André Alexis facts for kids

André Alexis is a Canadian writer. He was born in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. He grew up in Ottawa, Canada, and now lives in Toronto, Ontario. André Alexis has won many important awards for his books. These include the Giller Prize and the Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize.

Alexis is well-known for his series of five novels called the Quincunx Cycle. These books are mostly set in Southern Ontario. His second book in this series, Fifteen Dogs, won the 2015 Giller Prize. This award helped many more people discover his work.

Exploring André Alexis's Writing Journey

André Alexis started his creative journey in the theatre. He even worked as a playwright for the Canadian Stage Company. A playwright is someone who writes plays for the stage. His short play, Lambton, Kent, and Other Vistas, was first performed in 1995. It was later published as Lambton, Kent.

Early Books and Awards

Alexis's first collection of short stories was Despair and Other Stories of Ottawa (1994). This book was considered for the Commonwealth Prize. His first novel, Childhood, came out in 1998. It won the Books in Canada First Novel Award. It also shared the Trillium Award with another famous writer, Alice Munro. Childhood was also a finalist for the 1998 Giller Prize.

In 2005, Alexis wrote his first book for young readers, Ingrid and the Wolf. This book was nominated for the Governor General's Award for English-language children's literature. This is a big award for children's books in Canada.

His novel Asylum was published in 2008. It takes place in Ottawa during the time of Prime Minister Brian Mulroney's government.

Creative Works and Collaborations

In 2010, Alexis published Beauty and Sadness. This book was a mix of different writing styles. It explored ideas about geography and famous writers. Alexis also wrote a play for Toronto's Tarragon Theatre in 2011. It was called Name in Vain. This play was part of a planned series of ten works. Each work would explore one of the Ten Commandments in a different way.

In 2013, Alexis published a novella called A. A novella is a story that is shorter than a novel but longer than a short story. This book was about a literary critic who was very interested in an unknown poet.

Alexis has also worked with Canadian composer James Rolfe. Alexis wrote the words for some of Rolfe's musical pieces. These included Orpheus and Eurydice (2004) and Aeneas and Dido (2007). In 2014, they worked together again on a series of six poems called Moths. These poems described a journey from darkness to light.

The Quincunx Cycle: A Special Book Series

In 2014, André Alexis started publishing his special series of five books called the Quincunx Cycle. The first book in this series was Pastoral. Alexis had planned this series for a long time. He was inspired by an old book from 1658 called The Garden of Cyrus. This book talked about a special planting pattern called a Quincunx. This pattern looks like five dots, with four at the corners and one in the middle.

Award-Winning Books in the Cycle

Fifteen Dogs was the second book in Alexis's Quincunx Cycle. It was published in 2015. This book won the 2015 Scotiabank Giller Prize and the Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize. It was also chosen as the winner of the Canada Reads competition in 2017.

The third book in the series, The Hidden Keys, came out in 2016. It was actually labeled "Quincunx 4."

In 2017, Alexis received the important Windham-Campbell Prize. This award recognized all of his writing up to that point. The judges praised his clear and smooth writing style. They said his writing helps readers think about deep questions.

The next book in his cycle was Days by Moonlight (Quincunx 5), published in 2019. This book won Alexis his second Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize.

Completing and Revising the Cycle

While working on the Quincunx Cycle, Alexis also wrote Metamorphosis: a Viral Trilogy. This was a three-part audio story inspired by the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada. In 2020, a collection of his short stories called The Night Piece was published.

Alexis published the fifth and final book in the series, Ring (Quincunx 3), in 2021.

In 2022, Alexis released Winter, or A Town Near Palgrave. This book is about a mysterious group of people in a small town who have strange sleeping habits. Later that year, Alexis shared that he plans to rewrite and release the entire Quincunx Cycle as one big book. He wants to make sure all the details are perfect. He sees the cycle as a "garden" of patterns, not just a single story.

André Alexis's Current Work

André Alexis continues to live and work in Toronto. He has hosted shows for CBC Radio. He also reviews books for The Globe and Mail newspaper. He is a contributing editor for This Magazine. He teaches writing at the University of Toronto. He has also been a writer-in-residence at other universities.

Books and Awards by André Alexis

• Despair and Other Stories of Ottawa (1994)
  • Also published as The Night Piece (1999)
• Childhood (1998)
  • Won the Books in Canada First Novel Award
  • Co-winner of the Trillium Award
  • Finalist for the Giller Prize
• Lambton Kent (1999, a play)
• Ingrid and the Wolf (2005, children's novel)
  • Nominated for the Governor General's Award for English-language children's literature
• Asylum (2008)
• Beauty and Sadness (2010)
• A (2013)
• Pastoral (Quincunx 1, 2014)
• Fifteen Dogs (Quincunx 2, 2015)
  • Won the Scotiabank Giller Prize
  • Won the Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize
  • Won the Canada Reads Competition (2017)
• The Hidden Keys (Quincunx 4, 2016)
• Windham-Campbell Prize (2017, for all his work)
• Days by Moonlight (Quincunx 5, 2019)
  • Won the Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize
• The Night Piece: Collected Short Fiction (2020)
• Ring (Quincunx 3, 2021)
• Winter, or A Town Near Palgrave (2022)
• ‘’Other Worlds’’ (2025)

See also

In Spanish: André Alexis para niños