Photo: Carla Douglas

Diane Schoemperlen October 13, 1994

While visiting her parents in Thunder Bay, Diane Schoemperlen discovered an old family album along with a box of photos she had never seen before. By manipulating the chronology of the photographs and constructing associations between text and photos she created her first published book -- Double Exposures.

Diane Schoemperlen was born in Thunder Bay, Ontario, and educated at Lakehead University. She has studied with W.O. Mitchell, Alice Munro and other writers. After university, she settled to live in Canmore, Alberta, where she worked as an avalanche researcher, typesetter, newspaper reporter and bank teller. Her work, both poetry and prose has been published in numerous Canadian magazines including Canadian Fiction Magazine, Quarry, Event, Descant and Saturday Night. Also, much of Diane's fiction has been published in several anthologies such as Coming Attractions 2 (1984); Pure Fiction (1986); 87 Best Canadian Stories (1987); The Macmillan Anthology 1 (1988); The Macmillan Anthology 3 (1990); 90 Best Canadian Stories (1990); Canadian Short Stories (1991); and The New Story Writers (1992).

Schoemperlen is the recipient of several awards, including the Poetry Canada Review Prize (1980); Canadian Author and Bookman Okanagan Award for Short Fiction (1983); Howard O'Hagan Award, Writers Guild of Alberta (1987), and Silver National Magazine Award (1989).

She was also a finalist for both the Governor General's and Trillium awards with her book of short fiction The Man of My Dreams (1990).

"Many people waste their lives, looking forward to that time when they will be happy, and that's part of the reason they don't notice what's going on around them. It's like when you drive the same stretch of road every day: you don't see it anymore, you don't see the scenery. It all circles back to why I focus so much on details. Maybe if we all paid a little more attention as we went along we might be more satisfied." 1

In The Language Of Love: A Novel in 100 Chapters is based on the 100 stimulus words of the standard psychological Word Association Test. Readers familiar with Diane's four previous short story collections will recognize her unmistakable wit and unconventional nature in that description of her novel. Her ironic voice is devastatingly truthful, funny and playful thoughout the book. Guilt, memory and love have seldom been treated with such irreverence and innovation. In cooperation with HarperCollins.

WORKS BY DIANE SCHOEMPERLEN

• Double Exposures. -- Toronto : Coach House Press, c1984. -- 101 p. -- ISBN 0889102805.
• Frogs & Other Stories. -- Kingston : Quarry Press, c1986. -- 115 p. -- ISBN 0919627382.
• Hockey Night in Canada. -- Kingston : Quarry Press, c1987. -- 129 p. -- ISBN 0919627560.
• The Man of My Dreams. -- Toronto : Macmillan of Canada, c1990. -- 243 p. -- ISBN 0771599730.
• Hockey Night in Canada & Other Stories. -- Introduction by John Metcalf. -- Kingston : Quarry Press, c1991. -- 198 p. -- ISBN 1550820036.
• Trouble - Ottawa : Magnum Book Store, 1991. -- 12 leaves. -- Excerpt from / extrait de : In the Language of Love.
• In the Language of Love: A Novel in 100 Chapters. -- Toronto : HarperCollins Publishers, 1994. -- ISBN 0002243733.

WORKS ABOUT DIANE SCHOEMPERLEN

• Wilson, Robert R. -- «Diane Schoemperlen's Fiction: The Clean, Well-Lit Worlds of Dirty Realism». -- Essays on Canadian writing. -- Vol. 40 (Spring 1990). -- P. 80-108.
• Kirchoff, H.J. -- "More Time for Writing". -- The Globe and Mail. -- (Jan. 18, 1991). -- P. A11.
• «Strategies for Survival [interview]». -- Books in Canada. -- Vol. 20, no. 5 (Jun.-Jul. 1991). -- P. 11-13.
• Sugars, Cynthia. -- «Jokes and Their Relation to the Unconscious». -- Essays on Canadian Writing. - Vol. 48 (Winter 1992-1993). -- P. 97-104.

For more information about Diane Schoemperlen or about Canadian writers and writing, contact the Canadian Literature Research Service (613)947-0827 or Reference and Information Services 613-996-5115 or 1-866-578-7777 (Toll free in Canada) at the National Library of Canada.

1. Diane Schoemperlen, "Strategies for Survival", Books in Canada, v. 20 (5), Jun.-Jul. 1991, p. 12.