Richard Scarsbrook is a Canadian Author, Teacher, and Entertainer.
Scarsbrook grew up in the tiny rural community of Olinda (near Leamington, Ontario). He attended elementary school at Ruthven Public School, graduated from Kingsville District High School, earned an Honours BA in History from The University of Western Ontario, and a Bachelor of Education degree from the
University of Ottawa.
He lived and taught in Petrolia, Ontario for nearly a decade, where he acted, directed, and served as a member of the board of directors for the Petrolia Community Theatre, playing roles such as Mr. Toad in Toad of Toad Hall, Gratiano in The Merchant of Venice, Scrooge in A Christmas Carol, and Jonathan Brewster in Arsenic and Old Lace.
In Petrolia, he also wrote original songs, and played the drums and sang in a band called The Know. He also began publishing his first short stories and poems at this time, in many Canadian and international magazines, journals and anthologies.
Scarsbrook grew up in the tiny rural community of Olinda (near Leamington, Ontario). He attended elementary school at Ruthven Public School, graduated from Kingsville District High School, earned an Honours BA in History from The University of Western Ontario, and a Bachelor of Education degree from the
University of Ottawa.
He lived and taught in Petrolia, Ontario for nearly a decade, where he acted, directed, and served as a member of the board of directors for the Petrolia Community Theatre, playing roles such as Mr. Toad in Toad of Toad Hall, Gratiano in The Merchant of Venice, Scrooge in A Christmas Carol, and Jonathan Brewster in Arsenic and Old Lace.
In Petrolia, he also wrote original songs, and played the drums and sang in a band called The Know. He also began publishing his first short stories and poems at this time, in many Canadian and international magazines, journals and anthologies.
CONTACT
Richard Scarsbrook is represented by
Margaret Hart of the HSW Agency.
Subsidized appearances by Richard Scarsbrook can be booked through
the Writers Union of Canada.
For more information, click HERE.
Richard can be reached directly at
cheeseburgersubversive@hotmail.com
or through
Thistledown Press
or
Turnstone Press
Follow Richard Scarsbrook on TWITTER at http://twitter.com/richscarsbrook
Photo by Ken Tsung
Scarsbrook now makes his home in Toronto, Ontario, where he teaches creative writing courses at Humber College and George Brown College. Many of his students have gone on to publish their first works after taking one of his courses. (Click HERE for Scarsbrook's current course offerings).
Scarsbrook has been writing original songs for years, and recently recorded his first two singles, "The Greatest Generation" and "Glass Half Empty", in October 2011 at Fire Escape Recording in Toronto, Ontario. A full-length album is planned for the near future - stay tuned!
He also plays and sings with the a rock bands The Featherless Bipeds, The Nerve, and Disorderly Conduct, and has performed in venues such as The Rivoli, The Guverment, Healey's Roadhouse, The Opera House, The Tattoo Rock Parlour, The Royal York Hotel, The Hard Rock Cafe and The Black Swan (all in Toronto), The Hard Rock Cafe and The Liquor Store Bar in Ottawa, and The Just For Laughs Studio in Montreal.
Scarsbrook's fiction and poetry have appeared in many publications, including The Guardian Unlimited (UK), The FISH Anthology (Ireland), Verbicide (US), Prairie Fire, Descant, Matrix, Carousel, The Dalhousie Review, PRECIPICe, Rampike, Storyteller, The New Orphic Review, The Nashwaak Review, The Harpweaver, The Backwater Review, NeWest Review, Lies With Occasional Truth, The Moose and Pussy, Jones Avenue, Surface and Symbol, and Zygote.
His stories and poems have won many prizes and awards , including the 1998 Hinterland Award for Prose, the 2001 New Orphic Short Story Prize, the 2001 Scarborough Arts Council Poetry Prize, the 2002 Lawrence House Centre for the Arts Short Story Prize, and the 2009 Matrix LitPop Award for Fiction.
His first book publication was Guessing at Madeleine, a collection of poems which won the 1996 Cranberry Tree Press Poetry Prize.
