Daria Salamon’s columns and articles have been featured in Uptown Magazine, Winnipeg Free Press and The Globe and Mail. Her short fiction and creative non-fiction has been shortlisted for the Writers' Union of Canada's Emerging Writer Short Fiction Award, the Larry Turner Award for Creative Non-Fiction, and the Canadian Author's Association's North of 55 Writing Contest.
After studying French in Cannes and Montreal, Daria earned degrees in education and English literature from the University of Manitoba and the University of Winnipeg. She was an Anne Szumilgalski Scholarship recipient for the Sage Hill Writing Experience in 2006, and has received two writer’s grants from the Winnipeg Arts Council. An avid member of the writing community, Daria serves on the Board of Directors of Prairie Fire Magazine. She lives in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
The Prairie Bridesmaid
Daria Salamon’s magnificent debut is Can Lit’s answer to Nick Hornby.
(Key Porter, Fall 2008)
World Rights Available Ex:
North America: Key Porter, Fall 2008
Eileen McTavish Sykes Award for Best First Book, 2009
Shortlist, Carol Shields Winnipeg Book Award, 2009
Honourable Mention, Book of the Year Award 2008,
General Fiction category, ForeWord Magazine
Just cresting her thirties, Anna Lasko is a frustrated high school teacher whose almost ex-boyfriend, Adam, is away on temporary assignment in Europe. She finds herself tricked into a break-up-with-the-bad-boyfriend intervention by her supportive but meddling girlfriends. To cope with it all, Anna starts smoking again, keeps nightly counsel with her backyard squirrel, Buddy, and starts sessions with a caring but fashion-challenged therapist. Her well-intentioned family adds to the emotional workload when her beautiful and free-spirited sister decides to move to the Middle East with her boyfriend. Luckily, Anna has her devoted grandmother who constantly says it like it is, refuses to conform to anyone’s requests, and continues to live on her prairie farm half-blind, happy, and alone.
Spectacularly fun and rich with wit and savvy, The Prairie Bridesmaid is a delicious debut novel about the bonds that break and make family, friendship, and love.
“tender and funny … full of snappy dialogue and offbeat humour. … Salamon’s debut is a quirky, witty salute to that exhausting project of finding out who you are – and who you’re not – no matter how many bottles of cheap Merlot it takes.”
- Quill & Quire
“…The Prairie Bridesmaid is a witty, sardonic, and touching story of self-discovery leading to liberation. Daria Salamon's writing is like a breath of fresh Winnipeg air.”
- Nia Vardalos, screenwriter and star of My Big Fat Greek Wedding
“…I was knocked over by this novel. It's funny, has a wonderful voice and a heart to it that I don't often see, as a reader. Every bit as entertaining as A Complicated Kindness – I laughed my ass off.”
- Stephen Galloway, author of Ascension and The Cellist of Sarajevo
"…In reading this book, I was touched and inspired. It is original and well-written and points to a reality both relevant and poignant for women with whom I share a generation. Daria Salamon writes with wit and compassion and manages to dignify the thoughts, emotions and sometimes treacherous turns that are part of growing up as women in Canada.”
- Chantal Kreviazuk, singer/songwriter
"…From the first page of The Prairie Bridesmaid you can't help caring about Anna and her life. She's recovering from breaking up with Adam, but she doesn't want our sympathy; more, she wants to understand what's happened to her and how she ended up with a guy like him. Although the tone of Daria Salamon's novel is cheerful, the story is darker and deftly told. Salamon is a skillful writer, keeping a tight reign on the emotional depth of The Prairie Bridesmaid. This is chick-lit for grown-ups. And it's good.”
- Alice Kuipers, author of Notes on the Refrigerator Door
