Pictou-Antigonish Regional Library is
pleased to host Nova Scotia author and playwright Gary
Blackwood
 Gary Blackwood’s love of
books and flair for the dramatic emerged at an early age; he
struck a deal with his mother to stop sucking his thumb in
exchange for a set of Gene Autry comic books. He and a
classmate once raced to see who would be the first to read
the entire set of Dr. Doolittle books in their one-room
school house.
The author and playwright
was born in Meadville, PA. He immigrated to Canada in 2005,
living briefly in Antigonish, NS, before discovering
Tatamagouche. “I’d always wanted to live in or near a small,
self-contained town,” he says. “It seemed like my kind of
place.” He lives on several acres of land that, though
relatively secluded, are within walking distance of the
village.
Blackwood will assume the role of Writer in
Residence for Pictou-Antigonish Regional Library in late
September 2009.
Blackwood started
submitting stories to magazines as a teenager. At age 16, he
received an encouraging rejection letter from the renowned
science fiction writer Frederick Pohl, who was then editor
of a SF magazine. Three years later his short story,
“Cliffs of Gold”, was published in Twelve/Fifteen
magazine. Blackwood spent the next several years “writing
stuff and not selling it”. He self-published an adult
historical novel, The Lion and the Unicorn, in 1983.
Then in 1987, Antheneum published his first juvenile novel,
Wild Timothy. It was followed by The Dying Sun
in 1989 and Beyond the Door in 1991. Meanwhile,
several of his plays were performed on U.S. stages. During the dry spell that
followed, Blackwood worked for the Institute of Children’s
Literature. Having had success with young adult novels, he
reworked an adult manuscript into a youth novel. The result
was The Shakespeare Stealer, published by Dutton in
1998. The novel grew into a trilogy. The stage adaptation of
The Shakespeare Stealer has been performed at the
Kennedy Center, Seattle Children’s Theatre, and several
other venues in the U.S.
Blackwood has received
several honours for his work, including:
- Friends of American
Writers Best YA Novel – The Dying Sun
- Ozark Creative Writers Conference 1st Prize –
Attack of the Mushroom People
- American Library Association Best Books for Young
Adults – The Shakespeare Stealer
- Missouri Scriptworks 1st Prize – Dark Horse
- School Library Journal’s Best Books – The
Year of the Hangman
Fantastic Fiction
Fantasy, fast-paced
adventure, stories of survival – Gary Blackwood’s novels
have it all. He takes his young readers back in time to the
Elizabethan era, warps them forward to a second Ice Age and
shuttles them off to an alternative world. During the ride,
readers witness young protagonists being tested by
extraordinary situations where they must rise to the
occasion.
Blackwood published his
first youth novel, Wild Timothy, with Antheneum in
1987. Roughing it in the woods is not 13-year-old Timothy’s
idea of a good time; he’d rather read a book. When he
becomes lost in the woods during a camping trip with his
father, he must reach inside himself for strength and skills
he didn’t know he had in order to survive.
Several of Blackwood’s
novels are set against historical backdrops. He enjoyed
historical novels as a kid and says they give young readers
a doorway into a subject they might otherwise think is
boring. The trick is to weave the historical details into
the story in a natural way, so that readers get a history
lesson on the side while enjoying the tale. His
Shakespeare Stealer series is a romping adventure in the
world of Elizabethan England. In the first book, The
Shakespeare Stealer (Dutton, 1998), readers learn about
daily life and the inner workings of the theatre as Widge,
the protagonist, uses an early system of shorthand to try to
steal Shakespeare’s latest play for a rival troupe. Love,
sabotage, and the plague are a few other challenges Widge
faces in the trilogy.
Blackwood sometimes
delivers history with a twist, exploring how things might
easily have turned out differently. It is the British, not
the colonists, who are prevailing in the Revolutionary War
when a spoiled British teenager becomes a reluctant spy in
America in 1777 (The Year of the Hangman, Dutton,
2002). In Second Sight (Dutton, 2005), Joseph is
enjoying the fame of an elaborate mind-reading hoax cooked
up by his father when a clairvoyant girl foresees a plot to
assassinate President Abraham Lincoln.
