News

Joseph Boyden's acclaimed second novel, Through Black Spruce, won the 2008 Scotiabank Giller Prize, making it an instant bestseller.

The novel follows Annie Bird, a native Canadian from Northern Ontario whose sister, a fashion model, goes missing in New York City. Annie leaves behind her troubled uncle Will, whose life also unfolds in the book.

The Giller judges said Boyden's novel "takes us on two journeys. Suzanne's sister Annie retraces her sister's steps, from the Native poverty below the Gardiner Expressway to the extravagant fast lanes of New York. Will, their uncle, follows a very different path as he deals with the demons of memory, revenge, and darkest loss."

Boyden, born in 1966 in Willowdale, Ont., rose to fame with the publication of Three Day Road (2005). One of the characters in that novel is the father of Will Bird, making Through Black Spruce something of a sequel. Boyden has said a third book in the series may be coming.

Boyden, who has an Irish Catholic heritage with traces of Métis and Mi'kmaq, writes with an Indian voice. "Most of the time, I feel more Indian than white," he said in an interview with CBC News.

He is married to the novelist Amanda Boyden. They live in New Orleans, but Boyden often returns to Northern Ontario for hunting and fishing trips.

He and his wife wrote their most recent novels across from each other at the dining room table, and gave each other their drafts for comment, according to the interview with CBC News. They are both writers in residence at the University of New Orleans.

Readers can ask Boyden questions until Jan. 15 by posting them here as comments, or by emailing them to webbooks@globeandmail.com.

We will forward the questions to the author and run his responses in print and online on Jan. 17.