Don Gillmor is the author of Mount Pleasant, a novel set in contemporary Toronto. His first novel Kanata dealt with the whole of Canadian history and was critically acclaimed. He is also the author of a two-volume history of Canada, Canada: A People’s History, and three other books of non-fiction. He has written nine books for children, two of which were nominated for a Governor General’s Literary Award. He was a senior editor at The Walrus and a contributing editor at Saturday Night and Toronto Life magazines. He has won 10 National Magazine Awards and numerous other honours.

Long Change

Fleeing his violent father as well as a crime he committed, Ritt Devlin leaves Texas at 15, crossing the border into Alberta. He soon finds work on an oil rig on the outskirts of Medicine Hat. That’s not the life he wants and he saves up to study geology. By the time he’s in his 20s, he’s the head of his own oil company. Spanning almost 70 years, and following the geology and politics of oil from Texas to the Canadian oil patch, to Nigeria, Equatorial Guinea, Azerbaijan, various political capitalsand the Arctic, Long Change is divided into three parts, each of them framed by one of Ritt’s marriages.

Calgary Herald feature

National Post Review by Robert Wiersema

CBC Reads: Teenage Investments and Head-Scratching Rejections (Note: Questions No. 3 and 7 were asked by other Wordfest 2015 authors)

All In: Poker, Friendship and Mortality (an award-winning poker ode to Wordfest favourite Paul Quarrington, published in 18 Bridges)