Bernice Friesen was born in Rosthern, Sask. and grew up on her grandparents’ homestead. The life of her grandmother’s family has been published in The Mulberry Tree by Victor Carl Friesen and Anna Friesen.
She trained as a printmaker at the University of Saskatchewan, ending up with a B.F.A. in visual art and a B.Ed. by 1990. She took creative writing courses with Elizabeth Brewster, Guy Vanderhaegue and Tim Lilburn, and attended the Banff Writing Studio. She has been an art studio lab assistant, art gallery educator, and has taught Sage Hill Writing Experience for teens, and Fiction Freefall through the Saskatoon Writers Coop.
Her writing and art has been published in Canada and Europe, and has twice been short-listed for the CBC Radio Literary Awards. Her writing has been included in two League of Canadian Poets winners anthologies, and Best Short Stories, 2002 (Oberon).
The title story of her first book, The Seasons are Horses (Thistledown, 1995), won the Vicky Metcalf Award for Best Young Adult Short Story in Canada. Her book of poetry Sex, Death and Naked Men, (Coteau) came out in 1998.
Friesen’s first novel, The Book of Beasts was published by Coteau in 2007. It won the Saskatchewan Book Award for Fiction and numbered among the Globe and Mail’s top 100 books of that year. It was longlisted for the Rogers Writers Trust of Canada Fiction Award.
She has lived in England and New Zealand and British Columbia. She married Colin, gave birth to Alexander and Josephine, and lives in Saskatoon and on Hornby Island, B.C.
Events featuring Bernice Friesen:
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1.Workshop “Fiction Freefall” - High Speed Version” - Thursday, July 14, 2:30 pm to 5:30 pm at the Community School.
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2.Main Stage Event “Torn Between” - Friday, July 15, 7:30 pm to 9:30 pm at the Community Hall.
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3.Themed Reading “Stranger in a Strange Land” with Wayde Compton - Saturday, July 16, 1:30 pm to 3:00 pm at the Back Hall.
