Tish Cohen (born December 1, 1963, in Toronto)[2] is a Canadian novelist.

Tish Cohen
Born (1963-12-01) December 1, 1963 (age 60)
Toronto, Canada
OccupationAuthor
Alma materTed Rogers School of Management (BA)
Period2007–present[1]
Website
tishcohen.com

Early life edit

Born in Toronto, Cohen spent most of her childhood in Montreal, but spent her teenage years with her father beginning in the 7th grade at a high school in Orange County, California (The OC).[1][3][4]

Career edit

Tish Cohen finished her studies at the Ted Rogers School of Management of Toronto Metropolitan University in 1988.[5] Before her writing career, Cohen worked as media buyer at an ad agency, art gallery manager, illustrator, proofreader, decorative painter and editor.[6][7]

Writing edit

Cohen is well known for her fast pace writing.[1] Her children's book The Invisible Rules of the Zoë Lama became a bestseller in Canada in 2007. Her novel Town house was a 2008 finalist for the Commonwealth Writers Prize' Best First Book Award (Canada and Caribbean region).[8][9] The right for making her novel Town House into a movie were bought by Ridley Scott's fim production company and optioned by Fox 2000 in 2005.[7][10] It was also translated into German and Italien and published as Super Agoraphobietherapie in Germany at Luchterhand Literaturverlag in 2009.[11] Kirkus Reviews attributed to the novel „a constellation of characters whose idiosyncrasies make the family of Little Miss Sunshine look like Ozzie and Harriet.".[12]Publishers Weekly criticized the plot as "formulaic", but also described the novel as "terrifically written".[13]The Globe and Mail reviewed the novel as follows: "There's more than quirky charm and endearing oddness in the characters Cohen creates." It compared it with Alexander McCall Smith's 44 Scotland Street: "Cohen's Lucie a North American near-relative of McCall Smith's Bertie" and praised this as an "incredible achievement in itself".[14] The Toronto Star recommend the novel as one of four current canlit books for hot summer and described it as "Comic novel about an agoraphobe whose life begins to unravel."[15]

The novel Inside Out Girl was a Globe and Mail bestseller in 2009.[16] Allison Burnett signed an agreement to adapt the novel Inside Out Girl into a movie in August 2009.[17]

The novel The Truth About Delilah Blue, which deals with a young woman with an old father with Alzheimer's disease and an absent mother, was recommended as one of 10 summer reads by Vit Wagner of Toronto Star in 2010.[18] Cynthia MacDonald reviewed this novel for The Globe and Mail in June 2010 and considered it as "the summer's first terrific beach read".[19]

For Tish Cohen's novel "The Search Angel", whose topic is adoption,[20] the National Post attributed a "story telling talent" to the author in June 2013.[21]

Cohen and Barbara Fogler wrote the screenplay for Sheila McCarthys short film Russet Season which premiered at Toronto Jewish Film Festival in 2017.[22][23]

Personal life edit

Cohen is married to a lawyer and has two children.[7]

Bibliography edit

Novels edit

  • 2007: Town House, Harper Perennial, New York, ISBN 9780061131318
    • 2009: Tish Cohen: Super Agoraphobietherapie, 2009, Luchterhand-Literaturverlag, ISBN 978-3-630-62145-6 (translated into German by Martin Ruben Becker)
  • 2008: Inside Out Girl, Harper Perennial, New York, ISBN 9780061452956
  • 2010: The Truth About Delilah Blue, Harper Perennial, New York, ISBN 9780061875977
  • 2013: The Search Angel, HarperCollins, New York, ISBN 978-1443410823
  • 2019: The Summer We Lost Her aka Little Green, Gallery Books, New York, ISBN 9781501199684

Children's books edit

References edit

  1. ^ a b c Bert Archer: The lucrative business of speedwriting, The Globe and Mail, May 21, 2007
  2. ^ "Cohen, Tish, 1963–". Library of Congress. Retrieved March 25, 2023.
  3. ^ Celebrity Spaces: Tish Cohen, Toronto Sun, September 19, 2013: „until seventh grade and then moved to California for high school"
  4. ^ Cecily Ross: Book Review: The Truth About Delilah Blue, by Tish Cohen, nationalpost.com, July 24, 2010: "Like her creation, the author was raised in California by a single father."
  5. ^ Tish Cohen, .torontomu.ca
  6. ^ Tish Cohen, fromyourdesks.com, August 16, 2010
  7. ^ a b c Kathryn Kates: A flair for fiction, real-life decor: Tish Cohen will soon see her novel Town House made into a movie by a production company headed by Ridley Scott, director of films such as Gladiator , Alien and Blade Runner., Toronto Star, September 1, 2007
  8. ^ Tish Cohen, Biography, bookreporter.com
  9. ^ Entertainment: Ondaatje among Canadians vying for Commonwealth Writers' Prize, CBC.ca, Februar 14, 2008
  10. ^ Vit Wagner: Author ready to bring her book to the big screen: Tish Cohen has had loads of time to imagine a dream cast for the movie version of her popular debut novel Town House., Toronto Star, August 19, 2007: "Fox 2000 optioned the book back in 2005, even before a publisher picked it up."
  11. ^ Super Agoraphobietherapie, d-nb.info (ISBN 978-3-641-02871-8)
  12. ^ Town House, kirkusreviews.com, March 1, 2007, published online May 20, 2010
  13. ^ Town House, Publishers Weekly, May 2007
  14. ^ T. F. Rigelhof: The power of art, times three, The Globe and Mail, May 26, 2007
  15. ^ Hot summer reading tips: Current Beach Reads, Toronto Star, Juni 24, 2007
  16. ^ News Flash, February 8, Inside Out Girl, thedebutanteball.com, February 8, 2009
  17. ^ Cat Parker Allison Burnett Set for Inside Out Girl: Adapting Tish Cohen's novel centered on a romance between single parents., movieweb.com, August 26, 2009
  18. ^ Vit Wagner: Summer reads: 10 books worth a read this summer, Toronto Star, June 25, 2010
  19. ^ Cynthia MacDonald: Review: The Truth About Delilah Blue by Tish Cohen, The Globe and Mail, June 11, 2010
  20. ^ Rosemary Counter: BOOK REVIEW: Tish Cohen’s new novel an accomplished look at adoption, theglobeandmail.com, Juli 5, 2013
  21. ^ Book Review: The Search Angel, by Tish Cohen, nationalpost.com, June 21, 2013
  22. ^ RUSSET SEASON, CANADA 2016, 9 MIN, DIRECTOR: SHEILA MCCARTH. PDF, p. 46 at tjff.com
  23. ^ Russet Season, Credits, Vimeo

External links edit