Gordon Kirkland (humorist)

Gordon Kirkland was born October 12, 1953 in Toronto, Ontario is an award-winning Canadian author, humorist, and writing instructor. Kirkland, best known for his collections of short humorous essays, has branched out to start writing full length novels.

Early life and education

Kirkland attended three elementary schools, Indian Road Crescent in Toronto, George Bailey in Maple, Ontario, and Joseph Gibson, also in Maple. His high school education took place in London, Ontario. He spent two years at A.B. Lucas and three at Oakridge. He went on to study education and English at York University in Toronto, where he was mentored by Canadian literary personalities including Irving Layton, Dennis Lee, Eli Mandell, and many others. Leaving University, he pursued a number of writing related careers, before becoming a full-time author and entertainer in 1994.

In August 1990, Kirkland suffered a serious spinal cord injury in an automobile accident. During his recuperation and rehabilitation, he turned to comedy as a therapy.

Literary career

Kirkland began writing a weekly humor column for newspapers in 1994. He maintained the column until moving on to other literary pursuits in 2007. His books include Justice Is Blind – And Her Dog Just Peed In My Cornflakes^[1] (1999, Harbour Publishing) and Never Stand Behind A Loaded Horse (2004, Thistledown Press.) ^[2] In order to maintain a regular publishing schedule, Kirkland turned to the services of AuthorHouse, in order to self-publish each of his next three books, When My Mind Wanders It Brings Back Souvenirs in 2005, I Think I May Be Having One OF Those Decades in 2006, and I May Be Big But I Didn’t Cause That Solar Eclipse in 2007. He published his sixth book, Holly Jolly Frivolity in December 2009, to coincide with his holiday stage show of the same name.

Each of his first three books received the Stephen Leacock Award of Merit for Humour as finalists for the Leacock Medal.

His latest book is his first full-length novel, Crossbow, a mystery with darkly comedic overtones.

In 2011 At Large Publishing released The Plight Before Christmas, his story about the disasters that befall a family during the holiday season in the early 1960s.

Between his books, syndicated column, and numerous articles for consumer and trade magazines, Kirkland has amassed several thousand publication credits.

Television

Kirkland was one of the stars of the television series 3-Day Novel Contest that aired in the fall of 2009 on Canada’s BookTelevision in which 12 Canadian writers were locked in a big-box bookstore in Edmonton, Alberta for 72 hours, each with the task of completing a full novel. During the taping, Kirkland wrote the arc of Crossbow, a full length comedic mystery he is currently seeking representation for. In addition, he is a frequent guest on television talk shows such as CITY-TV's Breakfast Television in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Stage

He often appears on stage delivering his stories to appreciative audiences across North America. As Reader's Digest said in a 2006 profile, he speaks to his audiences if talking to old friends.^[3]

References