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Author Site

Coming June 27th!

a comedic murder mystery written with
Ian Ferguson

"The Fergusons have created a detective for the ages. Bravo!"
--Mark Critch

"A delightful romp of a novel."
--Hannah Mary McKinnon

"It will have you laughing out loud on every page."
--Bianca Marais
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Will Ferguson 2021.jpg
awards & nominations

2021 Arthur Ellis Award                         for Crime Fiction: 

        The Finder

2016  Charles Taylor Prize

          longlist: Road Trip Rwanda

 

2014  IMPAC Dublin Award

          longlist: 419

2014  Ian Fleming Steel

          Dagger longlist: 419

2013  Libris Award Fiction

          Book of the Year: 419

2012  Giller Prize: 419

 

2010  Leacock Medal:
         Beyond Belfast

 

2010  AWG Award for Creative

         Nonfiction: Beyond Belfast 

2009  IMPAC Dublin Award

          longlist: Spanish Fly
 
2008  Leacock Medal shortlist:

         Spanish Fly 

 


 

 

2005  Pierre Berton Award:

         Governor General's Award for  

         History        

 

2005  Leacock Medal:
         Beauty Tips from Moose Jaw

2004  Northern Lights Award

         for Travel Writing:                        "Polar Bear Haven:                          an Arctic Journey" 

2002  Leacock Medal:
         Happiness

2002  CAA Award for Fiction:
         Happiness

2002  Commonwealth Prize

          shortlist: Happiness

2002  Libris Award Non-Fiction

         Book of the Year: 

        How to Be a Canadian

2002  Leacock Medal shortlist:
         How to Be a Canadian 

AUTHOR BIO

Will Ferguson is an award-winning travel writer and novelist.

He was born and raised in the teeming metropolis of Fort Vermilion (pop. 728), in northern Canada, closer to the Arctic Circle than the American border.

His debut novel, Happiness, sold into 23 languages around the world. His last novel, 419, won the Scotiabank Giller Prize. His new novel, The Finder, won the 2021 Arthur Ellis Award for Crime Fiction.

Ferguson has won the Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour three times and has been nominated for both the IMPAC Dublin Literary Award and a Commonwealth Writers’ Prize.

In his early twenties, he lived and worked in Ecuador, South America, as part of Canada World Youth (similar to the American Peace Corps). 

 

Will Ferguson studied film production and screenwriting at York University, graduating with a B.F.A. in 1990.

 

He joined the Japan Exchange Teachers Programme (JET) after university and spent five years in Asia, travelling through China, Korea, Indonesia and Malaysia. He married his wife Terumi in Kumamoto, Japan. They now live in Calgary, Canada, with their two sons.

 

His travel memoirs include: 

  • hitchhiking across Japan in Hokkaido Highway Blues (later re-titled Hitching Rides with Buddha

  • a 500-mile hike across Northern Ireland in Beyond Belfast  

  • travels in Canada in Beauty Tips from Moose Jaw  

  • a journey through central Africa in Road Trip Rwanda, which was nominated for the Charles Taylor Prize

In 2010, he was the head writer for the Vancouver Winter Olympics Closing Ceremonies, penning material for the likes of William Shatner and Michael J. Fox.

Ferguson has written for the New York Times, Esquire UK, Flare, Zoomer, the Globe & Mail, National Post and Canadian Geographic. 

 

He sits on the board of The Chawkers Foundation, and in 2016 received an honorary degree in English from Mount Royal University.

About
Books

The sad, funny, heartbreaking story of a psychological experiment gone wrong.

National bestseller

A tale of heartbreak and revenge in the world of international cybercrime.

Winner of the Giller Prize

A coming-of-age story of con men and call girls, set amid the jazz halls of the Dirty Thirties.

published in the UK as

HUSTLE

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A former TV sleuth find herself caught up in a real-life murder mystery during a small town amateur theater production

For a complete list of books by Will Ferguson, please visit his

My Books
IN THE PRESS

If Douglas Adams and P.J. O'Rourke ever had an extraterrestrial Satanic love-child, it would probably write like Will Ferguson.

 

That is, it would be observant, attitudinal, occasionally offensive and funny.

Los Angeles Times

Press
Events
news & upcomiNg Events

Shelagh Rogers

The Next Chapter

October

CTV Your Morning

Aug 31

a treasure hunt!

Starred review in

PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

Apple Books Canada

Thriller of the Month

for September

Review in

QUILL & QUIRE

THE NEW YORK JOURNAL

 

OF BOOKS REVIEW

 

CBC BOOKS

Will Ferguson

 

videos, interviews, quips and more : )

Contact

Sometimes touching, sometimes amusing and always true, as a traveller and a wordsmith, 

Ferguson knows where he is going.

Boston Globe

Beneath that thick skin lies a poetic soul.

The Sunday Times

For media inquiries, please contact

Shayla Leung, Publicist

(236) 330-1243

HarperCollins, 22 Adelaide St W

Toronto, ON  M5H 4E3

For film rights, please contact

Leslie Conliffe, IPG

Intellectual Property Group, 12400 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 500

Los Angeles, California 90025

(310) 402-5163

© 2017 / 2023 by Dry Inc.  author photos © Genki Alex Ferguson

Intellectual Property Group, 0585 Santa Monica Blvd, Suite 140,

Los Angeles, California 90025

For media inquiries, please contact

Catherine Whiteside, Publicity Manager

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