Zoe Whittall



Zoe Whittall (born February 15, 1976) is a Canadian poet and novelist.

Life
Zoe was born in 1976 in the Eastern Townships of Quebec and spent her childhood on a farm on the outskirts of South Durham, Quebec She graduated from Dawson College in Montreal in 1995, attended Concordia College from 1995 to 1997, and completed a MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Guelph in 2009.

She's worked for the small publishing houses Between the Lines Books and Sumach Press, and also as an arts reporter. She lives in Toronto.

She has published three novels and three poetry collections. Holding Still for as Long as Possible, Zoe's second novel, was published in 2009 in Canada, and 2010 in the United States. Her latest novel, The Middle Ground, is a short novel for adults with low literacy skills.

Her poetry books include The Best Ten Minutes of Your Life, The Emily Valentine Poems ,and Precordial Thump. She edited the short fiction anthology Geeks, Misfits & Outlaws (McGilligan Books) in 2003.

Recognition
She won the Writers' Trust of Canada's Dayne Ogilvie Grant for best gay emerging writer in 2008.

Her first novel, Bottle Rocket Hearts, was named a Globe and Mail Best Book of the Year and one of the top ten essential Canadian novels of the decade by CBC's Canada Reads.

Holding Still for as Long as Possible has been optioned for film, and was shortlisted for the 2010 ReLit award. It was also an honour book for the American Library Association's Stonewall Book Award.

Poetry

 * The Best Ten Minutes of Your Life. McG, 2001.
 * The Emily Valentine Poems. Snare, 2006.
 * Precordial Thump. Toronto: Exile Editions, 2008.

Novels

 * Bottle Rocket Hearts. Cormorant Books, 2007.
 * Holding Still For as Long as Possible. Concord, ON: House of Anansi, 2009.
 * The Middle Ground. Orca Book Publishers, 2010.