Dennis Bock

Dennis Bock (born August 28, 1964) is a Canadian novelist and short story writer. His latest novel, The Communist's Daughter, published in 2006 by HarperCollins in Canada and Knopf in the US, and later in France, the Netherlands, Greece and Poland, is a retelling of the final years in the life of the Canadian surgeon Norman Bethune.

After spending years working on his craft, serving as fiction editor for the literary journal Blood & Aphorisms and holding writing residences at Yaddo, the Banff Centre, and Fundacion Valparaiso, in Spain, Bock published his first book, the critically acclaimed short story collection Olympia, in 1998, for which he won the Danuta Gleed Literary Award, the Canadian Authors' Association Jubilee Award, and the Betty Trask Award in the UK. His first novel, The Ash Garden, about various kinds of fallout from the Hiroshima bomb, was published in 2001, and was shortlisted for the Books in Canada First Novel Award and the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award, the Kiriyama Pacific Rim Prize, and the Commonwealth Writers' Prize (Regional Best Book). It won the 2002 Canada-Japan Literary Award and has been published in translation in Spain, Argentina, Japan, the Netherlands, Italy, Germany, France and Greece.

His short stories have appeared in "The Penguin Book of Canadian Short Stories," "The Journey Prize Anthology," and "Coming Attractions."

Personal life

Dennis Bock was born August 28, 1964 in Belleville, Ontario. He studied English literature and philosophy at the University of Western Ontario, and took one year off during that time to live in Spain. After completing his degree he returned to Madrid, Spain, where he lived for 4 years. It was there he finished writing "Olympia." Bock lives in Toronto with his wife and two sons. He teaches at the University of Toronto.

Prizes and honours

• 1998 Danuta Gleed Award for Olympia
• 1998 UK's Betty Trask Award for best book by an author under 35 for "Olympia"
• 1998 Canadian Authors' Association Jubilee Award for "Olympia"
• 2001 Shortlisted, Books in Canada First Novel Award for The Ash Garden
• 2002 Shortlisted, International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award for The Ash Garden
• 2002 Shortlisted, Kiriyama Pacific Rim Prize for "The Ash Garden"
• 2001 Shortlisted, Commonwealth Writers' Prize, Regional Best Book, for "The Ash Garden"

Bibliography

Novels

• The Ash Garden (2001)
• The Communist's Daughter (2006)

Short stories

• Olympia (1998)

External links

• Official site
• Interview with Dennis Bock, Quill & Quire, August 2001
• New York Times review of The Communist's Daughter, March 4, 2007

Persondata
Name	Bock, Dennis
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	August 28, 1964
Place of birth	Belleville, Ontario
Date of death
Place of death