Johnston's breakthrough novel, 1998's The Colony of Unrequited Dreams, was shortlisted for both the Giller Prize and the Governor General's Award for English-language fiction.[5][6] It was acclaimed for its portrayal of historical Newfoundland politician Joey Smallwood.[7][8] The Colony of Unrequited Dreams was adapted into a play by Robert Chafe.[9] The novel was chosen for the 2003 edition of CBC Radio's Canada Reads competition, where it was championed by politician Justin Trudeau.[10]

Johnston's The Custodian of Paradise, published in 2006, tells the story of Sheilagh Fielding, a fictional character originally introduced in The Colony of Unrequited Dreams.[11] In 2002, Johnston published The Navigator of New York, a historical novel about the race by Robert Peary and Frederick Cook to reach the North Pole; it was shortlisted for both the Giller Prize and the Governor General's Award for English-language fiction.[12][6] The Custodian of Paradise (2006), A World Elsewhere (2011), and The Son of a Certain Woman (2013) were longlisted for the Giller Prize.[13][14][15]

Johnston was awarded the Writers' Trust Engel/Findley Award in recognition of his contribution to Canadian literature in 2011.[16] In April 2014, Johnston was shortlisted for the Stephen Leacock Memorial Medal for Humour for his novel The Son of a Certain Woman.[17]

In 2017, his novel First Snow, Last Light was released, with the fictional character Sheilagh Fielding returning for the third time.[18] In 2021, he published The Mystery of Right and Wrong.[19] The Novice of Holloway Hall was published in 2026.[20]

Non-fiction

Johnston has also published non-fiction. His Baltimore's Mansion (1999), is a memoir about his father and grandfather. It won the inaugural Charles Taylor Prize.[21]

His 2022 memoir Jennie's Boy recounts his childhood in Newfoundland and won the 2023 Stephen Leacock Memorial Medal for Humour.[22][23]

Academic appointments

For the spring of 2002, Johnston was the Writer-in-Residence at Hollins University in Roanoke, Virginia.[24] He returned to Hollins University in 2004 as the Distinguished Chair in Creative Writing, a position he held until 2009.[1]

In 2009, his lecture at the University of Alberta was published as the 48-page book The Old Lost Land of Newfoundland: Family, Memory, Fiction and Myth in the Henry Kreisel Lecture Series.[25] Johnston has delivered a number of lectures at institutions including the John Adams Institute in the Netherlands.[26]

Honours and awards

Bibliography

Novels

  • The Story of Bobby O'Malley (1985)
  • The Time of Their Lives (1987)
  • The Divine Ryans (1990)
  • Human Amusements (1994)
  • The Colony of Unrequited Dreams (1998)
  • The Navigator of New York (2002)
  • The Custodian of Paradise (2006)
  • A World Elsewhere (2011)
  • The Son of a Certain Woman (2013)
  • First Snow, Last Light (2017)
  • The Mystery of Right and Wrong (2021)
  • The Novice of Holloway Hall (2026)

Memoir

  • Baltimore's Mansion (1999)
  • Jennie’s Boy (2022)

Short stories

  • )"Catechism". The Walrus. July 2005.
  • "The Montreal Canadiens". Original Six: True Stories from Hockey's Classic Era. Edited by Paul Quarrington. Reed Books. 1996. ISBN 978-0-433-39752-6.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Chafe, Paul (2012-01-30). "Wayne Johnston". The Canadian Encyclopedia. Retrieved 2023-03-20.
  2. ↑ "Writing World: Wayne Johnston". Newfoundland Herald. 2017-10-26. Retrieved 2026-04-24.
  3. 1 2 3 "Canlit stars return to York's Canadian Writers in Person series". YFile. 2013-09-16. Retrieved 2026-04-24.
  4. 1 2 "Wayne Johnston Interview". BlogTO. Retrieved 2026-04-24.
  5. ↑ "1998 Finalists". Giller Prize. Retrieved 2026-04-26.
  6. 1 2 "Past GGBooks winners and finalists". Governor General's Literary Awards. Retrieved 2026-04-26.
  7. ↑ "The Colony of Unrequited Dreams". CBC Books. 2017-02-21.
  8. ↑ Sante, Luc (1999-07-25). "O Canada!". The New York Times Web Archive. Retrieved 2026-04-26.
  9. ↑ Doran, Greg (2018). "Canada on Stage". Canadian Literature. Archived from the original on 2026-01-17. Retrieved 2026-04-26.
  10. ↑ Adams, James (2003-04-26). "And the Canada Reads winner is: Aquin's Prochain Episode". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 2026-04-26.
  11. ↑ Moyles, R. Gordon (2006). "The Custodian of Paradise". Canadian Book Review Annual Online. Retrieved 2026-04-26.
  12. ↑ Morra, Linda (2002). "Cook and Son: Race to a Shifting Destination". Books in Canada. Retrieved 2026-04-26.
  13. ↑ "The 2006 Scotiabank Giller Prize Announces its Inaugural Longlist". Scotiabank. 2006-09-11. Retrieved 2026-04-26.
  14. ↑ Barber, John (2011-09-06). "DeWitt, Edugyan, Ondaatje and Vanderhaege among 17 on Giller long list". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 2026-04-26.
  15. ↑ "Scotiabank Giller Prize 2013 Announces its Longlist". Giller Prize. 2013-09-16. Retrieved 2026-04-26.
  16. 1 2 Barber, John (2011-11-01). "Patrick deWitt's 'The Sisters Brothers' wins Writers' Trust Prize". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 2026-04-26.
  17. ↑ "Wayne Johnston, Red Green on Leacock Medal Shortlist". CBC News. 2014-04-09.
  18. ↑ Cerny, Dory (2017-08-14). "First Snow, Last Light". Quill and Quire. Retrieved 2026-04-26.
  19. ↑ Carter, Lesley (2022-06-16). "Review: Wayne Johnston, "The Mystery of Right and Wrong"". Great Dark Wonder. Retrieved 2026-04-26.
  20. ↑ Walker, Morley (2026-04-25). "Johnston's mythic symbolism in Newfoundland novel excavates the province's past". Winnipeg Free Press. Retrieved 2026-04-26.
  21. 1 2 Wheeler, Brad (2020-02-26). "Inaugural winner Wayne Johnston on the retirement of the RBC Taylor Prize". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 2026-04-26.
  22. ↑ Bursey, Jeff (2023-10-11). "'Jennie's Boy' turns out a raw memoir of childhood illness". Atlantic Books. Retrieved 2026-04-26.
  23. 1 2 "Past Leacock Medal Winners". Stephen Leacock Associates. Retrieved 2026-04-26.
  24. ↑ "Louis D. Rubin Jr. Writer-In-Residence". Hollins University. Retrieved 2026-04-26.
  25. ↑ Moyles, R. Gordon (2009). "The Old Lost Land of Newfoundland: Family, Memory, Fiction, and Myth". Canadian Book Review Annual Online. Retrieved 2026-04-26.
  26. ↑ "Wayne Johnston". The John Adams Institute. 2002-10-30. Retrieved 2026-04-26.
  27. ↑ "Grad 2003" (PDF). UNB Alumni News. Fall 2003.
  28. ↑ Muzychka, Ivan (2007-04-05). "Memorial University announces honorary degree recipients". Memorial University of Newfoundland. Retrieved 2026-04-26.
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