Fiction Bibliography:
The
Lion and the Unicorn, Eagle
Books, 1983.
Wild Timothy, Atheneum (New York,
NY), 1987
The Dying Sun, Atheneum (New
York, NY), 1989
Beyond the Door, Atheneum (New
York, NY), 1991
Time Masters, EPB Publishers,
1995
The Shakespeare Stealer, Dutton
(New York, NY), 1998
Moonshine, Marshall Cavendish
(Tarrytown, NY), 1999
Shakespeare's Scribe, Dutton (New
York, NY), 2000
The Year of the Hangman, Dutton
(New York, NY), 2002
Shakespeare's Spy, Dutton (New
York, NY), 2003
Second Sight, Dutton (New York,
NY), 2005
The Just-So Woman (easy reader),
illustrated by Jane Manning, HarperCollins (New York, NY),
2006
Real Life Adventures
Gary Blackwood’s non-fiction books for young readers reflect
his interests in history, adventure, and the outdoors. One
of his favourite books as a child was Around the World in
Eighty Days. As he played with the idea of writing a sequel
to the Jules Verne classic, Blackwood decided to tell the
tale of a real life voyage: the first around-the-world
automobile race. The Great Race: the Amazing Round-the-World
Auto Race of 1908 (Abrams Books, 2008) recounts the journey
of six cars from four countries as they competed in a race across
America, through Siberia, Asia, and Europe, ending in Paris.
Blackwood has written three series of non-fiction books for
young readers, published by Benchmark Books. The Unsolved
History series delves into baffling events like the
extinction of dinosaurs, what happened to the crew of the
ship Mary Celeste, and the death of King Tut. It looks at
the legends of King Arthur and Robin Hood, to name a few,
and introduces people who believed they were important
historical figures such as Joan of Arc and Billy the Kid.
The books are being re-released this year with a news series
title, History’s Mysteries.
The Secrets of the Unexplained Series explores the
paranormal and unusual phenomenon, while the Bad Guys series
looks at some of the more notorious occupations throughout
history.
Gary Blackwood Non-Fiction Bibliography:
Rough Riding Reformer: Theodore Roosevelt, Benchmark (New
York, NY), 1998.
Life on the Oregon Trail, Lucent (San Diego, CA), 1999.
Life in a Medieval Castle, Lucent (San Diego, CA), 1999.
The Great Race: The Amazing Round-the-World Auto Race of
1908, Abram Books, (New York, NY), 2008.
Mysterious Message: a History of Codes and Ciphers, Dutton
(New York, NY), 2009
Secrets of the Unexplained series:
Alien Astronauts, Benchmark (New York, NY), 1998.
Fateful Forebodings, Benchmark (New York, NY), 1998.
Paranormal Powers, Benchmark (New York, NY), 1998.
Extraordinary Events and Oddball Occurrences, Benchmark (New
York, NY), 1999.
Long-Ago Lives, Benchmark (New York, NY), 1999.
Spooky Spectres, Benchmark (New York, NY), 1999.
Bad Guys series:
Pirates, Benchmark (New York, NY), 2001.
Highwaymen, Benchmark (New York, NY), 2001.
Outlaws, Benchmark (New York, NY), 2001.
Swindlers, Benchmark (New York, NY), 2001.
Gangsters, Benchmark (New York, NY), 2001.
Unsolved History series:
Debatable Deaths, Benchmark (New York, NY), 2005.
Enigmatic Events, Benchmark (New York, NY), 2005.
Perplexing People, Benchmark (New York, NY), 2005.
Legends or Lies?, Benchmark (New York, NY), 2005.
