Lisa Moore

Position

Associate Professor

Education

  • BFA (Nova Scotia College of Art & Design)
  • Creative Writing, Canadian Literature, Literature of the Americas

Contact Information

  • Office: AA 3021
  • Telephone: (709) 864-8296
  • Email: lisam@mun.ca

Research Interests

Writing fiction, creative non-fiction, art criticism, stage plays, and collectively written dramatic podcasts

Selected Publications

Creative

Books

  • Something for Everyone (short stories) . Forthcoming, August 2018.
  • Flannery. Groundwood Press, 2016 (published simultaneously in the US). *Translated into French (Boreal) and German (Sauerlander).
  • Caught. House of Anansi Press, 2013. *Published by Chatto & Windus (UK) and Grove/Atlantic (US); translated into Italian (Bollati Boringhiere Editore), French (Editions Denoel), German (Carl Hanser Verlag), Dutch (Uitgeverij Karaat), and Russian (AST Licence Limited).
  • Selected Short Stories by Lisa Moore. House of Anansi Press, 2011.
  • February. House of Anansi Press, 2009. *Published by Chatto & Windus (UK) and Grove/Atlantic (US); translated into French (Plon in France and Boreal in Quebec), Spanish (Edicoes 451), Italian (Bollati Boringhieri), German (Hanser), and Dutch (Meulenhoff).
  • Alligator. House of Anansi Press, 2005. *Published by Little, Brown (UK) and Grove/Atlantic (US); translated into Turkish (Erko Yayincilik), French (Editions du Boreal), and German (Carl Hanser Verlag).
  • Open: Stories. House of Anansi Press, 2002. *Published by Little, Brown (UK); translated into French (Editions du Boreal).
  • Degrees of Nakedness: Stories. 1995. House of Anansi Press, 2014.

Edited Collections

  • The Democracy Cookbook. ISER Books, 2017.
  • Racket: New Writing Made in Newfoundland. Breakwater Books, 2015.
  • Great Expectations: 24 True Stories about Birth (co-editor Dede Crane). House of Anansi Press, 2008.
  • Penguin Anthology of Canadian Women’s Short Stories. Penguin, 2006.

Stage Plays and Adaptations (single authored)

  • Your Daughter Fanny. Libretto written with composer Alice Ho, opera singer Caroline Schiller, Duo Concertante’s Timothy Steeves and Nancy Dahn, produced and performed at Tuckamore Festival, 15 August 2017.
  • Bonne Bay Incident. The monologue of Agnes Benoit in a collectively written radio play produced for a live audience, Woody Point Writers’ Festival, 2017.
  • February. Contemporary Newfoundland Plays, edited by Denyse Lynde. Breakwater, 2016.
  • February. Performed at Alumnae Theatre, Toronto, and Rising Tide Theatre, St. John’s, 2012.
  • “ForePlay.” C2C Theatre Company, Resource Centre for the Arts, St. John’s, 2006. *Published in The New Quarterly, vol. 103, August 2007.

Published Collaborations

  • Switching Places. Text by Lisa Moore and Jessica Grant. Images of Marlene MacCallum and David Morrish. Center for Book and Paper Arts, 2014.

Book Chapters

  • “Snowsqualls in May.” Luminous Ink, edited by Rabinranath Maharaj, Tessa McWatt, and Dionne Brand, Cormorant Books, 2017.
  • Introduction. The Bush Garden, by Northrop Frye, House of Anansi Press, 2017, pp. 1-6.
  • “But Lovers with the Intensity I’m Talking About.” The Breakwater Book of Contemporary Newfoundland Short Fiction, edited by Larry Mathews, Breakwater Books, 2015, pp. 157-82.
  • Introduction. Racket: New Writing Made in Newfoundland. Breakwater Books, 2015, pp. 7-17.
  • Introduction. Waiting for Time, by Bernice Morgan, Breakwater Books, 2015, pp. 10-14.
  • Introduction. Hard Light, by Michael Crummey. Brick Books, 2015, pp. 11-14.
  • “Leaves and Thickets.” Kwe: Standing with Our Sisters, edited by Joseph Boyden, Random House, 2014, pp. 31-33.
  • Introduction. The Danger Tree, by David MacFarlane, McClelland & Stewart, 2014, pp. 1-6.
  • Introduction. This All Happened, by Michael Winter, House of Anansi Press, 2013, pp. 1-4.
  • Introduction. Reading by Lightning, by Joan Thomas, Goose Lane Editions, 2011.
  • “My Father’s Afterlife.” Penguin Anthology about Fathers and Daughters. Penguin, 2010.
  • Introduction. Penguin Anthology of Canadian Women’s Short Stories. Penguin, 2006.

