Author Biography | Interview | Books by this Author | Read-Alikes
Annabel Lyon’s story collection, Oxygen, and book of novellas, The Best Thing for You, were published in Canada to wide acclaim. The Golden Mean, her first novel, was a Canadian bestseller and was published in six languages. It won the Rogers Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize and was nominated for the Scotiabank Giller Prize, the Governor General’s Award for Fiction, and the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize. Lyon lives in British Columbia with her husband and two children.
Annabel Lyon's website
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The Golden Mean is your first novel for adults. What prompted you to move from writing primarily short stories and novellas to writing a full-length novel? What are the challenges in moving between one form of storytelling and another? Which do you prefer?
My preferred form is the short story, but the scope of the material I wanted to deal with in The Golden Mean required a novel; it was as simple as that. I always liken writing to running: you're born with the body of a sprinter or a middle distance runner or a marathoner, and that's what's most comfortable for you. It doesn't mean you can't run the other races, but they're always going to come less naturally and be more of an effort. It's the same for me with novel writing. The long short story is my comfortable length, the length I feel most confident with, and consequently the novel was a real challenge. A number of times in the writing of the book I wanted to throw in the towel and just scale it down to a short story. But there was simply too much material, and it was too complex.
The Golden Mean was nominated for the triple crown of Canadian literary awards, the Scotiabank Giller Prize, the Governor General's Literary Award, and the Roger's Writers' Trust Fiction ...
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