Jane Urquhart was born in the far north of Ontario. She is the author of eight internationally acclaimed novels, among them The Underpainter, winner of the Governor General’s Literary Award and a finalist for The Orange Prize in the UK, and The Stone Carvers. It was also a finalist for The Giller Prize and the Governor General’s Literary Award, and for Britain’s Booker Prize. Her work is published in many countries, and has been translated into numerous foreign languages. Urquhart has received the Marian Engel Award and the Harbourfront Festival Prize. She is a Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in France, and is an Officer of the Order of Canada. Her most recent novel, The Night Stages, was released in 2015. Urquhart lives in South-Eastern Ontario with her husband, artist Tony Urquhart.

A Number of Things

From one of our nation’s most beloved and iconic authors comes a lyrical 150th birthday gift to Canada. Jane Urquhart chooses 50 Canadian objects and weaves a rich and surprising narrative that speaks to our collective experience as a nation. Each object is beautifully illustrated by the noted artist Scott McKowen. The 50 artifacts range from a Nobel Peace Prize medal, a literary cherry tree, a royal cowcatcher, a Beothuk legging, a famous skull and an iconic artist’s shoe, all the way to an Innu tea doll, a Sikh RCMP turban, a Cree basket, a Massey-Harris tractor and a hanging rope, among an array of unexpected and intriguing objects.