Elizabeth Copeland
Categories: Female Authors - Anglophone Authors - Poets - Novelists - Dramatists - Authors of Young Adult Literature - Miramichi River
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Biography
Elizabeth Copeland is an award-winning author, theatre artist and arts educator who lives in the Miramichi area.
Her short stories, personal essays and poems have been published in The Furious Gazelle, Circa: A Journal of Historical Fiction, Forge, Quick Brown Fox and Bread ‘n Molasses, among others. She won the 2014 Writer’s Federation of New Brunswick Literature for Young Adults Prize for an excerpt from her novel, Traeh Gnul – Miranda’s Journey from the Great Forest. Her novella JAZZ won the 2014 Ken Klonsky Novella Contest, and was published by Quattro Books.
Elizabeth is currently Writer-in-Residence at James M. Hill High School, and along with her husband, Glenn, is Artist-in-Residence at Miramichi Valley High School. During the 2014-2015 school year she has been offering creative writing workshops to groups of keen young writers through the Writers in the Schools Program.
She is the Artistic Director of Kidplayhouse Productions Inc., a not-for-profit theatre organization in Miramichi. Kidplayhouse has produced four original musical plays written and directed by Elizabeth and her husband, Glenn.
Elizabeth believes in the power of creative expression to save lives. Her work speaks of that belief.
How has New Brunswick influenced your work?
Moving to rural New Brunswick from the hustle and bustle of Ontario, has provided me with the time and space needed to re-create my life.
The beauty of the land, the kindness of the people and the gracious support of the folks from WFNB [the Writers’ Federation of New Brunswick] and PARC [the Playwrights Atlantic Resource Centre]... what more could any writer want?
What is your favourite New Brunswick book, and why?
Lord Beaverbrook, by David Adams Richards. A fascinating look at a vibrant Canadian historical figure.
What do you consider to be the highlight of your career so far?
The highlight of my career as a writer has been the publishing of my first novella, JAZZ, through Quattro Books.
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Literary Prizes |
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| Young Adult Literature Prize, Writers' Federation of New Brunswick Literary Competition - 2014 | In recognition of: Traeh Gnul - Miranda's Journey from the Great Forest |
| Ken Klonsky Novella Contest - 2014 | In recognition of: Jazz |
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Featured Publication |
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Jazz - Nature's Improvisation (2014) |
Excerpt: When he is forced to leave his suburban home at age seventeen, Jazz – a transgender female-to-male (F2M) – moves into the heart of Toronto’s lesbian-gay-bisexual-transgender-queer (LGBTQ) community in hopes of finding the help he needs to begin his transition. A true hero’s journey, this narrative features a cast of colourful characters, including Martine, a dope-smoking drag queen; Kimmie, a hairdresser with a heart of gold; Sister Mary Francis, a sharp-talking ex-nun, and his counselor, Kendall, who must face his own demons in order to support Jazz in his journey. With comedy and pathos, Jazz wrestles with the realities of the courage it takes to be transgendered in today’s society. |
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Find this author in the New Brunswick public libraries catalogue.
Source(s): Author.
