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{{Short description|Canadian poet and novelist (born 1958)}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Anne Michaels
| image = Anne Michaels - Eden Mills Writers Festival - 2013 (DanH-0169) (cropped).jpg
| alt = Anne Michaels reading at the Eden Mills Writers' Festival in 2013
| caption = Michaels in 2013
| birth_date={{birth date and age|1958|4|15|df=y}}
| birth_place=[[Toronto]], Ontario, Canada
| alma_mater=[[University of Toronto]]
| occupation=novelist, poet
| years_active = 1985–Present
| notable_works = ''[[Fugitive Pieces]]'', ''[[The Winter Vault]]'', ''The Weight of Oranges'', ''Miner's Pond'', ''[[Skin Divers]]'', ''Correspondences''
| awards=
| website={{URL|www.annemichaels.ca}}
}}
'''Anne Michaels''' (born 15 April 1958) is a Canadian poet and novelist whose work has been translated and published in over 45 countries. Her books have garnered dozens of international awards including the [[Orange Prize]], the [[Guardian Fiction Prize]], the [[Lannan Literary Awards#Lannan Literary Award for Fiction|Lannan Award for Fiction]] and the Commonwealth Poetry Prize for the Americas. She is the recipient of honorary degrees, the Guggenheim Fellowship and many other honours. She has been shortlisted for the [[Governor General's Awards|Governor General's Award]], the [[Griffin Poetry Prize]], twice shortlisted for the [[Scotiabank Giller Prize|Giller Prize]] and twice long-listed for the [[International Dublin Literary Award]]. Michaels won a 2019 [[Vine Awards for Canadian Jewish Literature|Vine Award]] for ''Infinite Gradation'', her first volume of non-fiction. Michaels was the [[poet laureate]] of [[Toronto|Toronto, Ontario]], Canada from 2016 to 2019, and she is perhaps best known for her novel ''[[Fugitive Pieces]]'', which was adapted for the screen in 2007. Michaels won the 2024 Giller Prize for her novel ''[[Held (novel)|Held]].''<ref>{{Cite news |title=Anne Michaels wins the $100K Giller Prize for novel Held |url=https://www.cbc.ca/books/anne-michaels-wins-the-100k-giller-prize-for-novel-held-1.7386336}}</ref>

==Early life==
Anne Michaels was born in [[Toronto]], Ontario, in 1958. She attended [[Vaughan Road Academy]] and then later the [[University of Toronto]], where she is an adjunct faculty member in the Department of English.

==Career==
With her first two poetry collections, ''The Weight of Oranges'' and ''Miner's Pond'', Michaels gained attention as a writer who balances technical precision with profound meditation and humanity.<ref>The Kingston Whig-Standard Review of ''Miner's Pond''</ref> The recipient of the [[Commonwealth Poetry Prize]] for the Americas and the Canadian Authors' Association Award, and a finalist for both the Governor General's Award and the Trillium Award, Michaels secured her place among the finest Canadian poets early in her career.<ref>Vancouver Sun Review of ''Miner's Pond''</ref>

Following her early success with poetry, Michaels found herself "bumping up more frequently against its limits. [She] was pushing the form as far as [she] could in longer pieces, trying to make connections on a larger scale. [She] stretched poetry as far as it would go in terms of length." Her debut novel, ''[[Fugitive Pieces]]'' (1996), offered Michaels the opportunity to work more expansively with complicated questions related to history, identity, location, and grief:  "a way of layering things; of having images and gestures that connect between page 100 and page 303. It [gave her] the chance to bring readers in slowly, via as many strands as [she could]."<ref name="SCGuardian2009">{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2009/may/02/interview-anne-michaels|title=Anne Michaels, fugitive author|last=Crown|first=Sarah|date=2009-05-01|newspaper=The Guardian|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077|access-date=2017-01-28}}</ref>

With ''Fugitive Pieces'', Michaels lays the thematic foundation of her future works, exploring the relationship between history and memory, and how we, as a people, remember. She also launches her meditation on "what love makes us capable of, and  incapable of," and the paradoxical understanding that "there is nothing a man will not do to another; nothing a man will not do for another." Confronting the horrors of war, violence, dislocation, and loss through her writing, Michaels "travels with the reader through terrain that is philosophically, morally and emotionally perilous" and refuses to publish unless she can "in some way deliver the reader and [herself] to the other side."{{citation needed|date=July 2025}} She writes: "We don't need repeated proof of violence or horror - a single incident convinces us - but we do need proof, again and again, of the strength, the power, the reach, and the consequences of love."

