My Bio (the official version):
Andrew Binks is a graduate of the University of British Columbia's Master of Fine Arts program in Creative Writing. In 2007 he returned to Ontario after fifteen years on Canada’s west coast and is loving the heat, the snow and the tempests. His work has been published in Joyland, Galleon, Fugue, Prism International, Harrington Gay Men's Literary Quarterly (U.S.), Bent-magazine, The Globe and Mail, Xtra and Xtra West, among others. He is a past honourable mention of the Writer's Union of Canada's short prose contest, and finalist in the Queen's Alumni Review poetry contest, as well as This Magazine’s Great Canadian Literary Hunt. His poetry has also appeared in Quill's ‘Lust’ issue and Velvet Avalanche Anthology. His first novel, The Summer Between, was published in May 2009, by Nightwood Editions.
On the ‘wide, slow river’ in front of his home, twleve-year-old Douglado Montmigny navigates the dark waters of homophobia and racism while realizing his parents’ disintegrating relationship and the complexity of his own feelings for a summertime playmate. Dougaldo’s transitional ‘summer between’ is a lesson on love, desire, and innocence lost.
‘Andrew Binks captures, with such authenticity, the adolescent summer we all go through that stretches from not knowing to knowing. In sharp prose, he has written a Canadian coming-of-age story that is pointed, tender and often funny.’ -- Shelagh Rogers
‘Andrew Binks has stripped away every trace of adult nostalgia from this compelling tale of boyhood. Every detail, from the persuasive colloquialism of the voices to the emotional complexity of the characters, is rendered with incandescent accuracy. The Summer Between is a work of love and clarity, writing so real it will make your bones ache.’-- Keith Maillard
And if that isn’t wonderful enough, click on these links to read three more glowing reviews of The Summer Between:
www.xtra.ca/public/Toronto/Book_review_The_Summer_Between_by_Andrew_Bis-8283.aspx
www.threedollarbillreviews.com/2010/03/22/the-summer-between-by-andrew-binks/
www.prairiefire.ca/reviews/binks_summer.html
Listen to Michael Bhardwaj’s August 28th interview on CBC’s “In Town and Out”
The Longer Version of My Bio:
I completed my Master of Fine Arts degree in Creative Writing at the University of British Columbia in 2007 and returned to Ontario shortly thereafter. Since arriving I have worked in the Quinte region as an Employment Outreach Counselor at the Prince Edward Learning Centre and at Northern Lights Employment Resource Centre.
During my time at UBC I worked as a reader for Prism international, and an editor for Wreck magazine. I also served for three years on the editorial board of GEIST magazine. I am currently working with Iranian writer and UBC PhD candidate, Nilofar Shidmehr to edit and co-author a book on the paradox of Iran’s silent revolution. I have also worked extensively with Ms Shidmehr to edit the content and structure of her published fiction.
For over ten years I taught ESL and settlement issues to new Canadians, one-on-one and in classroom settings, incorporating creative writing, process writing and composition into my classes. During my time in Vancouver I also volunteered with the First United drop-in, in Vancouver’s infamous downtown east side, and was able to connect with homeless and disenfranchised individuals and nurture them with a creative outlet for their challenges. There is a social element to my background and, as a result, many of my plays, stories and non-fiction projects have been issue driven.
My background in the performing arts, includes dance, music and acting (and yes, believe it or not, modeling). I studied drama at Queen’s University and dance at the Royal Winnipeg Ballet, then with a small ballet company in Quebec City. I then pursued classical theatre training at LAMDA in London England and performed professionally at the Stratford Festival, and various Toronto theatres, followed by a fringe festival tour of a one-man play STRIP by the late, very wonderful, Elliott Hayes. When I moved to Vancouver, I received certification and taught English as a Second Language and settlement for immigrants and refugees, while I continued acting. I appeared in several TV shows (Da Vinci’s Inquest, The L-Word), films (Till Dad Do Us Part, Red Scorpion 2) and commercials. Throughout my ‘adult’ life I have kept journals which have provided the basis for longer works of fiction and creative non-fiction.
My training as a writer involves courses at Ryerson, the Banff Centre ‘Writing with Style’ workshop with Audrey Thomas, Langara College, one-on-one work on two of my novels with Maureen Medved, and also the MFA program at the University of British Columbia.
At UBC I studied a variety of genres, including fiction, creative non-fiction, plays, radio features/plays, and poetry. My arts features, and personal profile stories have been published in various bi-weeklies as well as the Globe and Mail. I recently represented UBC at the 2008 conference of the Association of Writers and Writing Programs (AWP) in New York City where I spoke on the benefits of a multi-genre approach to writing studies.
My first novel The Summer Between was launched in May 2009, published by Nightwood Editions. In the meantime I continue to refine my long fiction -- three novels, Alcazar’s House, Strip, and The Catalytic Seduction of Brian White -- short stories and plays.
