Mark Abley
AUTHOR

Mark Abley

Biographies & Memoirs
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I’m a nonfiction writer, poet and journalist based in Montreal. I believe that the best writing reveals the truth – even difficult truths -- in a way that gives pleasure to readers. My latest book, CONVERSATIONS WITH A DEAD MAN, is an updated, revised edition of a 2013 book about Indigenous affairs and Canadian history. It focuses on Duncan Campbell Scott: once a famous poet, now notorious for his work as a bureaucrat in charge of the Department of Indian Affairs. The book is written as 'creative nonfiction,' and won praise from reviewers for being both audacious and readable. My 2023 book, STRANGE BEWILDERING TIME, is a travel book with a difference. I went back to the diaries I kept in 1978 as I and a friend travelled overland through Turkey, Iran, Pakistan, India and Nepal. As well as describing what I saw and heard, I reflect on the meaning and impact of the “hippie trail,” and I explore some of the changes that have transformed the region in recent years. I hope the book will interest readers who made the trek east from Istanbul, and also younger people who are curious about a vanished time – a time when it was easy to feel hopeful about the world we share. Earlier in my career, I wrote SPOKEN HERE, a work of literary travel that explores the plight of endangered languages by telling stories of people and places near and far. THE PRODIGAL TONGUE, by contrast, looks at the global changes in the English language. But not all my work involves travel. THE ORGANIST is a very personal memoir of my vexed relationship with my father, a gifted musician and loving parent but an often unhappy man. As for me, I was born in England, and grew up in Saskatchewan, Alberta and northern Ontario. I studied at Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar. Eventually I became a feature writer and language columnist for the Montreal Gazette. I’ve won a National Newspaper Award and a Guggenheim Fellowship, and seven of my books have won or have been short-listed for literary prizes. My work has been translated into five languages. In all my books, I try to write as well as I possibly can. Why would anyone want to read a book of tedious, forgettable prose?
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The Best Fiction Podcasts for Listeners Who Love a Good Story

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  • Strange Bewildering Time cover art

    • Strange Bewildering Time

    • Istanbul to Kathmandu in the Last Year of the Hippie Trail
    • Written by: Mark Abley
    • Narrated by: Mark Abley
    • Length: 9 hrs and 21 mins
    • Release date: 2023-06-12
    • Language: English
    • 3 out of 5 stars 1 rating

    Price: $24.49 or 1 Credit

    Sale price: $24.49 or 1 Credit

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