Kathleen Winter finds acclaim with her first novel

Related Galleries

2010 Scotiabank Giller Award Gala

View images from this year's Scotiabank Giller Award gala.

Related Articles

Publisher to ship Johanna Skibsrud's award-winning novel this week

The novel has been in high demand since Skibsrud won the $50,000 award.

Montreal's Johanna Skibsrud wins $50,000 Giller, but book is tough to find

Thirty-year-old Montreal author Johanna Skibsrud became the youngest recipient to ever win the prize.

Johanna Skibsrud wins $50,000 Scotiabank Giller Prize

Montrealer Johanna Skibsrud Prize won for her debut novel "The Sentimentalists."

Advertisement

by: Tyrone Warner
Date: 11/3/2010 1:11:00 PM ET

Previously lauded for her short story collection, “boYs,” Kathleen Winter’s first published novel continues her streak of success.

After writing “six or seven” unpublished novels, Winter says she took a different approach with her Giller-nominated work, “Annabel,” and looked to work on her structure and form.

“I think there’s a really good reason why they didn’t get published… I don’t think I really understood the structure of story, I was learning it as I went along,” says Winter.  “With this, and with my last book, I had two great editors that taught me about structure.”

The writer tells CTV.ca that she began the process by writing a 30 page story first, then systematically turned each page into 10 pages for the first draft of the book.

The result, “Annabel,” is a lush and gripping emotional tale about a young intersex boy in rural Labrador, growing up in a traditional world and understanding his unique place.

A native of Newfoundland, Winter says it felt very natural to place her story in its wilderness.

“I never intended to set a piece of fiction there, but the place really insisted I pay attention to it,” says Winter, who visited the area many times over the course of her life.

“It’s so powerful in your body when you go there, and the feelings I describe in the book are feelings that I had in that land.”

While doing research about intersex children, Winter had discovered that many cases originated out of small rural villages, and the question of how those people live and adapt compelled her imagination.

Since writing her book about such a difficult and misunderstood area of sexuality, Winter is relieved to hear that people who identify as intersex are enjoying the book and testify to it’s emotional truth.

However, Winter says she decided to not concern herself too much with medical detail from her book, looking to instead rely on her ability as a writer to create the story -- and due to the response, is glad she did.

“Some things I knew were really far-fetched, and I was expecting to hear that. But I think the thing is, emotionally, it’s resonating true with people,” says Winter.

“Their main response is one of relief and being emotionally moved. That has pleased me to no end, I’m so happy they feel that way.

Before being a published author, Winter was best known for her weekly column for the St. John’s Telegram, and her work on CBC documentaries.

Winter now lives in Montreal with her husband and two daughters. Her brother Michael is also a celebrated author who lives in Toronto.