Marina Endicott

Area of Study / Keywords

Canadian Literature: Fiction Poetry Historical Fiction Theatre

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About

In my new novel, The Observer (Knopf, September 2023), the wife of an RCMP constable becomes the editor of the small-town Alberta newspaper in his detachment, and struggles with new ideas of community and honour. A love story of sorts, the book examines the cost PTSD imposes on police and their families. 

I received a SSHRC grant 2012-2016 to research The Difference, published by Knopf Canada 2019 (and as The Voyage of the Morning Light by W.W. Norton in the US in 2020), which uses two voyages to the South Pacific to illuminate the disastrous history of benevolence and Canadian residential schools in the first part of the 20th century. The Difference won the Robert Kroetsch City of Edmonton Book Prize and the City of Dartmouth Fiction Prize.

Three of my earlier novels were longlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize. My first, Good to a Fault, was shortlisted for the Giller and was a CBC Canada Reads finalist and nominated for the international Dublin IMPAC award. It won the Commonwealth Prize for Best Book, Canada/Caribbean. My suite of poems about the murders of four RCMP members in Mayerthorpe, Alberta, was shortlisted for the CBC Poetry Prize. I wrote the narration track for the award-winning NFB documentary Vanishing Point, about the effects of climate change on hunting communities in the far north. My stories, essays, poems and novels have been published across Canada, and in England, the US, Germany, the Netherlands, Australia and New Zealand. I also mentor writers in the writing program at the Banff Centre for the Arts and at Humber College. 

Selected Awards

Robert Kroetsch City of Edmonton Book Prize 2020

City of Dartmouth Best Book Award, 2020

SSHRC Insight Development Grant 2012-2016

Canada Council Writing Grants, Alberta Foundation for the Arts Writing Grants, City of Edmonton Writing Grant

Commonwealth Prize, Best Book Canada/Caribbean 2009

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Research

SSHRC Insight Development Grant for research in the South Pacific towards a novel, The Difference

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Teaching

I received the Augustana Teaching Staff teaching award for 2023. 

AUDRA 260 - Dramaturgy and Play Analysis

An introduction to dramaturgical analysis. Students will engage in structural and literary analyses of plays drawn from both the classic canon and modern Canadian plays (with reference to historical context, script development and production histories), investigating their literary substance and gaining a practical understanding of dramatic techniques such as structure, character, dialogue, image and plot. Visitors will include dramaturges and directors, and students will work on a new script-in-progress with a Canadian playwright. Prerequisites: AUENG 102.

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AUENG 102 - Critical Reading, Critical Writing

English 102 has two objectives. The first is to train students in the practices of analytical reading and critical thinking. To that end, we will read engaging literary texts in several genres. The second objective is to help students develop effective communication skills, particularly their writing abilities. To develop writing techniques, we will workshop grammatical skills which will provide the necessary building blocks for university-level writing. Prerequisite: ELA 30-1 or AUENG 101.

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AUENG 214 - Advanced Creative Writing: Poetry

Advanced poetry workshop, which will include the completion of a chapbook-length collection of poems (20 to 48 pages) is required. Prerequisite: AUENG 102. Note: Credit may be obtained for only one of AUENG 314 (2021) and AUENG 214.

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AUENG 215 - Creative Writing

Introduction to the writing of poetry and short fiction. Literary examples are analyzed, and a student is required to write poetry and fiction with attention to specific elements of writing such as imagery, structure, dialogue, and characterization. A central element of the course is peer discussion. Prerequisites: 3 units in English at the 100-level.

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AUENG 218 - Creative Writing Memoir

Advanced study of creative non-fiction and memoir. Students will analyze selected readings in the art of autobiography and will write three works of memoir, through an intensive workshop process. Prerequisite: AUENG 102. Note: Credit may be obtained for only one of AUENG 218 and AUENG 318 (2022).

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AUENG 416 - Advanced Creative Writing: Fiction

Continuation of the fiction instruction begun in AUENG 215. The completion of a chapbook-length collection of fiction (20 to 48 pages) is required. Prerequisite: AUENG 215 or consent of the instructor. Note: Credit may be obtained for only one of AUENG 316 (2023) and AUENG 416.

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AUIDS 101 - First Year Seminar

Selected topics that highlight the interdisciplinary nature of the Liberal Arts and Sciences. This seminar-style class is the first course in Augustana's Core. The focus and content of each course are determined by faculty interests, and vary from year to year.

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Browse more courses taught by Marina Endicott

Endicott

Knopf Canada, Toronto. 2023 September;

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Marina Endicott

New York, New York. 2020 June;

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Marina Endicott

Toronto. 2019 September;

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Marina Endicott

Toronto. 2015 September;

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Marina Endicott

Toronto. 2011 September;

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Marina Endicott

Calgary. 2008 September;

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Marina Endicott

Douglas & MacIntyre, Vancouver, BC. 2001 January;