Born in Kenora, Ontario, Greg Kearney has lived in Toronto since 1993. He studied theatre at York University; as a playwright, he’s enjoyed several successful productions of his work: The Cry Sisters (Buddies in Bad Times Theatre), The Betty Dean Fanzine (Theatre Passe Muraille), 555-555-5555 (Buddies) and Cancun (Buddies.) He was resident humour columnist for Xtra! Magazine from 1999-2004, garnering a following unprecedented for the long-standing publication. Mommy Daddy Baby (McGilligan) was his short fiction debut in 2004 and critics across Canada and the US were unanimous in their praise. Pretty is his second collection and he’s currently at work on a novel.

Short Fiction:

Greg's short fiction has appeared in Taddle Creek, Broken Pencil, The Danforth Review, The UC Review, Lichen.

Anthologies:

Perfectly Abnormal: Seven Gay Plays
(Playwrights Canada Press, 2006)

Geeks, Misfits and Outlaws
(McGilligan, 2001)

Theatre:

Angels in Mississauga
(Buddies In Bad Times Theatre, 2007/8)

Cancun
(Buddies In Bad Times Theatre, 2006)

(555) 555-5555
(Buddies In Bad Times Theatre, 2005)

The Betty Dean Fanzine
(Theatre Passe Muraille, 2002)

Margot and the Great Big Plate
(Buddies In Bad Times Theatre, 2000)

The Cry Sisters
(Buddies In Bad Times Theatre, 1997)

Honours:

• 2007 K.M Hunter Artists Award (shortlisted)
• 2006 Ontario Arts Council
• 2005 Lambda Literary Awards (Gay Men’s Fiction, Gay Men’s Debut Fiction – shortlisted)
• 2002 Toronto Arts Council

 

On Offer:

Pretty

Looking for some honesty in the post-PC era? Greg Kearney’s outrageously bold collection of short fiction Pretty is the answer.

Taking a seat next to his cultural contemporaries, Borat, Augusten Burroughs and David Sedaris, Greg Kearney’s Pretty jumps aboard the current climate of shock-humor and much needed social commentary.

Wry, precise and humane, Greg Kearney’s new collection, Pretty, depicts a wildly diverse cast of characters, endlessly damaged yet hell-bent on self-improvement. Or, at the very least, self-preservation.

• When a nervy neighbour repeatedly leaves unspeakable “gift” packages at his door, a fussy, elegant little man must assert himself in a way unseemly to him.
• A pop music has-been is trailed by ruthless documentarians who try to convince her that she should be less serene and more desperate than she presently is.
• A woman cedes to her beloved husband’s quest for a threesome, but the chosen third falls far, far short of the woman’s female ideal, Mary Steenburgen.

Their lives imploding, bodies changing, property values depreciating, the men and women in Pretty cling to odd moral codes, arcane aesthetics, and hoary dreams, no matter how modest or improbable. A salient motto for the Pretty people? When the going gets tough, the tough get highlights and wispy bangs, or a pair of kicky sandals. And maybe a new ottoman for the den.

World Rights Available

Quotes:

Advance Praise for Pretty

"Greg Kearney is the John Waters (pre-Hairspray, that is) of Can Lit. Funnier than Sedaris, as particular as Amy Hempel, elegant as Anita Brookner, he would already be a superstar if he lived in the states or UK. As it is, Kearney is simply an astonishing Canadian writer. Embrace his twisted brilliance!"
     - Zoe Whittall

"Pretty is great, so great. It's funny and affecting -- wild and sad at the same time. The stories are such a blast to read, it would be easy to miss all the lovely lines and images. Pretty has its share of loopy, lurid lines, too -- who but Greg Kearney would have a character tearfully describing her beloved burn victim sister as a "steak with hair"? How I wish I'd written that line. Congratulations to you, Greg, it's really a knockout, this book. Pretty is a beauty."
     - Derek McCormack

Praise for Mommy Daddy Baby

"Kearney's Mommy Daddy Baby is a hilarious set of micro-stories, each no more than three or four pages, each a fragment of a bizarrely complicated novel. They are dark, creepy and funny and written with serious style. "
     - Russell Smith, The Globe and Mail

"[Mommy Daddy Baby] will seduce just about anyone with an ounce of curiousity in them."
     - Quill & Quire

"The stories are not explicitly set anywhere but the characters ooze a small-town, even shitkicker, ethos; some stories have a suburban strip-mall sensibility. This is precisely what makes Kearney's characters so believable and true. Kearney has helped separate himself from the pack with his first book."
     - Ottawa Citizen

"This collection is definitely one of the bravest, and funniest, in recent years."
     - The Danforth Review