W.P. Kinsella, 1935-2016
W.P. Kinsella was born in Edmonton and spent his early childhood in Darnell, Alberta on an isolated farmstead. Homeschooled by his mother Mary, he did not attend public school until grade 5 after the family had returned to Edmonton. Later he commented that his formal education had not included much exposure to literature but in spite of this he won a YMCA creative writing contest at 14. In his youth, he read extensively, attended as many theatrical performances as he could, and worked in the local library.
His best known work, Shoeless Joe, is a magic realist novel about the power of family connections with baseball history and literary references coexisting brilliantly.
In 1997 while out walking, Kinsella was hit by a car and the resulting head injury changed his life extensively. In a 1999 interview with The Carillon, the University of Regina student newspaper, Kinsella reported that he had a lost his sense of smell and taste along with his creative drive and ability to concentrate. Instead of writing, he now spent his days watching Law and Order and playing Internet Scrabble.
He did eventually begin writing again and the novel Butterfly Winter was published in 2011. His final book, Russian Dolls, will be released in 2017.
His agent Carolyn Swayze describes him as "a dedicated storyteller, performer, curmudgeon and irascible and difficult man".
W.P. Kinsella ended his life with medical assistance on Friday, September 16, 2016 at his home in Hope, British Columbia.
Among Kinsella's work:
Novels:
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The Iowa Baseball Confederacy
• Talking Book: DAISY format (restricted to Print Disabled patrons)
Shoeless Joe
• Audiobook
• eAudiobook
• eBook
• Talking Book: CD format (restricted to Print Disabled patrons)
Short Story Collections:
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Dance Me Outside
• Talking Book: DAISY format (restricted to Print Disabled patrons)
The Miss Hobbema Pagent
• Talking Book: DAISY format (restricted to Print Disabled patrons)
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