Short Stories, Essays, and Articles in Scholarly Journals, Literary Journals, Magazines, and Newspapers

  • “Fjord of Eternity” (short story). Granta Magazine, U.K., Fall 2017, pp. 261-276.
  • “Marconi” (short story). The Globe and Mail, 18 May 2017.
  • “Visions” (short story). Taddle Creek, Spring 2017.
  • “Lighting up the Dark” (short story). Toronto Star, 23 December 2016.
  • “The Shoe Emporium” (short story). The Walrus, July-August, 2016. *Chosen for republication in Best Canadian Stories 2017 (forthcoming), pp. 121-141.
  • “Hat Ein Haus in Neufundland.” Die Welt, 21 March 2015.
  • “Rings within Rings.” Interview with Leesa Dean. The New Quarterly, vol. 133, March 2015.
  • “All Zoos Everywhere.” McGrath-Hill Online Public School Textbook. McGrath-Hill, 2015.
  • “Faerie Tale.” Elle Magazine, December 2015, pp. 2-10.
  • “A Labour of Love: Mary Pratt’s Survey Exhibition Glows.” Canadian Art, vol. 30, no. 4, 2014, pp. 114-120.
  • “The Retreat.” Dans La Ville. In der Stadt. In the City. Goethe Institut zine. 8 October 2014.
  • “The Other Fifth Avenue.” Cottage Life, Summer 2014, pp. 52-58, 116. *Nominated for a National Magazine Award.
  • “How to Illustrate a Poem: The Art of Alan Stein.” DA: A Journal of Printing Arts, vol. 74, Spring/Summer 2014, pp. 29-39.
  • “On Childhood Books: Black Beauty.” Brick, vol. 90, Winter 2013.
  • “Todd Saunders’ Breathtaking Fogo Island Inn.” Azure Magazine (Architecture and Design), 7 October 2013.
  • “The Challenges and Rewards of Re-entering the Workforce” (short story). The Walrus, October 2013.
  • “Mavis Gallant in Malibu.” Brick, vol. 80, Winter 2007.

Selected Conference Presentations

  • Keynote Speaker, “Is that You Atlantic Blue?: Anthropomorphizing the North Atlantic in a Boom and Bust Oil Economy.” Negotiating Waters: Seas, Oceans and Passageways in the Colonial and Postcolonial Anglophone World, 15-16 February 2018, Université Grenoble Alpes, France.
  • Keynote Reading, The Future of Nature Conference, 11 September 2015. Memorial University of Newfoundland Grenfell Campus, Canada.
  • Keynote Address, Atlantic Provinces Libraries Association Conference, 12 July 2015, St. John’s, Canada.
  • “Judging as Canada Changes, Balancing Rights.” Keynote Address, National Judicial Institute Conference, 2015, St. John’s, Canada.
  • Invited Panelist, Alice Munro International Symposium, 9 May 2014, University of Ottawa.
  • Keynote Speaker, Canadian Creative Writers and Writing Programs Annual Conference, 17 May 2014, University of British Columbia.

Current Research Projects

I am the host of State of the Arts, a monthly Facebook-live interview show where I interview professors from the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences about their research at Memorial. So far, there have been three episodes of State of the Arts.

Current Creative Projects

I am beginning a new novel, set in contemporary St. John’s, exploring Newfoundland’s boom and bust oil economy as it touches down in the lives of people in a downtown neighbourhood caught in the grip of poverty and violence.

Other Professional Activities

I frequently give talks, speak on panels, and give readings at literary festivals, libraries, high schools, and universities across Canada and abroad.

Awards

  • Critical Eye Award (Excellence in Visual Arts Writing), 2014.
  • Writers’ Trust of Canada, Engel/Findley Award, 2013.
  • CBC Canada Reads (for February), 2013.
  • New Yorker’s Best Books of 2010 (for February), 2009.
  • Commonwealth Prize for the Canadian/Caribbean Region (for Alligator), 2006.
  • Newfoundland and Labrador Artist of the Year, 2006.
  • The Canadian Authors’ Association Jubilee Award for Short Fiction (for Open), 2003.

Awards Shortlisted

  • Anne Connor Brimer Award for Children’s Literature, Atlantic Book Award ( Flannery), 2016.
  • Schwartz Award for Young Adult Novels ( Flannery), 2016.
  • Scotia Bank Giller Prize ( Caught), 2013.
  • Roger’s Writers’ Trust Fiction Award ( Caught), 2013.
  • Commonwealth Prize for Canadian/Caribbean Region ( February), 2009
  • Winterset Award ( February), 2009.
  • The Giller Prize ( Alligator), 2006.
  • The Thomas Randall Award ( Alligator), 2006.
  • The Giller Prize ( Open), 2003.

Regularly Taught Courses

Undergraduate

  • English 2905: Introduction to Creative Writing
  • English 3903: Introduction to Creative Writing: Nonfiction
  • English 4910: Advanced Creative Writing: Fiction

Graduate

  • English 7090: Creative Writing: Fiction

Honours And Graduate Supervision

I supervise Masters students who are engaged in writing a creative thesis and students who are engaged in writing creative honours projects.