Education

Courses

• Writing Fiction (ENG-303)
• Senior Writing Project (ENG-403)
• Writing Creative Nonfiction (ENG-307 )
• Creative Writing I: Essential Tools and Strategies (ENG-203)

About

Brent van Staalduinen is an award-winning novelist and writer of short stories. He has received Canada Council for the Arts Research and Creation grants in 2018, 2020, and 2023 as well as Ontario Arts Council Works in Progress grants in 2017 and 2019. He is also the recipient of numerous Ontario Arts Council Recommender/Writers Reserve grants and is a member of the Writers’ Union of Canada.

Research Interests

• Fiction 
• Creative Nonfiction 

Creative Works

Books

SHOULD WE EVER SPEAK: a novel. Thistledown Press, forthcoming Spring 2026.

DO NOT COUNT THE DAYS: a thriller. At Bay Press, forthcoming September 2026.

UNTHINKABLE: a novel. At Bay Press, February 2024. ISBN 9781998779246.

CUT ROAD: stories. Guernica Editions, June 1, 2022. ISBN 9781771837255. Nominated for the 2023 reLit Award.

NOTHING BUT LIFE: a novel. Dundurn Press, February 16, 2021. ISBN 9781459746183. Nominated for the 2022 White Pine Award.

BOY: a novel. Dundurn Press, September 26, 2020. ISBN 9781459745889. Winner of the 2021 Kerry Schooley Book Award.

SAINTS, UNEXPECTED: a novel. Invisible Publishing, 2016. ISBN 9781926743721. Shortlisted for the 2017 Kerry Schooley Book Award. Shortlisted for the 2017 Hamilton Arts Council Fiction Award.

Stories

“The Echoes are all Mine.” The New Quarterly #158. May 2021. Fiction. Canada.

“Gone Supernova.” The New Quarterly #149. January 2019. Creative nonfiction. Canada.

“Bayfront.” The New Quarterly #148. July 2018. Fiction. Canada. 

“Drift, Maybe Fall.” subTerrain Magazine. Winter 2017. Short fiction. Canada. Winner of the Lush Triumphant Literary Award.

“Those Days Just a Glimmer.” The Fiddlehead. Fall 2017. Short fiction. Canada.

“#BecauseSocial.” The Writer Magazine. July 2017. Creative nonfiction. USA.

“Pieces of Echo.” The Writer Magazine. March 2017. Short fiction. USA. Winner of The Writer Magazine’s “Our Darkest Hours” Fiction Prize.

“Cut Road.” Riddle Fence 24. Fall 2016. Short fiction. Canada. Nominated for the 2017 McClelland & Stewart Journey Prize.

“Barton Walkup.” Prairie Fire Magazine 37.2. July 2016. Short fiction. Canada.

“Two Barbers.” The Sycamore Review 27.2. July 2016. Creative nonfiction. USA.

“Skinks.” The Fiddlehead. June 2016. Short fiction. Canada. Winner of the 2015 Fiddlehead Best Short Story Award.

“Washed (Or, the Cleanest I Might Ever Be).” The Puritan. July 2016. Creative nonfiction. Canada. Longlisted for the 2015 CBC Canada Writes Creative Nonfiction Competition.

“You’ll See the Sky.” The New Quarterly #137. January 2016. Creative nonfiction. Canada. Honourable Mention for the 2017 Short Works Prize.

“A Week on the Water.” The Bristol Prize Anthology 8. October 2015. Short fiction. UK. Winner of the  2015 Bristol Short Story Prize.

“Declination.” The Prairie Journal. July 2015. Short fiction. Canada. Nominated for the 2016 McClelland & Stewart Journey Prize. Honourable Mention in The Masters Review 2015 short fiction contest.

“Qom.” EVENT Magazine 43.3. January 2015. Short fiction. Canada. Longlisted for the 2014 CBC Canada Writes Short Story Competition.

“The Heat Comes Early this Year.” Litro. December 2014. Creative nonfiction. UK.

“Fairly Traded.” The New Quarterly, July 2014. Fiction. Canada. Honourable Mention for the 2014 Peter Hinchcliffe Fiction Award.

“Finding Iraq.” The New Quarterly. July 2014. Creative nonfiction. Canada. Recommended for Best New Writer category at the 2014 National Magazine Awards. Finalist for the Edna Staebler Award for Nonfiction. Honourable Mention for the 2015 Short Works Prize.

“Mom 2 Mom.” The Dalhousie Review. Summer 2014. Fiction. Canada. Winner of the 2015 Short Works Prize.

Awards and Certifications 

The Kerry Schooley Book Award

The Bristol Short Story Prize

The Fiddlehead Best Short Story Award 

The Lush Triumphant Literary Award

The Writer Magazine’s Our Darkest Hour Prize

The Short Works Prize