J. Jill Robinson

J. Jill Robinson
Robinson in July 2021
Robinson in July 2021
Born (1955-06-16) June 16, 1955 (age 69)
Langley, British Columbia, Canada
OccupationWriter, editor.
Alma materUniversity of Alaska Fairbanks
Period1991 to present
GenreFiction, Creative nonfiction
Notable worksSaltwater Trees (1991)
Lovely In Her Bones (1993)
Eggplant Wife (1995)
Residual Desire (2003)
More in Anger (2012)

Jacqueline Jill Robinson (born June 16, 1955) is a Canadian writer and editor. She is the author of a novel and four collections of short stories. Her fiction and creative nonfiction have appeared in a wide variety of magazines and literary journals including Geist, the Antigonish Review, Event, Prairie Fire and the Windsor Review.[1] Her novel, More In Anger, published in 2012, tells the stories of three generations of mothers and daughters who bear the emotional scars of loveless marriages, corrosive anger and misogyny.[2]

Robinson has won numerous literary competitions including two Western Magazine Awards, two Saskatchewan Book Awards, two prizes for creative nonfiction from Event magazine, the PRISM international fiction contest and the Howard O'Hagan award for short fiction from the Writers' Guild of Alberta.[3] Her novel and stories have also won critical acclaim for their vivid characters, spare writing and tragic themes that nevertheless convey humour and hope.[2][4]

Robinson was appointed writer-in-residence at the Regina Public Library for 2020–2021.[5] She was the 24th writer-in-residence at the Saskatoon Public Library during 2004–2005. From 1995 to 1999, she was editor of the literary magazine Grain, published quarterly by the Saskatchewan Writers' Guild. She has taught English literature and creative writing at the Universities of Calgary and Saskatchewan, at St. Peter's College in Muenster, Saskatchewan and at the First Nations University of Canada.[1]

Robinson was married to the poet Steven Ross Smith (1999 to 2022) and is the mother of a son, Emmett H Robinson Smith, born in 1995. She lives on Galiano Island in the Canadian province of British Columbia.[6]

  1. ^ a b "The Writers' Union of Canada". Retrieved 2012-06-04.
  2. ^ a b Volmers, Eric. "J. Jill Robinson explores dark inheritances in new novel: More in Anger," Calgary Herald, June 1, 2012.
  3. ^ "Saskatchewan Archival Information Network". Retrieved 2011-09-19.
  4. ^ Clemence, Verne. "Happy endings can't be guaranteed," The StarPhoenix (Saskatoon), October 25, 2003, p. E13.
  5. ^ "Writer in Residence". Regina Public Library. Retrieved 2020-09-08.
  6. ^ "Member Profile". The Writers' Union of Canada. Archived from the original on March 21, 2016. Retrieved July 16, 2022.