Author Site

will ferguson

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

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.

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