Gibb, Camilla

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Gibb, Camilla

PERSONAL:

Born in London, England. Education: University of Toronto, B.A.; Oxford University, Ph.D., 1997.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Agent—Anne McDermid & Associates, Ltd., 83 Willcocks St., Toronto, Ontario M5S 1C9, Canada. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER:

Author. University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, former research fellow, Jack McClelland writer-in-residence, 2006; University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, writer-in-residence.

MEMBER:

PEN Canada (vice president).

AWARDS, HONORS:

Winner, Hart House Literary Contest, 1999; Best Book of the Year citation, Globe and Mail and Now magazine, 1999, City of Toronto Book Award, 2000, all for Mouthing the Words; Orange Futures List, Orange Prize, 2001, cited as one of twenty-one authors to watch; CBC Canadian Literary Award, 2001, for short fiction; Best Book of the Year citations, Globe and Mail, 2002, for The Petty Details of So-and-So's Life, and 2005, for Sweetness in the Belly; Trillium Book Award, 2006.

WRITINGS:

NOVELS

Mouthing the Words, Pedlar Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1999, Carroll & Graf (New York, NY), 2001.

The Petty Details of So-and-So's Life, Doubleday (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 2002.

Sweetness in the Belly, Doubleday (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 2005, Penguin (New York, NY), 2006.

Books have been translated into fourteen languages; contributor to anthologies, including Carnal Nation, edited by Carellin Brooks and Brett Josef Grubisic, Arsenal Pulp Press (Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada), 2000; The IV Lounge Reader, edited by Paul Vermeersch, Insomniac Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 2001; Feminist (Re)visions of the Subject: Landscapes, Ethnoscapes, and Theoryscapes, edited by Gail Currie and Celia Rothenberg, Lexington Books (Lanham, MD), 2002; Word Carving: The Craft of Literary Journalism, edited by Moira Farr and Ian Pearson, Banff Centre Press (Banff, Alberta, Canada), 2003; and Geeks, Misfits and Outlaws, edited by Zoe Whitall, McGilligan Books (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 2003.

Contributor of short stories to periodicals, including Descant, Canadian Forum, Geist, Harvard Review, Taddle Creek, Ottawa Citizen, Hart House Review, Fireweed, and the UC Review; also contributor of essays, articles, and reviews to periodicals, including National Post, Event, Quill & Quire, Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion, Social Analysis, Horn of Africa Review, Jounal of African History, and the International Journal of Middle Eastern Studies.

SIDELIGHTS:

In 2001 Camilla Gibb was selected by the jury of the prestigious Orange Prize for the Orange Futures List as an author to watch in the twenty-first century. Her first novel, Mouthing the Words, tells the story of Thelma Barley, who was born in England to an emotionally unavailable mother and a sexually abusive father. Thelma invents imaginary friends to help herself cope, but after Thelma's family immigrates to Canada, her situation worsens. As she enters adulthood, Thelma suffers from anorexia, self-mutilation, and mental breakdowns. She eventually graduates from law school and wins a scholarship to Oxford University, but, overwhelmed by her studies, Thelma attempts suicide. However, Thelma's hard work comes to fruition when she is hired by a feminist law firm. Many reviewers praised Mouthing the Words. Claire Dederer, writing in the New York Times Book Review, remarked: "Gibb performs the neat trick of making her character's delusions reveal a kind of admirable sanity. Thelma is smart enough to adapt perfectly to the madness of her home." A Quill & Quire contributor agreed, stating, "Gibb evokes an emotionally clenched, eccentric provenance for her characters, one in which frustration and rage incubate a family narrative of savage cruelty." Additionally, a Publishers Weekly critic maintained that Mouthing the Words is a "stunningly assured debut novel."

Gibb followed Mouthing the Words with The Petty Details of So-and-So's Life. In the novel, Blue and Emma Taylor are brother and sister who must endure their dysfunctional childhoods together. Their mother is an alcoholic, and their father, formerly a successful architect, becomes a paranoid, unstable "inventor" after suffering from a mental breakdown. After their father abandons the family, Emma copes by immersing herself in archaeological studies, while Blue builds his physical strength. Blue realizes that the only way to distance himself from the past is to come face to face with his father, so he begins a long, arduous search for him. The Petty Details of So-and-So's Life elicited positive reviews. Eye Weekly Online critic Cristina Campbell felt that the "novel's strength comes from [Gibb's] psychological observations, especially her exploration of the sibling bond, which takes us into thoughtful, less-traveled terrain." A Toronto Globe and Mail reviewer felt similarly, noting, "The Petty Details of So-and-So's Life is an astonishing novel, replete with the amazing possibilities of survival, reunion and letting go." The reviewer further commented: "Most intelligently, this novel is about the mixed blessing, or mixed curse, of family."

In 2005 Gibb published her third novel, Sweetness in the Belly. In the story, protagonist Lilly is born to a pair of British-hippy travellers. As a result, Lilly is raised in various parts of the world. Lilly's parents leave her in Morocco, and plan to return, but they are murdered. Now an orphan, Lilly is taken in by a Muslim disciple, who teaches her Islam. Later, Lilly travels to the city of Harar in Ethiopia where she becomes a nurse, teaches the Qur'an to young children, and falls in love with a young medical student named Aziz. However, political turmoil in Ethiopia forces Lilly to flee to London, England, where she works at a refugee support group, reuniting Ethiopian refugees with their families and waiting to hear word of Aziz, who stayed behind.

Reviewers applauded Sweetness in the Belly. Deborah Donovan, reviewing the novel in Booklist, called it a "gripping and provocative addition to the post-9/11 genre of fiction exploring the many facets of Islam," while Library Journal contributor Robin Nesbitt felt that the novel "intertwines time, cultures, politics, race, and family, giving readers an inside look at life as a foreigner." Likewise, a Kirkus Reviews critic pointed out that "Gibb's territory is urgently modern and controversial but she enters it softly, with grace, integrity and a lovely, compassionate story." Karen Solie, writing in the Globe and Mail, concluded that "Sweetness in the Belly is vivid and rich with interesting detail, politically relevant and eminently readable."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, February 15, 2006, Deborah Donovan, review of Sweetness in the Belly, p. 44.

Globe and Mail (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), August 24, 2002, review of The Petty Details of So-and-So's Life, p. 1; April 2, 2005, Karen Solie, "Ethiopian Odyssey," review of Sweetness in the Belly, p. D4.

Kirkus Reviews, December 15, 2005, review of Sweetness in the Belly, p. 1290.

Library Journal, January 1, 2006, Robin Nesbitt, review of Sweetness in the Belly, p. 95.

New York Times Book Review, May 6, 2001, Claire Dederer, "Goofy but Not Nice: The Heroine of This Novel, Abused Whenever Possible, Would be Crazy Not to Be Crazy," review of Mouthing the Words, p. 20.

Philadelphia Inquirer, May 23, 2006, Sandy Bauers, "Exotic, Strange Tale of a Perpetual Outsider Is Read Well," review of Sweetness in the Belly.

Publishers Weekly, April 2, 2001, review of Mouthing the Words, p. 40; January 9, 2006, review of Sweetness in the Belly, p. 33.

Quill & Quire, December, 1999, review of Mouthing the Words, p. 33.