Cary Fagan


Cary Fagan is a Canadian writer of novels, short stories, and children's books. His novel, The Student, was a finalist for the Toronto Book Award and the Governor General's Literary Award. Previously a short-story collection, My Life Among the Apes, was longlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize and his widely praised adult novel, A Bird's Eye, was shortlisted for the 2013 Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize. His novel Valentine's Fall was nominated for the 2010 Toronto Book Award. Since publishing his first original children's book in 2001, he has published 25 children's titles.
WWW caryfagan.com

Personal life

Fagan was born in 1957 in Toronto, Ontario. He grew up in the Toronto suburbs and attended the University of Toronto, graduating with a degree in English and winning eight student awards. He has lived for short periods in London and New York City, and now lives in Toronto. He is married to Rebecca Comay, a member of the philosophy department at the University of Toronto. He has two daughters, a step-son, and a step-daughter. Along with Bernard Kelly and Rebecca Comay, he co-publishes and edits a small press, called espresso.
Fagan has received a Toronto Book Award, two Jewish Book Awards, and a Mr Christie silver medal.

Prizes and honours

;Runners-up, etc.

Published books

Novels for adults

  • The Animals' Waltz: A Novel
  • Sleeping Weather
  • Felix Roth
  • The Mermaid of Paris
  • Valentine's Fall
  • A Bird's Eye The Student
  • ''The Animals''

Children's fiction

Gogol's Coat, illustrated by Regolo Ricci, adapted from "The Overcoat" by GogolThe Market Wedding, illus. Regolo Ricci, from Abraham CahanDaughter of the Great Zandini, illus. Cybèle YoungBeyond the Dance: A Ballerina's Life, by Fagan and Chan Hon Goh, autobiographicalThe Fortress of Kaspar Snit, novelTen Old Men and a Mouse, illus. Gary ClementMy New Shirt, illus. Dušan PetričićDirected by Kaspar Snit, sequel novelMr. Karp's Last Glass, illus. Selçuk DemirelTen Lessons for Kaspar Snit, sequel novelThing-Thing, illus. Nicolas DebonJacob Two-Two on the High Seas, illus. Dušan PetričićBook of Big Brothers, illus. Luc MelansonThe Big Swim, novel Banjo of Destiny, illus. Selçuk DemirelElla May and the Wishing Stone, illus. Geneviève CôtéMr. Zinger's Hat, illus. Dušan PetričićThe Boy in the Box, novel; Master Melville's Medicine Show, book 1Danny, Who Fell in a Hole, illus. Milan PavlovicOy, Feh, So, illus. Gary ClementI Wish I Could Draw, "words and pictures by Cary Fagan", Little Blue Chair, illus. Madelie KloepperA Cage Went in Search of a Bird, illus. Banafsheh ErfanianWolfie & Fly, illus. Zoe SiMort Ziff is Not Dead What Are You Doing, Benny?, illus. Kady MacDonald DentonThe Collected Works of Gretchen Oyster King Mouse, illus. Dena SeiferlingMr. Tempkin Climbs a Tree, illus. Carles ArbatSon of Happy, illus. Milan PavlovićBear Wants to Sing, illus. Dena SeiferlingWater, Water Boney

Short stories

History Lessons The Little Black Dress: tales from France The Doctor's House and other Fiction My Life Among the Apes The Old World and Other Stories
  • ''Great Adventures for the Faint of Heart''

Non-fiction

  • ''City Hall and Mrs. God: A Passionate Journey Through a Changing Toronto''

As editor

Streets of Attitude: Toronto stories, A Walk by the Seine: Canadian poets on Paris,