Enter Stage Left
Given a choice, Gary Blackwood would spend his time writing
plays, plays, and more plays. In reality, novels pay the
bills better than theatre scripts; however, writing for the
stage remains dear to his heart.
The Tatamagouche, N.S. resident got involved in amateur
theatre as a high school student in the United States and
continued to act in plays in college. Somewhere along the
line he discovered that writing plays was “a lot more fun
than acting and a lot less work”. His first play to be
performed on stage was Come on in, the Water’s Over Your
Head at Muse Theatre, Cleveland, OH, in 1971. During the
next three decades, many of his scripts came to life on
stages in several U.S. venues. The Count of One was also
translated into Catalan and performed in Cardedeu, Spain, in 2005.
Blackwood’s plays are primarily aimed at adult audiences,
but he also wrote a stage adaptation of his popular juvenile
novel, The Shakespeare Stealer (Dutton, 1998). It was
performed at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., in
2002; Seattle Children’s Theatre, Seattle, WA, in 2003;
Children’s Theatre of Charlotte, Charlotte, NC, in 2006;
Nashville Children’s Theater, Nashville, TN, in 2006; and Vittum Theater, Chicago, IL, in 2006.
Blackwood says writing for the stage is a much faster
process than writing novels, but comes with its own
challenges. He focuses on “freewheeling” plays that aren’t
reliant on sets and costumes. He finds adapting his own work
for the stage is actually tougher than adapting other
people’s work, because of the temptation to include every
element and detail of his books.
Blackwood has turned his hand to another aspect of theatre;
he is currently directing plays with the North Shore Players
in Tatamagouche. He will also serve as 2009-2010 Writer in
Residence for Pictou-Antigonish Regional Library.
Gary Blackwood Plays Bibliography:
Come on in, the Water’s Over Your Head; Muse Theatre,
Cleveland, 1971
Attack of the Mushroom People; University of MO--Rolla,
1981; Missouri Southern State College, 1990; published
Players' Press
Thoreau, one-man show; various engagements, 1982-1993
Futures; Stone's Throw Theatre, Carthage, MO, 1991;
published Players' Press
Dark Horse; Ferndale Rep, Ferndale, CA, 1993; Stone's Throw
Theatre, Carthage, MO, 1997
Morning Star; Youth Center Theatre, Walsenburg, CO, 1994
The Count of One; Sunset Center Theatre, Carmel, CA, 2001;
Little Lost Arts, Branchville, NJ, 2003; Cardedeu, Spain
2005.
Ethan Frome, stage adaptation; published Baker's Plays
The Shakespeare Stealer, stage adaptation; Kennedy Center;
2002; Seattle Children's Theatre, Emerson College, 2003;
Children's Theatre of Charlotte, Nashville Children's
Theatre, Vittum Theatre, 2006; published Playscripts.com
Fateville; Dayton Playhouse, Dayton, OH, 2003
Writing Workshops
7:00 - 9:00pm for 5 sessions each in Pictou & Westville,
starting January 12th and finishing March 23rd.
Session 1 Conflicts January 12 (Pictou) January 19
(Westville)
Session 2 Avoiding Cliches January
26 (Pictou) February 2 (Westville)
Session 3 Getting Specific February 9 (Pictou) February 16
(Westville)
Session 4 Structure February 23 (Pictou) March 2 (Westville)
Session 5 Beginnings... March 9 (Pictou)
March 23rd (Westville)
Monday, December 21, 7:00 - 9:00 p.m.
Antigonish Public Library
Creative Writing Workshop with Writer in Residence, Gary
Blackwood. Topic: to be determined
For more information on our free WIR workshops, see the
special feature on our home page. To register, please call
the branch at 863-4276 or the Outreach Department at
863-2486.
Pictou County Writers' Group meeting
Monday January 11th 10:00 - noon ... intro to WIR happening
this winter @ PARL
Young Readers Club
Tuesday, February 2nd, 4:15 - 5:15pm
An author reading of "Shakespeare Stealer" & "Mysterious
Messages".
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