Harvey, Kenneth J. 1962–

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Harvey, Kenneth J. 1962–

PERSONAL: Born 1962.

ADDRESSES: Home—Burnt Head, Newfoundland, Canada. Agent—c/o Publicity Department, St. Martin's Press, 175 5th Ave., New York, NY 10010. E-mail—[email protected]; sculpin@KennethJ Harvey.com.

CAREER: Poet, short story writer, essayist, and novelist. Founder of ReLit Awards, 2000; University of New Brunswick, New Brunswick, Canada, former writer-in-residence; Memorial University, Newfoundland, Canada, former writer-in-residence; has also worked as an assistant film editor, graphic designer, magazine editor, short-order cook, trade show promoter, and amusement park manager.

MEMBER: PEN, Writers' Union of Canada.

AWARDS, HONORS: Newfoundland Arts & Letters Award, several awards for poetry, short fiction, drama, and photography.

WRITINGS:

No Lies: And Other Stories, Robinson-Blackmore (St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada), 1985.

Directions for an Opened Body (stories), Mercury Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1990.

Brud: A Parable, Little, Brown (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1992.

The Hole That Must Be Filled (stories), Little, Brown (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1994.

Stalkers, Stoddart (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1994.

Kill the Poets: Anti-verse, Exile Editions (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1995.

The Great Misogynist, Exile Editions (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1996.

Heart to Heart, Plowman (Whitby, Ontario, Canada), 1996.

Nine-tenths Unseen: A Psychological Mystery, Somerville House Publishing (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1996.

Lift Up Your Eyes (poems), Plowman (Whitby, Ontario, Canada), 1997.

We Must Let Him Know, Plowman (Whitby, Ontario, Canada), 1997.

The Flesh So Close: Stories, Mercury Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1998.

The Woman in the Closet (mystery novel), Mercury Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1998.

As Time Winds Down, Plowman (Whitby, Ontario, Canada), 1998.

Everyone Hates a Beauty Queen: Provocative Opinions and Irrelevant Humor, Exile Editions (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1998.

Skin Hound (There Are No Words): A Transcomposite Novel, Mercury Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 2000.

Sense the Need, Plowman (Whitby, Ontario, Canada), 2000.

(With Eve Mills Nash) Little White Squaw: A White Woman's Story of Abuse, Addiction, and Reconciliation, Beach Holme (Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada), 2002.

Artists United, Plowman (Whitby, Ontario, Canada), 2003.

The Town That Forgot How to Breathe (novel), Rain-coast Books (Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada), 2003, St. Martin's Press (New York, NY), 2005.

Heaven Only, Plowman (Whitby, Ontario, Canada), 2004.

Shack: The Cutland Junction Stories, Mercury Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 2004.

The Path of Life, Plowman (Whitby, Ontario, Canada), 2005.

Inside, Random House Canada (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 2006.

Contributor to periodicals, including Globe & Mail, National Post, Ottawa Citizen, Vancouver Province, Halifax Daily News, Toronto Star, and the Newfoundland Sunday Independent.

SIDELIGHTS: Kenneth J. Harvey is a Newfoundland-based writer who has published poetry, short stories, essays, editorials, and novels. In 2000 he also founded the ReLit Awards, which take place annually in British Columbia and Newfoundland, Canada. Short for Regarding Literature, Reinventing Literature, Relighting Literature, etc., the ReLit Awards recognize new writing published by independent Canadian presses.

Harvey's novel The Town That Forgot How to Breathe marked his debut in the United States. Set in a depressed fishing village in Newfoundland, the story has elements of romance, horror, mystery, and regionalism. Many of the town's inhabitants are suffering from a strange respiratory illness, long-lost bodies are washing up from the sea with no signs of decomposition, and mythical sea creatures are brought in by the fishermen's nets. With the number of characters and sub-storylines, a reviewer for Kirkus Reviews felt this was a "messy disaster novel" with a "lack of focus." A contributor to Publishers Weekly however, commended Harvey's "literary flair," while a reviewer for the Detroit Free Press noted that the "characters and their world … are meticulously created." Ann H. Fisher wrote in Library Journal that The Town That Forgot How to Breathe is "mystical, complicated, and always compelling."