Kristyn Dunnion was born in Essex County, the southern tip of Canada, and now lives in Toronto. She earned a B.A. from McGill University in Montreal and an M.A. from the University of Guelph. Dunnion is a deft prose stylist who brings visceral street-punk and speculative worlds to the page with elegance and heart. Her literary fiction appears in Best Canadian Stories 2020, Orca, Foglifter, Toronto 2033, and many other fine publications. She is one of six Canadian authors featured in Off the Record, edited by John Metcalf (Biblioasis, 2023).

Dunnion is the self-anointed Can Lit Doula and, with compassion and skill, will guide a stuck manuscript to its astounding next draft. She facilitates innovative workshops for emerging and established writers, and currently teaches writing courses at the University of Calgary’s School of Continuing Education. For years Dunnion was a community mental health support worker and healthy food advocate in her neighbourhood. A queer punk performance artist, Dunnion also played bass in Heavy Filth (2008-2011) and Bone Donor (2014-2017).

Mentoring and Editing, Creative Workshops, Public Speaking

Reviews

Jade Colbert

Jade Colbert

The Globe and Mail

"What really unites Stoop City is its punk ethos, the way even a well-ordered condo careens towards anarchy with the addition of one feral cat or a dead girlfriend's ghost."

Cherie Dimaline

Cherie Dimaline

Internationally best-selling author of Governor General Award and Kirkus Prize winning The Marrow Thieves and Empire of Wild

"I want to give comparisons but there are none. No one writes like Kristyn Dunnion, not even those of us who really, really want to."

Casey Plett

Casey Plett

Giller Prize-nominated and Lambda Literary Award winning author of A Safe Girl to Love and Dream of a Woman

"Stoop City is a tender snarl of an album, a glorious collection of wreckage and beauty and insight. Dunnion's care shines through each carefully crafted page."

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Location

Toronto, Ontario
Canada

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