User:Breannataus/sandbox

Lesley-Anne Bourne

Born in North Bay, Ontario, Canada, in 1964, Lesley-Anne Bourne is a Canadian poet and author. She has published four volumes of poetry, as well as one novel. She is a professor of English at the University of Prince Edward Island, and lives in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island.

Education

Bourne was educated at two institutions: York University and the University of British Columbia. She got her Honours B.A. in English and Creative Writing from York University, and her M.F.A. in Creative Writing from the University of British Columbia.

Career

Bourne has published four volumes of poetry, as well as one novel. Her first volume of poetry, The Story of Pears, was published in 1990, her second volume, Skinny Girls, was published in 1993, her third volume, Field Day, was published in 1996, and her fourth volume, Labyrinthine, was published in 2004. Her novel, The Bubble Star, was published in 1998. She also co-wrote Your first-year experience: success strategies for Canadian students with John N. Gardner, A. Jerome Jewler, and Andrew Robb in 1995. She is a professor of English at the University of Prince Edward Island. On April 14, 1994, Bourne did a reading at Dalhousie University as part of the Canadian Literary Projects Collection Reading Series. Bourne was a teacher at the Maritime Writers Workshop and Artsperience. She was a member of the Lucy Maud Montgomery Institute in Prince Edward Island. Bourne's poems have been used in six anthologies.

Books

Bourne's book of poetry, Skinny Girls, is about a woman struggling with anorexia. Likewise, Labyrinthine is also about a woman's struggle with anorexia, although Labyrinthine deals as well with the issue of miscarriage and the depression that follows. Her novel, The Bubble Star, is about the lives of three sisters. It is set in both Toronto and Northern Ontario, and other characters include a gay man, a lesbian couple, and the wife of a professor that one of the sisters is sleeping with. Field Day takes place in several different settings, from Muskoka, Ontario, to Cuba. It talks about the mind of Einstein, highschool love, breast cancer, families, and romantic interests. The first part of the book takes place in a rural setting, while the second part takes place in an urban setting. The third section of the book is an angry perspective on love and other idealized things. The Story of Pears talks about finding love for the first time, and the many times a person falls in love after that first time. It follows the story of a woman through her teens and twenties and the things that happen in her family.

Awards

Bourne's The Story of Pears was nominated for the Gerald Lampert Award. She won the Milton Acorn/Air Nova Poetry Award, the Banff Centre's Bliss Carman Award for Poetry, and the Carl Sentner Fiction Award. Bourne also won the Air Canada Award, which was given to her in 1994 by the Canadian Authors' Association for being one of the most promising upcoming Canadian authors under thirty.

Publishers

Labyrinthine was published by Wolsak and Wynn. The Story of Pears was published by Penumbra Press. Skinny Girls was also published by Penumbra Press. Field Day was published by Penumbra Press. The Bubble Star was published by The Porcupine's Quill.