Scarsbrook's first novel, Cheeseburger Subversive, was published by Thistledown Press in 2003, to positive reviews and great reader response. Renowned author W.P. Kinsella (Shoeless Joe, Dance Me Outside), wrote this in Books in Canada: "Cheeseburger Subversive is a coming of age story written with humour and panache. Scarsbrook has a special eye for the absurd, a wonderful way of looking at the world that turns tragedy into humor. A very funny and heart-warming debut.""
Cheeseburger Subversive was short listed for The Canadian Library Association's 2004 Young Adult Book of the Year Award, The Ontario Library Association's 2005 White Pine Award, and the 2005 Stellar Book Award
Featherless Bipeds, the sequel to Cheeseburger Subversive, was published by Thistledown Press in 2006, and was short-listed for short listed for the Canadian Library Association's 2007 Young Adult Book of the Year Award, and the 2008/2009 Stellar Book Award.
There were many excellent reviews, including this one from Storyteller: Canada's Short Story Magazine: "Featherless Bipeds remains at all times as tightly focused as the best short stories. . . Fans of live pop music will enjoy Scarsbrook's wonderful evocations of the characters, venues, trials, and successes of such a career, as well as the experience of making music, both onstage and off. "
Destiny's Telescope, a collection of Scarsbrook's prize-winning short stories, was published in 2006 by Turnstone Press. Reviewer Mike Gillespie, of the Ottawa Citizen, wrote that "Destiny's Telescope is. . . a gem. Scarsbrook's stories are arresting. Anyone looking through the lens of this Telescope can't miss the author's own star - rising up through the literary universe to a date with charmed destiny."
The book was long-listed for the 2007 ReLit Award, and many individual stories in the collection won magazine and fiction competition prizes.
Scarsbrook's latest novel, The Monkeyface Chronicles, was published in 2010, to excellent reviews. CM Magazine called the book a "multi-layered, engrossing, complex tale", and a review in Resource Links said "Scarsbrook is an excellent writer with great comic overtones". A review by author Ann Ewan (Firedrake, Brondings' Honour) said of The Monkeyface Chronicles, "It reminds me of the books of Paul Quarrington and John Irving, creating an over-the-top yet close-to-real world."
The Monkeyface Chronicles was the winner of the Ontario Library Association?s 2011 White Pine Award.
Scarsbrook has recently finished a new novel called The Indifference League, as well as a poetry collection called Deleted Scenes. He has begun working on his next novel, tentatively titled Meet Me at La Bodeguita del Medio.
Richard Scarsbrook's biography is listed in the Canadian Who's Who, "the largest and most authoritative publication of its kind in Canada, offering instant access to nearly fourteen thousand notable Canadians in all walks of life".
Scarsbrook is available for school, library, festival, book club, and other appearances. He has nearly twenty years teaching experience the elementary, high school and college levels, and can present on a variety of writing-related topics to groups of varying size and age. Funding assistance is available through The Writers' Union of Canada Writers in the Schools Program, as well as through The Canada Council for the Arts Readings Program. Email to make a booking!
Richard Scarsbrook's literary agent is Margaret Hart of the HSW Literary Agency.
Scarsbrook's official Blog can be viewed HERE.
Scarsbrook has been writing original songs for years, and recently recorded his first two singles, "The Greatest Generation" and "Glass Half Empty", in October 2011 at Fire Escape Recording in Toronto, Ontario. A full-length album is planned for the near future - stay tuned!
He also plays and sings with the a rock bands The Featherless Bipeds, The Nerve, and Disorderly Conduct, and has performed in venues such as The Rivoli, The Guverment, Healey's Roadhouse, The Opera House, The Tattoo Rock Parlour, The Royal York Hotel, The Hard Rock Cafe and The Black Swan (all in Toronto), The Hard Rock Cafe and The Liquor Store Bar in Ottawa, and The Just For Laughs Studio in Montreal.
Scarsbrook's fiction and poetry have appeared in many publications, including The Guardian Unlimited (UK), The FISH Anthology (Ireland), Verbicide (US), Prairie Fire, Descant, Matrix, Carousel, The Dalhousie Review, PRECIPICe, Rampike, Storyteller, The New Orphic Review, The Nashwaak Review, The Harpweaver, The Backwater Review, NeWest Review, Lies With Occasional Truth, The Moose and Pussy, Jones Avenue, Surface and Symbol, and Zygote.
