Accomplished children’s author and SAMC alum Jonathan Auxier (’03) has just been announced as a finalist for the Governor General’s Literary Awards. Jon’s book, The Night Gardener, is nominated in the English-language children’s literature category.
At TWU, Jon was a double-major in English Honours and Theatre, with a minor in Art + Design. After graduating, he was accepted into the prestigious MFA program in Dramatic Writing at Carnegie Mellon University. His first novel, Peter Nimble and his Fantastic Eyes, was an ABA New Voices pick and Bookpage Magazine "Best Book" of 2011. He teaches children’s literature and creative writing at Chatham University in Pittsburgh. For some nostalgia, check out these pre-digital-age photos of Jon in The Dining Room on the TWU stage.
Jon approaches writing and illustration with limitless energy and imagination. Just watch his video from Children’s Book Week…
Read more about the Governor General’s Award nominations in the Globe & Mail. To follow Jon’s work, visit his website at thescop.com where you can, among other things, dress him up as Cyrano de Bergerac.
The lesson here is: study art and theatre at SAMC, and you never know where it will take you!