''Fugitive Pieces,'' the story of a holocaust survivor trying to find his way back into the world, went on to be critically acclaimed internationally, winning the Orange Prize for Fiction, the Guardian Fiction Prize, the Lannan Literary Award for Fiction, the Trillium Book Award, the Books in Canada First Novel Award, the City of Toronto Book Award, the Heritage Toronto Award of Merit, the Martin and Beatrice Fischer Award, the Harold Ribalow Award, the Giuseppe Acerbi Literary Award and the Jewish Quarterly-Wingate Prize.

While working on her second novel, ''[[The Winter Vault]]'', Michaels released ''[[Skin Divers]]'', her third poetry collection and the last of three volumes, beginning with ''The Weight of Oranges'' and ''Miner's Pond.'' All three were intended to speak to one another, and were later published in ''Poems'' (2000)''.'' Notable for her poetic style, both in her poetry and prose, Michaels writes that "[poetry is] such a good discipline for a novelist: it makes you aware that even if you have four or five hundred pages to play with, you mustn't waste a single word."<ref name="SCGuardian2009"/>

During this period, Michaels also began writing for the stage. A collaboration with [[John Berger]] led to the development of ''Vanishing Points'' (2005), a profound meditation on railways, love and loss, directed by Simon McBurney, produced by [[Complicite]] and presented in the historic [[German Gymnasium, London|German Gymnasium]] in King's Cross.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.complicite.org/productions/VanishingPoints|title=Complicite - Vanishing Points|last=Complicite|website=www.complicite.org|access-date=2017-01-30}}</ref> This work was later published as ''Railtracks'' (2011). She also contributed the libretto to Canadian composer Omar Daniel's ''The Passion of Lavinia Andronicus'' (2005), offering a new dimension to the tragic figure at the centre of one of Shakespeare's most harrowing plays in a performance by the Hilliard Ensemble and Tafelmusik Chamber Choir.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.soundmakers.ca/soundstreams-commissions/the-passion-of-lavinia-andronicus-omar-daniel|title=Soundmakers - The Passion of Lavinia Andronicus by Omar Daniel|website=www.soundmakers.ca|access-date=2017-01-30|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170202062545/https://www.soundmakers.ca/soundstreams-commissions/the-passion-of-lavinia-andronicus-omar-daniel|archive-date=2017-02-02|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Michaels would not publish ''The Winter Vault'' until 2009, thirteen years following the release of ''Fugitive Pieces'' which, likewise, took nearly a decade to write. Like ''Fugitive Pieces,'' her second novel considers deeply the "complicated relationship between huge historic events and intimate, domestic events; the relationship between historical grief and personal grief; how we remember privately, and how we remember - and memorialize – publicly, collectively. Each community, each nation, faces this question and answers it in its own way, according to its own needs."

Connecting three historic events - the dismantling and reconstruction of Egypt's Abu Simbel Temple; the building of the St. Lawrence Seaway in Canada and the drowning of towns, villages and graves; and the rebuilding of Warsaw after World War II - the novel considers whether a temple, taken apart stone by stone and rebuilt, is the same temple; a river barraged, the same river; a city reconstructed, the same city; and whether the heart can be repaired and rebuilt after a profound personal loss. ''The Winter Vault'' went on to garner international praise and was a finalist for the Scotiabank Giller Prize, the Trillium Book Award and the Commonwealth Prize, and was also long-listed for the International Dublin Literary Award.

In 2011, Michaels contributed to the [[Bush Theatre]]'s 24-hour performance of ''[[Sixty-Six Books]]'' to mark the 400th anniversary of the [[King James Bible]], providing 66 playwrights, poets, songwriters, and novelists - of all faiths and none, from over a dozen countries and across five continents - the opportunity to respond to some of the oldest stories ever told.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bushtheatre.co.uk/event/sixty-six-books/|title=Sixty-Six Books|website=www.bushtheatre.co.uk|language=en-GB|access-date=2017-01-30}}</ref> Her contribution, "The Crossing," was later anthologized in ''Sixty-Six Books: 21st Century Writers Speak to the King James Bible'' (2011)''.'' An extract from "The Crossing" was also performed at [[Westminster Abbey]]'s King James Bible Service for Her Majesty [[Elizabeth II|The Queen]], His Royal Highness [[Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh|The Duke of Edinburgh]] and His Royal Highness [[Charles, Prince of Wales|The Prince of Wales.]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.westminster-abbey.org/press/news/2011/november/hm-the-queen-attends-king-james-bible-service|title=Westminster Abbey Official Press Release}}</ref>

