Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1936-2025 (Creation)
Level of description
Extent and medium
7.78 m of textual records
10x 3.5-inch diskettes
4 audio cassettes
99 photoprints : b&w ; 4x6"
Context area
Name of creator
Biographical history
Genni Gunn was born Genni Donati in Trieste, Italy and moved to Canada in 1960 at 11-years-old. Having already started school in Italy, she grew up in Vancouver and studied at the University of British Columbia where she earned a B.F.A. (1982) and an M.F.A. (1984).
Before becoming a full-time writer, Gunn was a professional musician who did studio recording work and toured Canada with a variety of bands, playing bass guitar, piano and providing vocals.
Her published books include three novels -- Solitaria (nominated for the Giller Prize), Tracing Iris (adapted to film, The Riverbank), and Thrice Upon a Time (finalist for the Commonwealth Writers' Prize); three short story collections -- Permanent Tourists, Hungers, and On the Road; two poetry collections—Faceless and Mating in Captivity (finalist for the Gerald Lampert Award), and a collection of personal essays, TRACKS: Journeys in Time and Place.
She is a contributor to numerous journals and magazines, including Amaranth Review, Antigonish Review, Black Apple, Event, Fiddlehead, Greensboro Review, Hong Kong Literature Monthly, Interior Voice, New Quarterly, Northern Review, Poetry Canada Review, Prairie Journal of Canadian Literature, Quarry, Story, Trois, Waves, and West Coast Review.
Gunn’s work has been featured in many anthologies, including Best Canadian Stories (Oberon Press 1988); Pens of Many Colors (Harcourt Brace 1993); Breaking Free (Prentice Hall 1994); Cultures in Transition (McGraw-Hill 1995); and Brass Tacks (Prentice Hall 1996); Vancouver VerseMap (Fall 2009); Slice Me Some Truth (Wolsak & Wynn 2011) and Italians At Table (Guernica Editions 2012).
Gunn also authored an opera libretto, Alternate Visions, produced by Chants Libres (music by John Oliver). The opera premiered in Montreal in 2007. Her poem, "Hot Summer Nights" was turned into classical vocal music by John Oliver and performed internationally.
Additionally, Gunn has translated (from Italian) three collections of poems by two renowned Italian authors Dacia Maraini and Corrado Calabrò.
She has taught creative writing for many years at Kwantlen University College in Vancouver and has been a visiting professor at Queens University, the Banff School of Arts, The University of British Columbia, the Island Mountain Arts School and many other locations.
Over the years Genni Gunn has been an active member of many writers’ organizations such as the Writers’ Union of Canada, PEN International and the Literary Translators Association of Canada. Her work has been nominated for a number of awards such as the CBC Literary Competition, The Commonwealth Prize, the John Glassco Translation Prize, the Diego Valeri Prize and others.
Bio-bibliographical information available:
Archival history
Donated by G. Gunn in 2009, 2016, 2020, and 2024
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Content and structure area
Scope and content
Fonds consists of personal and business correspondence; manuscripts of novels, poems, poetry collections, short stories, screenplays, opera libretto, music scores, translations, speeches, essays and proposal for an unwritten biography; material relating to conferences, writers festivals and workshops; contracts; works about G. Gunn and published works.
An accrual received in 2016 (Acc 2016.016) with a date range of 1983-2014, includes the complete drafts of novel Solitaria and some drafts of other works including Tracing Iris, several short stories, Tracing Iris film script, reviews, correspondence with writers and editors, including Carolyn Swayze, correspondence with translators for Tracing Iris and Solitaria into other languages including Italian and Dutch, interviews given in magazines, records of workshops and conferences attended and papers given, records on awards adjudications, reading lists and reference materials.
The accrual 2024.35 consists of manuscripts for Escalation/The Alternate (an unpublished novel), Alla Ricerca Di Iris, Permanent Tourists, Accidents, Yours, Befana, The Ship for Kobe and The Cipher. Also includes email correspondence, published works, interviews and miscellaneous items including reading lists, reference materials and notes about novels.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
System of arrangement
Arrangement has been imposed by archivist and is arranged into four series:
- Correspondence
- Manuscripts
- Literary business and activities
- Published works
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
- Some items restricted until 2034.
- Some items restricted until 2040.
- Some items restricted for life of author.
Conditions governing reproduction
Language of material
Chinese
English
Italian
Script of material
Language and script notes
Text in English. Some items are in Italian or Chinese.
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
Finding aids
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related units of description
Notes area
Note
Title based on contents of the fonds.
Note
Further accruals expected.
Alternative identifier(s)
ckey
Access points
Place access points
Name access points
- Gunn, Genni (Subject)