David Homel (born 1952) is an American-Canadian writer and literary translator.[1] He is most noted as a two-time winner of the Governor General's Award for French to English translation, winning the award at the 1995 Governor General's Awards for Why Must a Black Writer Write About Sex?, his translation of Dany Laferrière's Cette grenade dans la main du jeune nègre est-elle une arme ou un fruit?,[2] and alongside Fred A. Reed at the 2001 Governor General's Awards for Fairy Ring, their translation of Martine Desjardins' Le Cercle de Clara.[3]
Originally from Chicago, Illinois,[4] Homel moved to Canada in 1975, first taking a master's at the University of Toronto before settling in Montreal in 1980.[5] He is married to children's writer Marie-Louise Gay, with whom he has cowritten several children's works.[5]
His debut novel Electrical Storms, published in 1988, was shortlisted for the SmithBooks/Books in Canada First Novel Award in 1989.[6] He is also a two-time winner of the Paragraphe Hugh MacLennan Prize for Fiction at the Quebec Writers' Federation Awards, winning in 2003 for The Speaking Cure[7] and in 2019 for The Teardown.[8]
He has been nominated for the Governor General's Award for translation on eight other occasions, for his translations of Laferrière's How to Make Love to a Negro Without Getting Tired (Comment faire l'amour avec un nègre sans se fatiguer) in 1988, An Aroma of Coffee (L'Odeur du café) in 1994 and A Drifting Year (Chronique de la dérive douce) in 1997, Yves Beauchemin's The Second Fiddle (Le Second violon) in 1998,[9] Philippe Poloni's Olivo Oliva in 1999, Monique Proulx's The Heart Is an Involuntary Muscle (Le Cœur est un muscle involontaire) in 2003 and Wildlives (Champagne) in 2009, and Desjardins' All That Glitters (L'Élu du hasard) in 2005.
^Ian McGillis, "Montreal's David Homel counsels self-forgiveness in new memoir". Montreal Gazette, April 23, 2021.
^Val Ross, "G-G winners a surprise: Albertan short-story writer and francophone playwright pick up prizes". The Globe and Mail, November 15, 1995.
^Jenny Jackson, "Nothing lost in the translation: Homel and Reed say it's poetic justice that they were honoured for translating Fairy Ring". Ottawa Citizen, November 15, 2001.
^Victor Dabby, "Quebec translator bases novel on Chicago homicide". Ottawa Citizen, January 28, 1989.
^ abJanice Kennedy, "A Novel Love; Two succesful [sic] writers live happily ever after - together". Montreal Gazette, November 7, 1988.
^"Three double nominees for major book awards". Toronto Star, February 28, 1989.
^Pat Donnelly, "Homel's novel wins at writers' gala". Montreal Gazette, November 27, 2003.
^Brendan Kelly, "Quebec Writers' Federation awards reflect booming local literary scene; Homel's The Teardown, Nixon's nîtisânak among work recognized at annual event". Montreal Gazette, November 6, 2019.
^"Montrealers deluge list of nominees". Montreal Gazette, October 21, 1998.
DavidHomel (born 1952) is an American-Canadian writer and literary translator. He is most noted as a two-time winner of the Governor General's Award...
Canadian Literature, Volume 7, Dundurn Press, ISBN 1-55002-145-1 Stouck, David (1988), Major Canadian authors : a critical introduction to Canadian literature...
Georges-Herbert (1998). Céline: The Authorized Biography. translated by DavidHomel and Fred Reed. Dundurn Press. pp. 220. ISBN 1-55002-318-7. O'Connor,...
ISBN 0-330-30622-7. Laroche, Hadrien. 2010 The Last Genet: a writer in revolt. Trans DavidHomel. Arsenal Pulp Press. ISBN 978-1-55152-365-1. Magedera, Ian H. 2014 Outsider...
The Lyric Generation: The Life and Times of the Baby Boomers (1994) DavidHomel, Why Must a Black Writer Write About Sex? (1995) Linda Gaboriau, Stone...
Georges-Herbert (1998). Céline: The Authorized Biography. translated by DavidHomel and Fred Reed. Dundurn Press. p. 16. ISBN 978-1-55002-318-3. jmaster...
Arsenal Pulp Press, a Vancouver, B.C. Canadian publisher. Translated by DavidHomel. World Architecture Survey "Vals thermal baths change hands". Swissinfo...
Georges-Herbert Germain (1998). Céline: The Authorized Biography. Translated by DavidHomel; Fred Reed. Dundurn Press. p. 119. ISBN 1-55002-318-7. La voix du bon...
writer Jean-Paul Dubois, published in 2019. An English translation by DavidHomel was published in 2022 by MacLehose Press (UK) and The Overlook Press...
translated works of various Canadian writers into French, including DavidHomel, Douglas Glover, and Mordecai Richler. Poliquin and his hometown of Ottawa...
Motet, published in 1989, won the Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize. Reviewer DavidHomel assured readers that despite the novel's sixteenth-century Dutch choral...
translated by DavidHomel & Jacob Homel, 2014). L'enfant dans le miroir (2007). À ciel ouvert (2007; English: Breakneck, translated by Jacob Homel, Anvil Press...
November 9, 2010. "Giller prize nominees cut to final five; Former winner David Bergen and Alexander MacLeod on shortlist". Victoria Times-Colonist, October...
and Gilles Archambault. English-language writers of Quebec include DavidHomel, Neil Bissoondath and Yann Martel. An association, the Quebec Writers'...
The Lyric Generation: The Life and Times of the Baby Boomers (1994) DavidHomel, Why Must a Black Writer Write About Sex? (1995) Linda Gaboriau, Stone...
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