Geoffrey Ursell

Geoffrey Ursell
Geoffrey Ursell
Born	March 14, 1943; Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan
Died	February 21, 2021 (aged 77); Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
Occupation	playwright, novelist, poet
Nationality	Canadian
Years active	1970s-2021
Notable works	Perdue, or How the West Was Lost, Saskatoon Pie
Spouse	Barbara Sapergia

Geoffrey Ursell (March 14, 1943 – February 21, 2021)^[1] was a Canadian writer, who won the Books in Canada First Novel Award in 1985 for his novel Perdue, or How the West Was Lost.^[2]

Career

Predominantly known as a playwright, Ursell's stage and musical plays included The Running of the Deer (1981), Saskatoon Pie (1982),^[3] The Willowbunch Giant (1983), The Secret Life of Railroaders (1986),^[4] The Rum Runners of Rainbow Ravine (1990), The Park (1994), Deer Bring the Sun (1998),^[5] Gold on Ice (2003),^[6] Winning the Prairie Gamble (2005),^[7] The Walnut Tree (2010)^[8] and Dead Midnight (2011).^[9] He also adapted The Rum Runners of Rainbow Ravine as a CBC Radio drama, and wrote the teleplay Distant Battles for CBC Television.^[1]

With his wife Barbara Sapergia and colleagues Bob Currie and Gary Hyland, Ursell was a cofounder of Coteau Books in the 1970s.^[1] In 1987, Ursell and Sapergia pitched a series to CBC Television called Midnight in Moose Jaw, a sitcom-variety hybrid set in a Prohibition-era speakeasy which would have centred around live performances by real comedians and musicians,^[10] with Jenny Jones and Colin James as the guest performers in the pilot.^[10] The series was not picked up by the CBC.

His other published books included the poetry collections Trap Lines (1982), The Look-Out Tower (1989) and Jumbo Gumbo: Songs, Poems, and Stories for Children (1990),^[1] and the short story collection Way Out West (1990).^[11]

He served as president of the Saskatchewan Writers' Guild and the Saskatchewan Playwrights' Centre, was writer-in-residence for the Saskatoon Public Library^[12] and the Winnipeg Public Library, was an editor of the literary magazine Grain,^[13] and taught literature and creative writing at the University of Regina.^[1]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e "Ursell, Geoffrey (1943–)". Encyclopedia of Saskatchewan.
^ "Writer from Regina wins book award". The Globe and Mail, March 29, 1985.
^ "Ursell's 'Pie' cooling on windowsill". Saskatoon Star-Phoenix, July 9, 1999.
^ "Three win playwriting competition". Ottawa Citizen, May 13, 1986.
^ "Baby plays nurtured at festival". Saskatoon Star-Phoenix, May 15, 1998.
^ "Curtain rises on dream season: There's something for everyone in this year's theatre lineup". Saskatoon Star-Phoenix, September 13, 2002.
^ "WDM launches play". Saskatoon Star-Phoenix, July 6, 2005.
^ "Persephone plays in a bigger sandbox; Theatre announces 2009-10 season lineup". Saskatoon Star-Phoenix, April 7, 2009.
^ "Dead Midnight thrills and chills". Saskatoon Star-Phoenix, September 15, 2011.
^ ^a ^b "Moose Jaw TV series pondered by CBC". Vancouver Sun, July 17, 1987.
^ "Stories bare male violence". Ottawa Citizen, April 7, 1990.
^ "Writers' reunion planned for public library". Saskatoon Star-Phoenix, May 4, 1996.
^ "Local writers in Grain bumper crop". Edmonton Journal, May 3, 1992.