Esta Alice Spalding (born 12 August 1966) is a
CanadianCanada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
author, screenwriter and
poetA poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
who won the
Pat Lowther AwardThe Pat Lowther Memorial Award is an annual award presented by the League of Canadian Poets to the year's best book of poetry by a Canadian woman. It is presented in honour of poet Pat Lowther, who was murdered by her husband in 1975. Each winner receives an honorarium of $1000.-Winners:*1981 - M...
in 2000 for
Lost August. Born in Boston,
MassachusettsThe Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. Most of its population of...
to Phillip Spalding and
Linda SpaldingLinda Spalding is a Canadian writer and editor. Born in Topeka, Kansas the daughter of Jacob Alan Dickinson and Edith Senner, she lived in Mexico and Hawaii before moving to Toronto, Ontario in 1982....
, she grew up in Hawaii and currently resides in
GuelphGuelph is a city in Ontario, Canada.Guelph may also refer to:* Guelph , consisting of the City of Guelph, Ontario* Guelph , as the above* University of Guelph, in the same city...
,
OntarioOntario is a province located in east-central Canada, the largest by population and second largest, after Quebec, in total area. Ontario is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba to the west and Quebec to the east, and 5 U.S...
.
In 1997, Spalding relocated to
VancouverVancouver is a coastal city and major seaport located in the Lower Mainland of southwestern British Columbia, Canada. The city is bounded by English Bay, Burrard Inlet, the Fraser River, the city of Burnaby, and the University Endowment Lands. Vancouver is named after Captain George Vancouver, a...
,
British ColumbiaBritish Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is famed for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . In 1871, it became the sixth province of Canada.The capital of British Columbia is Victoria, the 15th largest metropolitan region in Canada...
, where she worked as an executive story editor and writer on CBC's prime-time drama
Da Vinci's InquestDa Vinci's Inquest is a Canadian dramatic television series that aired on CBC Television from 1998 to 2005. Seven seasons of thirteen episodes each were filmed for a total of ninety-one episodes....
. She also worked as a writer and executive story editor on all three seasons of "The Eleventh Hour", a prime-time drama about investigative journalists on CTV. Both series were highly critically acclaimed and repeatedly won Gemini awards for Best Series.
Spalding adapted Barbara Gowdy's novel "Falling Angels" into a 2003 feature film that was directed by Scott Smith. The movie premiered at the
Toronto International Film FestivalThe Toronto International Film Festival is a publicly-attended film festival held each September in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The festival begins the Thursday night after Labour Day and lasts for ten days. Between 300-400 films are screened at approximately 23 screens in downtown Toronto venues...
and played at
Sundance Film FestivalThe Sundance Film Festival is a film festival that takes place annually in the state of Utah, in the United States. It is the largest independent cinema festival in the U.S. Held in January in Park City, Salt Lake City, and Ogden, as well as the Sundance Resort, the festival is the premier...
, and garnered many awards and nominations, including a Genie nod for Best Writing for Spalding. That year, she also co-wrote (with
Deepa MehtaDeepa Mehta is a Genie Award winning and Academy Award nominated Indian-born Canadian film director and screenwriter...
) the script adaptation of
Carol ShieldsCarol Ann Shields, CC, OM, FRSC, MA was an American-born Canadian author. She is best known for her 1993 novel The Stone Diaries, which won the U.S. Pulitzer Prize for Fiction as well as the Governor General's Award in Canada.-Biography:Shields was born in Oak Park, Illinois...
's "Republic of Love", which Mehta directed. Her 2007 original movie of the week, "In God's Country" broke records for viewership on CTV. She and
Tassie CameronTassie Cameron is a Gemini Award-winning Canadian screenwriter who has contributed to numerous television shows and films. She is currently a writer and co-executive producer on the hit CBS/CTV television series Flashpoint...
co-wrote the script for "Would Be Kings", a movie of the week that premiered on CTV in 2008 to great critical acclaim and for which they were nominated for the Gemini award for Best Writing. Most recently, she was a writer and story consultant on the CBS/CTV hit series "Flashpoint".
Spalding and her mother
Linda SpaldingLinda Spalding is a Canadian writer and editor. Born in Topeka, Kansas the daughter of Jacob Alan Dickinson and Edith Senner, she lived in Mexico and Hawaii before moving to Toronto, Ontario in 1982....
co-wrote a novel, "Mere", which was published in 2001.
She is a contributing editor to the literary magazine
BrickBrick is a Canadian literary magazine published twice a year out of Toronto, Ontario.The magazine publishes book reviews, poetry, memoirs, fiction, essays and interviews with both Canadian and international writers. It was founded in London, Ontario By Stan Dragland and Jean McKay in 1977 and was...
.
She has a B.A from
University of ChicagoThe University of Chicago is a private, coeducational research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by oil magnate and benefactor John D...
and an
M.A.A Master of Arts is a postgraduate academic master degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is typically studied for in English, Fine Arts, History, Nursing, Humanities, Geography, Philosophy, Social Sciences or Theology and can be either fully-taught, research-based, or a...
from
Stanford UniversityThe Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university located in Stanford, California, United States...
.