Welcome
Letting Go
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Where Dreams Have Gone
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Love Minus One & Other Stories
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A Certain State of Mind
Ladies, start your engines, Women Writers on Cars and The Road
Norma Harrs was born and raised in Ireland. She emigrated
to Canada as a young woman, and settled in Winnipeg where she married and raised
two sons. It was there she pursued her interest in theatre, performing on the
professional stage. She also became a freelance broadcaster and writer working
for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and various newspapers across the country.
After moving to Toronto in the mid-seventies, she worked as a freelance journalist
for The Globe & Mail, The Toronto Star and other Canadian newspapers. She also
wrote four plays, the first of which was optioned by the National Arts Centre
in Ottawa. Subsequently her next three plays were produced professionally. Her
first novel, 'A Certain State of Mind,' came out in the eighties. Many of her
short stories have been carried in literary journals and anthologies both here
and in the United States. She has been a finalist seven times in the CBC Literary
Contest.
Her first collection of short stories, 'Love Minus One & Other Stories,' was
published by Hounslow Press in 1994 and received glowing reviews.
Her next collection, "Where Dreams Have Gone," published by Simon & Pierre,
were no less successful.
Stories from both collections were carried on CBC's programme, 'Between the Covers.'
Telstar records (U.K.) put out some of her stories on cassette tape.
Her work is currently carried in a school text published by Harcourt, Brace.
Her stories were included in a course given on the Irish short story, being offered
at Trent University, Peterborough.
Norma gives readings of her work and has been a popular performer at
both the Harbourfront Reading Series and the Leacock Humour Festival in Orillia.