Jonathan Bennett

Literary Bio

Jonathan Bennett is the author of five books including the critically acclaimed novels, Entitlement and After Battersea Park, two collections of poetry, Civil and Civic, and Here is my street, this tree I planted, and a collection of short stories, Verandah People, which was runner up for the Danuta Gleed Literary Award. He is a winner of the K.M. Hunter Artists’ Award in Literature.

Jonathan Bennett’s other writing has appeared in many periodicals and journals including: the Globe and Mail, The Walrus, Quill and Quire, Southerly, Antipodes, Matrix, This Magazine, and Descant. Born in Vancouver, raised in Sydney, Australia, Jonathan lives in the village of Keene, near Peterborough, Ontario.

Critical Praise

On Civil and Civic: poems (ECW Press, 2011)

“Bennett’s artistry lies in his ability to create poems that shatter complacency with bricks of loaded language.”
- Quill and Quire

On Entitlement: a novel (ECW Press, 2008)

“Bennett’s storytelling is effortless in its pace and time shifts, and his dialogue glints like a sharpened knife.”
- Walrus Magazine

“[Bennett] can weave a tale and has the chops to keep it all in a literary vein . . . this is a good book with a crackerjack ending.”
- Globe and Mail

“Entitlement is an attractive read, and nicely covers a world that goes often uncovered in our own literatures.”
- National Post

“Fast-paced and packed with poignant plot, it is the type of read that keeps you on the edge of your seat, as if you were watching a thriller film.”
- Sacramento Book Review

“Was there ever a question that Jonathan Bennett was fast on his way to cementing his place in Canadian literature? There isn’t anymore.”
- January Magazine

On Verandah People: stories (Raincoast, 2004)

“unsettling, raw and vivid…with ravishing language, Bennett’s ability to animate lives within a landscape that dwarfs the human, makes for a memorable read.”
- Kirkus Review

“Bennett has a way with a sentence . . . A minimalist with a deft, sure touch, he does a lot with a little, flinging a swaying bridge between the realm of ordinary prose and incandescent poetry.”
- Edmonton Journal

“Bennett builds his narratives from the nerves up… he has a naturalist style, punctuated with flashes of lyricism and compelling imagery, and a demonstrated gift for characterization, for revealing personality through an accumulation of detail and action.”
- Toronto Star

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