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  • Brian Doyle:Canada Author

I write, not to proselytize, instruct, inform, moralize or convert. Neither do I write to render verdicts or effect justice. I write rather to present evidence and bear witness. Evidence witnessed through youthful eyes – eyes clear-sighted, albeit inexperienced. The eyes of the child who saw that the Emperor was naked. In this manner, my aim is to create readers where there were no readers before. Thereby giving the gift of literacy.

Brian Doyle

Brian Doyle is considered among Canada's most illustrious authors of books for middle school and young adult audiences. Born in 1935 in Ottawa, he was immersed in a family whose way with language and story inspired him so much that at by the age of ten he had decided that his lifelong dream was to become a writer. Doyle completed a Bachelor's Degree in journalism, and in 1959 began a career as a high school teacher and published his first story in a literary magazine. Hey Dad!, his first novel, was published in 1978. Eleven more novels have appeared since then, and his works have been adapted to radio, stage, and film.

Doyle is widely admired for the power of his language, his humor, and the prevailing sense of place found in his books. The capital city of Ottawa and the flavor of the Gatineau Hills to the north of the city, the sense of history, and amusing anecdotes are evident in his writing. He strikes a delicate balance between humorous and tragic moments. Doyle takes on difficult subjects such as racism (Angel Square), physical abuse (Uncle Ronald and Up to Low), and sexual abuse (Boy O'Boy); while at the same time he explores themes of family unity, community cohesion, and personal love. Judith Saltman at the University of British Columbia describes Doyle's adolescent protagonists as making human choices of courage and compassion amidst grief, fear, and loss. She states, "Doyle's greatest gift to his adolescent readers may be the complex reality of his characters, their unmistakable and memorable voices, their stylish wit and thoughtfulness."

Making use of imagery, suggestion, connotation and symbolism, Doyle creates a sense of depth. Doyle states, "Like life itself, the world we encounter doesn't give itself up to us all at once." Doyle writes so that readers will discover the mysteries of life on their own.

Among his numerous honors, Brian Doyle has four times been awarded Canada's most prestigious prize, the Canadian Library Association Book of the Year for Children Award. He has twice won the Mr. Christie's Book Award. In 2002 he won the Leishman Prize and in 2005 Doyle received Laureate of the NSK Neustadt Prize for Children's Literature, a lifetime achievement honor.

Selected Bibliography

Up to Low (1982) Toronto: Groundwood Books.
Angel Square (1984) Toronto: Groundwood Books.
Uncle Ronald (1996) Toronto: Groundwood Books.
Boy O'Boy (2003) Toronto: Groundwood Books.
Pure Spring (2007) Toronto: Groundwood Books. [End Page 9]
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