Naomi K. Lewis

Naomi K. Lewis (born 1976) is a Canadian fiction and nonfiction writer who resides in Calgary. She was a finalist[1] for the 2019 Governor General's Literary Award for non-fiction.

Life and career

Lewis was born in London, England, and grew up near Washington, D.C. and in Ottawa. Her sister and brother-in-law are the artists Chloe Lewis and Andrew Taggart,[2] and her great uncle was the poet and artist pl:Izrael Lejzerowicz. Lewis lived in Toronto, Fredericton and Edmonton, and completed degrees in philosophy and English literature, before settling in Calgary, where she writes, teaches creative writing, edits popular and academic writing, and ghostwrites. She served as writer-in-residence at the Calgary Public Library in 2011, and at the University of New Brunswick in 2015.[3] Lewis was an associate editor at Alberta Views magazine from 2012 to 2015.[4]

Work

Lewis's first novel, Cricket in a Fist, was published by Goose Lane Editions in 2008. Cricket in a Fist follows two sisters searching for their mother, who has left the family to start a self-help movement called "willing amnesia." "[5] Lewis's story, "The Guiding Light" won the 2007 Fiddlehead fiction contest and appeared in McClelland and Stewart's 2008 Journey Prize Anthology.[6][7] Lewis' collection I Know Who You Remind Me Of won the 2012 Colophon Prize, which the publisher Enfield & Wizenty awards to the best unpublished manuscript with "literary and commercial appeal." The book's eight short stories and one novella follow characters haunted by long-ago decisions, loves and grudges — a grad student who impersonated a high school classmate in Internet pornography, a man who gave his eyeball to a former lover, a woman bent on finally outdoing her sister by skydiving from space.[8] Previous recipients of this award have included Michelle Berry and W.P. Kinsella. Lewis's 2011 Alberta Views article "The Urge to Purge",[9] about detox diets, was shortlisted for a 2011 Canadian National Magazine Award, as was her 2014 article "A Bridge Too Far: The Story of My Big Jewish Nose." [10] With Calgary writer Rona Altrows, she edited an anthology of essays and poetry about shyness. Shy was published by the University of Alberta Press in 2013.[11]

Lewis co-wrote In Case of Fire, the bestselling 2010 memoir about Edmonton burn survivor and workplace safety advocate Spencer Beach. In Case of Fire recounts Beach's youth, focusing on the attitudes he believes led him to the workplace fire that almost killed him; his years-long recovery; and his resolve to rebuild himself as a professional speaker, with the aim of helping other workers avoid preventable workplace accidents.

Lewis's 2019 memoir Tiny Lights for Travellerswon Alberta's Wilfrid Eggleston Award for Nonfiction,[12] the Vine Award for Canadian Jewish Literature (nonfiction), [13] and the Pinsky Givon Family Prize for Nonfiction, a Western Canada Jewish Book Award.[14] It was a finalist for the Governor General's Literary Award for Non-Fiction and the W.O. Mitchell City of Calgary Book Award.[15]

References
  1. CBC Books. "The finalists for the 2019 Governor General's Literary Award for nonfiction". CBC. Retrieved November 3, 2020.
  2. "Chloe Lewis named as Mary Macdonald's replacement at Eastern Edge Gallery". 2015-06-04. Retrieved 24 June 2019.
  3. Rivard, Philip. "Naomi K. Lewis 2011 Writer in Residence". Calgary Public Library. Archived from the original on 27 December 2011. Retrieved 1 August 2012.
  4. Alberta Views. "Contact Page". Retrieved 1 August 2012.
  5. Nutter, Catherine. "Sins of the Mothers". Back of the Book. Retrieved 1 August 2012.
  6. Journey Prize Stories. "List". McLelland & Stewart. Retrieved 1 August 2012.
  7. "List of Backissues". The Fiddlehead. Archived from the original on 13 September 2010. Retrieved 1 August 2012.
  8. "Great Plains Publications". F12. Retrieved 1 August 2012.
  9. "The Urge to Purge". November 2011. Retrieved 24 June 2019.
  10. "Swerve nominated for two national magazine awards". 2015-05-04. Retrieved 24 June 2019.
  11. When Words Collide Festival. "When Words Collide Speakers". Retrieved 1 August 2012.
  12. "Alberta Literary Awards". Calgary Arts Development. Retrieved November 3, 2020.
  13. "The 2020 Vine Awards ShortlistedNon-Fiction Writers Panel". Kultura Collective. Retrieved November 3, 2020.
  14. "WCJ Book Awards". Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver. Retrieved November 3, 2020.
  15. "Finalists for The City of Calgary W.O. Mitchell Book Prize Announced". Writers Guild of Alberta. Retrieved November 3, 2020.


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