What
interests me is people whom we often perceive as having simpler lives—and just
how complex those lives actually are.
Deborah Joy Corey is a Canadian author. Her first novel was the critically acclaimed Losing Eddie, published in 1993. Set in rural New Brunswick, Canada, Losing Eddie is a compilation of what Corey calls “rural witnessings,” things that she saw or heard growing up on a quiet, yet sometimes lawless stretch of road. Losing Eddie is narrated by a young nameless girl, remarkably capturing the voice of “the good child” who tries to make sense of the world around her. Reviewers compared it to Charles Dickens’ Bleak House, and McLeans Magazine said that it was one of the most confident debuts Canadian fiction has seen in some time. Losing Eddie won many acknowledgments both in the United States and Canada, including the WH Smith/Books in Canada First Novel Award. With the award money, Corey bought a cabinet with a writing desk enclosed. This stands as a symbol to her of the intimate act of writing.
Her second novel The Skating Pond was published in 2003. While still reflecting Corey’s piercing style, The Skating Pond is distinct from Losing Eddie. Nearly supernatural in reach, The Skating Pond is a treasure-house of emotion: the narrator, Elizabeth, is a headstrong, half-wild girl whose story, set on the rough coast of Maine, is hewn from terrible family tragedy and intense sexual passion. Richard Russo said, “The Skating Pond is starkly beautiful, in both its emotional and physical terrain. Deborah Joy Corey is a magical writer and her new novel burrows deep under the skin.” The respected Maine critic and publisher John Cole wrote, “The description of a lobsterman’s day is as close to poetry as most of us will ever get. For this is an ode to our coast as well as a tale of wounded hearts.” The Skating Pond won The Elle Magazine Lettres Readers Prize. After publishing The Skating Pond, Corey continued her tradition of honoring the sacred space of writing, renting a tattered sail loft on her home harbor. After receiving a grant from the Canadian Council, Corey rented a mooring across the bay, to which she attached a small floating building that resembles a fishing shack. In the summer months Corey motors out to the shack to write.
Her second novel The Skating Pond was published in 2003. While still reflecting Corey’s piercing style, The Skating Pond is distinct from Losing Eddie. Nearly supernatural in reach, The Skating Pond is a treasure-house of emotion: the narrator, Elizabeth, is a headstrong, half-wild girl whose story, set on the rough coast of Maine, is hewn from terrible family tragedy and intense sexual passion. Richard Russo said, “The Skating Pond is starkly beautiful, in both its emotional and physical terrain. Deborah Joy Corey is a magical writer and her new novel burrows deep under the skin.” The respected Maine critic and publisher John Cole wrote, “The description of a lobsterman’s day is as close to poetry as most of us will ever get. For this is an ode to our coast as well as a tale of wounded hearts.” The Skating Pond won The Elle Magazine Lettres Readers Prize. After publishing The Skating Pond, Corey continued her tradition of honoring the sacred space of writing, renting a tattered sail loft on her home harbor. After receiving a grant from the Canadian Council, Corey rented a mooring across the bay, to which she attached a small floating building that resembles a fishing shack. In the summer months Corey motors out to the shack to write.
A recipient of a number of awards and grants, Corey has also published many essays and short stories in exclusive literary magazines. Much of her work has been recorded for radio, and she is the recipient of a NPR Selected Shorts Prize.
Deborah Joy Corey was first prompted to write after reading a tattered copy of Joyce Carol Oates short stories entitled The Wheel Of Love. Recently married to a Bostonian, and waiting on her green card, Corey immediately enrolled in a writing workshop through Harvard extension school. Shortly thereafter she had her first story, Sister, published in The Agni Review, followed by the story, Drivin’, in Ploughshares: Fiction Discoveries. Not long after, she founded the “Thursday Nighters,” with Andre Dubus II, a literary salon that would give rise to many now successful authors.
Corey considers Andre Dubus II to be amongst her first mentors, alongside Alistair MacLeod and Elizabeth Hardwick. Corey worked first with Dubus, who mentored her in the early stages of her writing. Later, the Canadian novelist Alistair MacLeod discovered and published a handful of Corey’s short stories in The Windsor Review, which he edited. The two would go on to do literary readings together.
In the mid 90’s Corey moved from Boston to Maine with her husband to raise their young family. It was at this time that she met Elizabeth Hardwick, who became an involved mentor and dear friend. It was Hardwick who encouraged Corey to expand her short story The Skating Pond into a novel. A strong advocate for mentorships, Corey now mentors many young writers herself.
An illness forced Corey to take a hiatus from her writing, but in June 2017, her spiritual memoir, Settling Twice was published. The Canadian poet, Patrick Lane wrote, “Settling Twice is a book of quiet reflection, of wistful regard, where revelations of a family offer us the whole life of a remarkable woman. It is a book to be grateful for.” The writer Lee Smith wrote, “Deborah Joy Corey puts a whole universe on the head of a pin as she considers a woman’s many roles---mother, lover, wife, daughter, and sibling---and explores the loaded themes in creativity, sexuality, and spirituality in the harsh and beautiful world of coastal Maine. God is in these pages, which is something different and very damn interesting, in my opinion.”
Corey lives with her husband on the coast of Maine, and returns to New Brunswick regularly. They have two daughters.
Deborah Joy Corey was first prompted to write after reading a tattered copy of Joyce Carol Oates short stories entitled The Wheel Of Love. Recently married to a Bostonian, and waiting on her green card, Corey immediately enrolled in a writing workshop through Harvard extension school. Shortly thereafter she had her first story, Sister, published in The Agni Review, followed by the story, Drivin’, in Ploughshares: Fiction Discoveries. Not long after, she founded the “Thursday Nighters,” with Andre Dubus II, a literary salon that would give rise to many now successful authors.
Corey considers Andre Dubus II to be amongst her first mentors, alongside Alistair MacLeod and Elizabeth Hardwick. Corey worked first with Dubus, who mentored her in the early stages of her writing. Later, the Canadian novelist Alistair MacLeod discovered and published a handful of Corey’s short stories in The Windsor Review, which he edited. The two would go on to do literary readings together.
In the mid 90’s Corey moved from Boston to Maine with her husband to raise their young family. It was at this time that she met Elizabeth Hardwick, who became an involved mentor and dear friend. It was Hardwick who encouraged Corey to expand her short story The Skating Pond into a novel. A strong advocate for mentorships, Corey now mentors many young writers herself.
An illness forced Corey to take a hiatus from her writing, but in June 2017, her spiritual memoir, Settling Twice was published. The Canadian poet, Patrick Lane wrote, “Settling Twice is a book of quiet reflection, of wistful regard, where revelations of a family offer us the whole life of a remarkable woman. It is a book to be grateful for.” The writer Lee Smith wrote, “Deborah Joy Corey puts a whole universe on the head of a pin as she considers a woman’s many roles---mother, lover, wife, daughter, and sibling---and explores the loaded themes in creativity, sexuality, and spirituality in the harsh and beautiful world of coastal Maine. God is in these pages, which is something different and very damn interesting, in my opinion.”
Corey lives with her husband on the coast of Maine, and returns to New Brunswick regularly. They have two daughters.