Michaels returned to poetry with the release of her book-length poem, ''Correspondences'' (2013), an historic and personal elegy in an accordion-style format that can be read frontwards or backwards. A collaboration with artist Bernice Eisenstein, ''Correspondences'' alternates poetry with haunting portraits of the 20th century writers and thinkers to whom Michaels' pays tribute. The work went on to receive the Helen and Stan Vine Book Award and was shortlisted for the Griffin Poetry Prize.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.griffinpoetryprize.com/awards-and-poets/shortlists/2014-shortlist/anne-michaels/|title=Griffin Poetry Prize {{!}} Anne Michaels|website=Griffin Poetry Prize|language=en-US|access-date=2017-01-30}}</ref>

In October 2015, Michaels began her tenure as the [[poet laureate]] of Toronto, succeeding [[George Elliott Clarke]].<ref>[https://www.thestar.com/news/city_hall/2015/10/14/anne-michaels-is-torontos-new-poet-laureate.html "Anne Michaels is Toronto's new poet laureate"]. ''[[Toronto Star]]'', October 14, 2015.</ref> Her personal mandate is to provide a platform for Toronto's many tongues: "How do we make a space for all these literatures that have come to us in such tremendous largesse, such tremendous richness? We need Torontonians to bring their cultures, bring their poets to us, so we have access to that huge international library."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.thestar.com/news/city_hall/2015/10/14/anne-michaels-is-torontos-new-poet-laureate.html|title=New poet laureate Anne Michaels will focus on Toronto's many tongues {{!}} Toronto Star|first=David |last=Rider|website=thestar.com|date=14 October 2015 |access-date=2017-01-30}}</ref> 2015 also saw the release of Michaels' first children's book, ''The Adventures of Miss Petitfour'', with its follow-up, ''The Further Adventures of Miss Petitfour'', being released in 2022.

In 2017, a new collection of poetry, ''All We Saw,'' and a new work of non-fiction, ''Infinite Gradation'' (with afterword by poet Gareth Evans) were published. Both books were shortlisted for the 2019 [[Vine Awards for Canadian Jewish Literature]] in the Poetry and Non-Fiction categories respectively.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.thestar.com/entertainment/books/2019/09/27/toronto-poet-anne-michaels-nominated-for-two-2019-vine-awards.html |title=Toronto poet Anne Michaels nominated for two 2019 Vine Awards |newspaper=[[Toronto Star]] |date=September 27, 2019}}</ref> ''Infinite Gradation'' won the Non-Fiction prize.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.cbc.ca/books/anne-michaels-among-winners-for-10k-vine-awards-for-jewish-canadian-literature-1.5332334 |title=Anne Michaels among winners for $10K Vine Awards for Jewish Canadian literature |author=Balser, Erin |website=[[CBC Books]] |date=October 23, 2019}}</ref>

Michaels published her third novel, ''[[Held (Michaels novel)|Held]]'', in November 2023. It was shortlisted for the 2024 [[Booker Prize]],<ref>{{Cite news |last=Creamer |first=Ella |date=2024-07-30 |title=Three British novelists make Booker 2024 longlist among 'cohort of global voices' |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/article/2024/jul/30/three-british-novelists-make-booker-2024-longlist-among-cohort-of-global-voices |access-date=2024-07-30 |newspaper=The Guardian}}</ref> and won the 2024 [[Giller Prize]].<ref>Brad Wheeler, [https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books/article-anne-michaels-wins-the-2024-giller-prize-for-her-generations-spanning/ "Anne Michaels wins the 2024 Giller Prize for her generations-spanning novel Held"]. ''[[The Globe and Mail]]'', November 18, 2024.</ref>

In 2023, she was elected as a [[Royal Society of Literature]] International Writer<ref>{{cite web|url=https://rsliterature.org/rsl-international-writers/|title=RSL International Writers {{!}} 2023 International Writers|date=3 September 2023 |publisher=Royal Society of Literature|access-date=3 December 2023}}</ref>

== Publications ==
{{Library resources box|by=yes|lcheading= Michaels, Anne, 1958-}}

===Poetry collections===
{| class="wikitable"
!Year
!Title
!Awards
!Result
|-
|1986
|''The Weight of Oranges''
|Commonwealth Poetry Prize for the Americas
|Winner
|-
| rowspan="3" |1991
| rowspan="3" |''Miner's Pond''
|Canadian Authors' Association Award
|Winner
|-
|Governor General's Award
|Finalist
|-
|Trillium Award
|Finalist
|-
|1999
|''Skin Divers''
|
|
|-
|2000
|''Poems''
|
|
|-
|2011
|''Railtracks''
|
|
|-
| rowspan="2" |2013
| rowspan="2" |''Correspondences''
|Helen and Stan Vine Book Award
|Winner
|-
|Griffin Poetry Prize
|Shortlist
|-
|2017
|''All We Saw''
|
|
|}

