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Cary Fagan (born 1957) is a Canadian writer of novels, short stories, and children's books. His novel, The Student, was a finalist for the Toronto Book Award and the Governor General's Literary Award. Previously a short-story collection, My Life Among the Apes, was longlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize and his widely praised adult novel, A Bird's Eye, was shortlisted for the 2013 Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize. His novel Valentine's Fall was nominated for the 2010 Toronto Book Award.[1] Since publishing his first original children's book in 2001, he has published 25 children's titles.[2]
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Fagan was born in 1957 in Toronto, Ontario. He grew up in the Toronto suburbs and attended the University of Toronto, graduating with a degree in English and winning eight student awards.[3] He has lived for short periods in London and New York City, and now lives in Toronto. He is married to Rebecca Comay, a member of the philosophy department at the University of Toronto. He has two daughters, a step-son, and a step-daughter. Along with Bernard Kelly and Rebecca Comay, he co-publishes and edits a small press, called espresso.
Fagan has received a Toronto Book Award, two Jewish Book Awards, and a Mr Christie silver medal.[4]
- 1994 Jewish Book Award for Fiction (The Animals' Waltz)
- 2004 World Storytelling Award (U.S.) (The Market Wedding)
- 2009 Quill & Quire Book of the Year (Jacob Two-Two on the High Seas)
- )2012 IODE Jean Throop Book Award (Mr. Zinger's Hat
- 2013 Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award (Mr. Zinger's Hat)
- 2014 Vicki Metcalf Award for Children's Literature (body of work)
- 2019 Joan Betty Stuchner--Oy Vey!--Funniest Children's Book Award (Mort Ziff is not Dead)
- 2022 Canadian Jewish Literary Award (Great Adventures for the Faint of Heart)
- 2023 Forward Silver Award for Humor (The Animals)
- 2023 Vine Award For Jewish Canadian Literature (Water, Water)
- Runners-up, etc.
- 1990 Finalist, Toronto Book Awards (City Hall and Mrs. God)
- 2000 Sydney Taylor Honor Book (U.S.) (The Market Wedding)
- 2004 Silver Birch Award Honour Book (The Fortress of Kaspar Snit)
- 2008 Finalist, TD Canadian Children's Literature Award (Thing-Thing)
- 2008 Silver Birch Express Award Honour Book (Ten Lessons for Kaspar Snit)
- 2008 Finalist, Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award (Thing-Thing)
- 2010 Finalist, Toronto Book Awards (Valentine's Fall)
- 2012 Longlist, Scotiabank Giller Prize (My Life Among the Apes)
- 2013 Finalist, Rogers Writers Trust Fiction Prize ("A Bird's Eye")
- 2015 Finalist, John Spray Mystery Award (The Show to End all Shows)
- 2019 Finalist, Toronto Book Award (The Student)
Novels for adults
- The Animals' Waltz: A Novel (Lester & Orpen Dennys, 1994)
- Sleeping Weather (The Porcupine's Quill, 1997)
- Felix Roth (Stoddart Books, 1999)
- The Mermaid of Paris (Key Porter Books, 2003)
- Valentine's Fall (Cormorant Books, 2010)
- A Bird's Eye (House of Anansi Press, 2013)
- The Student (Freehand Books, 2019)
- The Animals (book*hug, 20220)
Children's fiction
- Gogol's Coat (Tundra Books, 1999), illustrated by Regolo Ricci, adapted from "The Overcoat" by Gogol
- The Market Wedding (Tundra, 2000), illus. Regolo Ricci, from Abraham Cahan
- Daughter of the Great Zandini (Tundra, 2001), illus. Cybèle Young
- Beyond the Dance: A Ballerina's Life (Tundra, 2002), by Fagan and Chan Hon Goh, autobiographical
- The Fortress of Kaspar Snit (Tundra, 2004), novel
- Ten Old Men and a Mouse (Tundra, 2007), illus. Gary Clement
- My New Shirt (Tundra, 2007), illus. Dušan Petričić
- Directed by Kaspar Snit (Tundra, 2007), sequel novel
- Mr. Karp's Last Glass (Tundra, 2007), illus. Selçuk Demirel
- Ten Lessons for Kaspar Snit (Tundra, 2008), sequel novel
- Thing-Thing (Tundra, 2008), illus. Nicolas Debon
- Jacob Two-Two on the High Seas (Tundra, 2009), illus. Dušan Petričić
- Book of Big Brothers (Groundwood Books, 2010), illus. Luc Melanson
- The Big Swim (Groundwood, 2010), novel
- Banjo of Destiny (Groundwood, 2011), illus. Selçuk Demirel
- Ella May and the Wishing Stone (Tundra, 2011), illus. Geneviève Côté
- Mr. Zinger's Hat (Tundra, 2012), illus. Dušan Petričić
- The Boy in the Box (Penguin Canada, 2012), novel; Master Melville's Medicine Show, book 1
- Danny, Who Fell in a Hole (Groundwood, 2013), illus. Milan Pavlovic
- Oy, Feh, So (Groundwood, 2013), illus. Gary Clement
- I Wish I Could Draw (Groundwood, 2014), "words and (bad) pictures by Cary Fagan", OCLC 881253673
- Little Blue Chair (Tundra, 2017), illus. Madelie Kloepper
- A Cage Went in Search of a Bird (Groundwood, 2017), illus. Banafsheh Erfanian
- Wolfie & Fly (Tundra, 2017), illus. Zoe Si
- Mort Ziff is Not Dead (Penguin Canada)
- What Are You Doing, Benny? (Tundra, 2019), illus. Kady MacDonald Denton
- The Collected Works of Gretchen Oyster (Tundra, 2019)
- King Mouse (Tundra, 2019), illus. Dena Seiferling
- Mr. Tempkin Climbs a Tree (Kar-Ben Publishing, 2019), illus. Carles Arbat
- Son of Happy (Groundwood, 2020), illus. Milan Pavlović
- Bear Wants to Sing (Tundra, 2021), illus. Dena Seiferling
- Water, Water (Tundra, 2022)
- Boney (Groundwood, 2022)
Short stories
- History Lessons (Hounslow, 1990)
- The Little Black Dress: tales from France (The Mercury Press, 1993)
- The Doctor's House and other Fiction (Stoddart, 2000)
- My Life Among the Apes (Cormorant, 2012)
- The Old World and Other Stories (Anansi, 2017)
- Great Adventures for the Faint of Heart (Freehand Books, 2021)
Non-fiction
- City Hall and Mrs. God: A Passionate Journey Through a Changing Toronto (The Mercury Press, 1990)
As editor
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