Kenneth J. Harvey

This article is about the Canadian writer. For other people with similar names, see Ken Harvey.
Kenneth J. Harvey
Harvey with an award for Best Canadian Film at the 2019 International Festival of Films on Art
BornJanuary 22, 1962
NationalityCanadian
Occupation(s)writer, filmmaker
Known forThe Town That Forgot How to Breathe, Blackstrap Hawco, Inside, Immaculate Memories: The Uncluttered Worlds of Christopher Pratt
AwardsThomas Head Raddall Award, Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize, Winterset Award

Kenneth Joseph Thomas Harvey (born January 22, 1962) is a Canadian writer and filmmaker from Newfoundland and Labrador.[1]

Harvey's debut short story collection, Directions for an Opened Body, was published in 1990.[2] He followed up in 1992 with his first novel, Brud,[3] which was a shortlisted finalist for the SmithBooks/Books in Canada First Novel Award in 1993.[4]

His 2003 novel The Town That Forgot How to Breathe was his first book to be republished in the United States,[5] and was the winner of the Thomas Head Raddall Award in 2004.[6] In 2006, his novel Inside won the Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize[7] and the Winterset Award,[8] and was longlisted for the 2006 Giller Prize.[9]

His 2008 novel Blackstrap Hawco was longlisted for the Giller Prize in 2008.[10]

As a filmmaker Harvey is most noted for his 2018 documentary film Immaculate Memories: The Uncluttered Worlds of Christopher Pratt,[11] a profile of artist Christopher Pratt which was a Canadian Screen Award nominee for Best Feature Length Documentary at the 7th Canadian Screen Awards in 2019,[12] and won the award for Best Canadian Film at the 2019 International Festival of Films on Art.[13]

In 2000, with his wife Janet, Harvey founded the ReLit Awards, an annual award for independent Canadian literature.[14] Management of the ReLits was taken over in 2021 by his daughter, Katherine Alexandra Harvey.[15]

  1. ^ Bob Clark, "Harvey writes what he knows; Author laments erosion of Newfoundlanders' identity". Edmonton Journal, October 31, 2008.
  2. ^ Stephen Henighan, "Heartland journey yields mixed result; Lively scenes, much hokum". Montreal Gazette, May 11, 1991.
  3. ^ Tim Wynne-Jones, "The moral of the story". The Globe and Mail, September 12, 1992.
  4. ^ "Finalists announced for first novel award". The Globe and Mail, March 4, 1993.
  5. ^ "The Town That Forgot How to Breathe by Kenneth J. Harvey". Publishers Weekly. August 8, 2005.
  6. ^ "Kenneth J. Harvey wins Atlantic fiction prize". The Globe and Mail, May 26, 2004.
  7. ^ James Adams, "Harvey wins $15,000 Writers' Trust fiction prize". The Globe and Mail, March 8, 2007.
  8. ^ Tara Mullowney, "Novelist Ken Harvey wins Winterset". The Telegram, March 30, 2007.
  9. ^ "15 writers vie for Giller Prize". Prince George Citizen, September 22, 2006.
  10. ^ "Giller winners up again for award". Hamilton Spectator, September 20, 2008.
  11. ^ "New documentary explores the order and disorder of N.L. painter Christopher Pratt". CBC News Newfoundland and Labrador, August 30, 2018.
  12. ^ Pat Mullen, "2019 Canadian Screen Award Nominees for Documentary". Point of View, February 7, 2019.
  13. ^ "Newfoundland filmmaker’s Christopher Pratt documentary wins international award". SaltWire Network, March 28, 2019.
  14. ^ Bouw, Brenda (2000-11-08). "Canada's newest literary prize is for independent presses". National Post. p. 28. Retrieved 2023-10-14.
  15. ^ Ryan Porter, "ReLit Awards launches literary journal, teen mentorship under new executive director". Quill & Quire, January 7, 2021.