Duncan Weller

Duncan Weller
Born 1975
Sherbrooke, Quebec
Occupation Writer, illustrator
Nationality Canadian
Alma mater Lakehead University

Duncan Weller (born 1975) is a Canadian writer and illustrator of children’s picture books, short stories for adults (Rocket Fish) and poetry ("Tettrennial Drift"). He won two of Canada’s top awards, a Governor General's Award and the Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Award, for his picture book The Boy from the Sun.

Early life and education

Weller was born in Sherbrooke, Quebec in 1975 to English immigrants. He graduated from Lakehead University having studied English Literature and Fine Art.

Career

After graduation, Weller moved from Thunder Bay to Toronto, then to Victoria, North Vancouver, Montreal and back to Thunder Bay where he held various jobs before winning awards and securing several grants from the Ontario Arts Council to continue work on his paintings, animation, and picture books for children. He writes an arts column for The Chronicle-Journal. He won the 2007 Governor General's Award in the children's literature (illustration) category for his book the The Boy from the Sun, as well the 2008 Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Children's Book Award. He received a Chalmers Arts Fellowship allowing him to do research for an upcoming picture book in Ghana. Due to major breaches of contract by his Canadian publisher, Simply Read Books, Weller obtained the rights to his three previous children's picture books. In 2013 he self-published three hardcover children's picture books. In 2016, Weller reprinted The Boy from the Sun as an extended version of The Boy from the Sun. Having completed several projects he is looking for representation in the United States and Europe. He lives in Thunder Bay, Northwestern Ontario.

Personal life

His father, Geoffrey Weller, became a professor of political studies at Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, Ontario. Geoffrey Weller's work in administration and his comparative studies of the political, economic, and health care systems of the Northern Hemisphere helped secure his position as the founding president of the University of Northern British Columbia in 1991. At the time, UNBC was the first university built in Canada in twenty-five years. Geoffrey Weller served two terms as president before succumbing to lung cancer in 2000. Duncan Weller’s mother, Jean, is an award-winning quilter who shows her work regularly, and has exhibited in the United States, Norway, and across Canada. Duncan Weller has two brothers: Eric, who teaches at Confederation College in Thunder Bay and makes films, and Alexander, who operates a retail outlet for martial/fantasy themed arts equipment in Victoria, British Columbia.

References

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 9/2/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.