GRAY, Andrew 1968-

(Andrew Neil Gray)

PERSONAL: Born 1968, in Scotland; immigrated to Canada. Education: University of British Columbia, M.F.A., 1996.

ADDRESSES: Home—Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Office—Booming Ground, Creative Writing Program, Buch E-462, 1866 Main Mall, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia V6T 1Z1, Canada.

CAREER: Educator and author. University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, instructor in creative writing, director of Booming Ground, and coordinator of low-residency M.F.A. program.

WRITINGS:

Small Accidents (short stories), Raincoast Books (Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada), 2001.

Also contributor to literary magazines, including Prairie Fire, Event, Grain, Fiddlehead, and Chatelaine.

SIDELIGHTS: Canadian writer Andrew Gray works as both an instructor and administrator with the University of British Columbia's creative writing program. He has been instrumental in coordinating the university's nontraditional writing programs, including a low-residency M.F.A. program and Booming Ground, a non-credit writer's community. Gray is also a fiction and poetry writer whose work has appeared in many literary journals. He was nominated for Canada's National Magazine Award for fiction in 2000 and was a finalist for the 2000 Journey Prize.

In 2001 Gray published his first book, Small Accidents. A collection of twelve short stories, it includes "Outside," the story of a married couple torn apart by a car accident; "Feeding the Animals," which concerns a drug user whose young daughter accidentally takes her father's animal tranquilizers; and "Heart of the Land," the tale of a lonely surgeon who falls in love with a comatose patient.

Many critics lauded Gray's work in Small Accidents. He "displays deft and striking narrative control," wrote Lawrence Hill in the Toronto Globe & Mail. Other critics thought the book foreshadows more strong work to come from the author. "There are more than enough worthwhile stories in the mix to make this a successful debut," observed one Publishers Weekly contributor.

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Globe & Mail (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), November 24, 2001, Lawrence Hill, review of Small Accidents, p. 1.

New York Times Book Review, August 25, 2002, Taylor Antrim, review of Small Accidents, p. 20.

Publishers Weekly, February 18, 2002, review of Small Accidents, p. 76.

ONLINE

Raincoast Books Web site, http://www.raincoast.com/ (June 7, 2005), background information about Andrew Gray.

University of British Columbia Web site, http://www.ubc.ca/ (June 7, 2005), "Andrew Gray."