Born in 1959, Kamloops-raised Wendy Phillips of Gabriola has been a journalist, bookbinder, English teacher and high school teacher-librarian. With degrees in English, Education, Journalism and Children's literature, she has lived in Ottawa, Lesotho, South Africa and Australia.

Wendy Phillips' young adult novel Fishtailing (Coteau, 2010) won the 2010 Governor General's Award for children's text in English. According to the jury, "Fishtailing is the story of four teenagers, four lives intertwined in the complex world of relationships and power struggles. In passionate poetic language that both chills and caresses, Wendy Phillips breathes life into these unforgettable characters whose stories offer insight, warning and endless possibilities. This compellingly-crafted poem is impossible to put down."

Wendy Phillips YA novel Baggage (Coteau, 2019) delves into human trafficking and Canadian attitudes to refugees. When a young African who speaks no English turns up abandoned at the Vancouver airport, an enthusiastic young woman tries to help. The concerns and preoccupations of Canadian teens are thrown into sharp relief in the glare of the truly dire circumstances of people from elsewhere in the world. Everyone has to find a way to cope with their baggage. $14.95 9781550509700



[BCBW 2019]