His stories and poems have won many prizes and awards , including the 1998 Hinterland Award for Prose, the 2001 New Orphic Short Story Prize, the 2001 Scarborough Arts Council Poetry Prize, the 2002 Lawrence House Centre for the Arts Short Story Prize, and the 2009 Matrix LitPop Award for Fiction.
His first book publication was Guessing at Madeleine, a collection of poems which won the 1996 Cranberry Tree Press Poetry Prize.
Scarsbrook's first novel, Cheeseburger Subversive, was published by Thistledown Press in 2003, to positive reviews and great reader response. Renowned author W.P. Kinsella (Shoeless Joe, Dance Me Outside), wrote this in Books in Canada: "Cheeseburger Subversive is a coming of age story written with humour and panache. Scarsbrook has a special eye for the absurd, a wonderful way of looking at the world that turns tragedy into humor. A very funny and heart-warming debut.""
Cheeseburger Subversive was short listed for The Canadian Library Association's 2004 Young Adult Book of the Year Award, The Ontario Library Association's 2005 White Pine Award, and the 2005 Stellar Book Award
Featherless Bipeds, the sequel to Cheeseburger Subversive, was published by Thistledown Press in 2006, and was short-listed for short listed for the Canadian Library Association's 2007 Young Adult Book of the Year Award, and the 2008/2009 Stellar Book Award.
There were many excellent reviews, including this one from Storyteller: Canada's Short Story Magazine: "Featherless Bipeds remains at all times as tightly focused as the best short stories. . . Fans of live pop music will enjoy Scarsbrook's wonderful evocations of the characters, venues, trials, and successes of such a career, as well as the experience of making music, both onstage and off. "
Destiny's Telescope, a collection of Scarsbrook's prize-winning short stories, was published in 2006 by Turnstone Press. Reviewer Mike Gillespie, of the Ottawa Citizen, wrote that "Destiny's Telescope is. . . a gem. Scarsbrook's stories are arresting. Anyone looking through the lens of this Telescope can't miss the author's own star - rising up through the literary universe to a date with charmed destiny."
The book was long-listed for the 2007 ReLit Award, and many individual stories in the collection won magazine and fiction competition prizes.
Scarsbrook's latest novel, The Monkeyface Chronicles, was published in 2010, to excellent reviews. CM Magazine called the book a "multi-layered, engrossing, complex tale", and a review in Resource Links said "Scarsbrook is an excellent writer with great comic overtones". A review by author Ann Ewan (Firedrake, Brondings' Honour) said of The Monkeyface Chronicles, "It reminds me of the books of Paul Quarrington and John Irving, creating an over-the-top yet close-to-real world."
The Monkeyface Chronicles was the winner of the Ontario Library Association?s 2011 White Pine Award.
Scarsbrook has recently finished a new novel called The Indifference League, as well as a poetry collection called Deleted Scenes. He has begun working on his next novel, tentatively titled Meet Me at La Bodeguita del Medio.
Richard Scarsbrook's biography is listed in the Canadian Who's Who, "the largest and most authoritative publication of its kind in Canada, offering instant access to nearly fourteen thousand notable Canadians in all walks of life".
Scarsbrook is available for school, library, festival, book club, and other appearances. He has nearly twenty years teaching experience the elementary, high school and college levels, and can present on a variety of writing-related topics to groups of varying size and age. Funding assistance is available through The Writers' Union of Canada Writers in the Schools Program, as well as through The Canada Council for the Arts Readings Program. Email to make a booking!
Richard Scarsbrook's literary agent is Margaret Hart of the HSW Literary Agency.
Scarsbrook's official Blog can be viewed HERE.
For more Audio and Video clips, updates and current info, Click
HERE to go to Richard Scarsbrook's OFFICIAL BLOG.
Click HERE to go to the www.richardscarsbrook.com HOME PAGE.
HERE to go to Richard Scarsbrook's OFFICIAL BLOG.
Click HERE to go to the www.richardscarsbrook.com HOME PAGE.
Richard Scarsbrook BIOGRAPHY
Richard Scarsbrook BIOGRAPHY
richardscarsbrook.com