Hometown: Born in
Meadowville, N.S.; lives in
Montreal and Tucson, Arizona.
Kudos: Won the 2010
Scotiabank Giller Prize for her
debut novel, The Sentimentalists.
Her new book: This Will be Difficult to Explain and Other Stories, $28.
In these nine stories, Skibsrud
writes of distorted perceptions.
Her characters view the world
through foggy lenses; they
become frustrated as they
try to communicate with each
other and struggle to separate
the truth from lies. Her quiet
tone has a dreamy, rhythmic
quality — you can almost hear
her characters take a breath
between thoughts as they
look inward to find meaning
in their lives. —
C.F.
Behind the scenes: Skibsrud’s previous employment
includes working with
at-risk youth in the Canadian
Arctic and a job as a
wilderness instructor.
book club,
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