Pick, Alison, 1975-

Alison Pick, novelist and poet, was born in Toronto in 1975. She grew up in Kitchener, Ontario, and attended Kitchener Collegiate Institute and Lakefield College School before graduating from the University of Guelph in 1999 with a BA in psychology, and from Memorial University in St. John's, Newfoundland, with a Master's degree in Philosophy. Pick began her literary career while a student at the University of Guelph, where she started writing poetry. Her first published poems, "The First" and "History Class," appeared in Canadian poetry journal "The New Quarterly" in 1999. In the early 2000s, while living in Newfoundland, Pick published poetry in a number of other poetry journals, including "The Fiddlehead," "Arc," "Fireweed," and "Contemporary Verse 2." Her first book of poetry, "Question and Answer," was published in 2002. It received the 2002 Bronwen Wallace Memorial Award for Poetry and was shortlisted for the Gerald Lampert Award and the Newfoundland and Labrador Book Award in 2002. Pick also won the 2003 National Magazine Award and the 2005 CBC Literary Award for Poetry. Her second book of poetry, "The Dream World," was published in 2008. Its title poem was also appeared in "Best Canadian Poetry of 2008." In addition to her work as a poet, Pick writes non-fiction prose and novels. Her first novel, "The Sweet Edge," was published in 2005 and was a Globe and Mail Top 100 Book of 2005. Her second novel, "Far to Go," was published in 2010. It won the Canadian Jewish Book Award for Fiction, and was longlisted for the Man Booker Prize. Rights to this book were sold to commercial interests in Canada (including Quebec), the United States, the United Kingdom, Italy, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, and Brazil. Pick's memoir, "Between Gods," was published in 2014 and won the Canadian Jewish Book Award. It was also shortlisted for the BC National Award for Canadian Non-Fiction and the JQ Wingate Prize. Her third novel, "Strangers with the Same Dream," was published in September 2017. Her freelance writing has appeared in magazines and newspapers including "The Globe and Mail," "The Walrus," "National Post," "Mothering Magazine," and "Chatelaine." Pick served on the jury for the 2015 Giller Prize and has been a faculty member at the Banff Centre for the Arts Wired Writing Studio, the Humber School for Writers, and the Sage Hill Writing Experience.

Updated Sept. 2017