===Novels===
{| class="wikitable"
!Year
!Title
!Awards
!Result
|-
| rowspan="15" |1996
| rowspan="15" |''[[Fugitive Pieces]]''
|Orange Prize for Fiction
|Winner
|-
|Guardian Fiction Prize
|Winner
|-
|Lannan Literary Award for Fiction
|Winner
|-
|15th Anniversary Orange Prize Youth Panel Award
|Winner
|-
|Trillium Book Award
|Winner
|-
|Books in Canada First Novel Award
|Winner
|-
|City of Toronto Book Award
|Winner
|-
|Heritage Toronto Award of Merit
|Winner
|-
|Martin and Beatrice Fischer Award
|Winner
|-
|Harold Ribalow Award
|Winner
|-
|Giuseppe Acerbi Literary Award
|Winner
|-
|Jewish Quarterly-Wingate Prize
|Winner
|-
|Scotiabank Giller Prize
|Shortlist
|-
|International Dublin Literary Award
|Longlist
|-
|Canadian Booksellers Association Author of the Year Award
|Finalist
|-
| rowspan="4" |2009
| rowspan="4" |''[[The Winter Vault]]''
|Scotiabank Giller Prize
|Shortlist
|-
|Trillium Book Award
|Finalist
|-
|Commonwealth Writers' Prize
|Finalist
|-
|International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award
|Longlist
|-
| rowspan="3" |2023
| rowspan="3" |''[[Held (novel)|Held]]''
|Booker Prize
|Shortlist
|-
|Giller Prize
|Winner
|-
|''Prix Transfuge du meilleur roman anglo-saxon''
|Winner
|}

===Other selected works===
* ''The Passion of Lavinia Andronicus'' (2005)
* ''Vanishing Points'' (2005)
* ''Sixty-Six Books'' (2011)
* ''Sea of Lanterns'' (2012)
* ''The Adventures of Miss Petitfour'' (2015)
* ''Infinite Gradation'' (2017)
* ''The Further Adventures of Miss Petitfour (2022)''

== Adaptations ==
''[[Fugitive Pieces (film)|Fugitive Pieces]]'' was directed and adapted for the screen by [[Jeremy Podeswa]], scored by Nikos Kypourgos, and selected to open the 2007 [[Toronto International Film Festival]]. Michaels' debut novel was also adapted into a radio drama for [[BBC Radio 3]].<ref>{{Citation|title=Fugitive Pieces Pt. 1|url=https://soundcloud.com/artandadventure/fugitive-pieces-pt-1|language=en|access-date=2017-01-30}}</ref>

''Skin Divers'' was adapted in 2009 for the ''[[National Ballet of Canada]]'' by Dominique Dumais with music by [[Gavin Bryars]]''.'' Incorporating spoken word and visual projections, ''Skin Divers'' explores "the body as a living archive of experience, or a museum of memory."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://national.ballet.ca/Tickets/Archives/Ballet-Notes/skin-divers-ballet-notes-(2009).aspx|title=National Ballet of Canada - Skin Divers Programme}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

{{Portal|Poetry|Novels}}

==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20090715065328/http://www.library.utoronto.ca/canpoetry/michaels/bio.htm Profile at the University of Toronto]
* [http://www.canadianauthors.net/m/michaels_anne/ Canadian Authors website]

{{Amazon.ca First Novel Award}}
{{Giller Prize}}
{{Guardian Fiction Prize}}
{{Poets Laureate of Toronto, Ontario|state=autocollapse}}
{{Women's Prize for Fiction}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Michaels, Anne}}
[[Category:1958 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Canadian women poets]]
[[Category:University of Toronto alumni]]
[[Category:Academic staff of the University of Toronto]]
[[Category:Jewish Canadian writers]]
[[Category:Poets laureate of Toronto]]
[[Category:20th-century Canadian novelists]]
[[Category:20th-century Canadian poets]]
[[Category:21st-century Canadian novelists]]
[[Category:20th-century Canadian women novelists]]
[[Category:21st-century Canadian women novelists]]
[[Category:Amazon.ca First Novel Award winners]]
[[Category:Vaughan Road Academy alumni]]
[[Category:21st-century Canadian poets]]
[[Category:Novelists from Toronto]]
[[Category:Women's Prize for Fiction winners]]