A novelist, short story and nonfiction writer, Mary Soderstrom's most recent book is The Walkable City: From Haussmann's Boulevards to Jane Jacobs' Streets and Beyond (Véicule Press, 2008.) Her most recent novel, The Violets of Usambara (Cormorant Books, March 2008) was supported by a grant from The Conseil des Arts et Lettres du Québec which allowed her to do research in East Africa. That experience also shows up in her book Green City: People, Nature and Urban Places (Véhicule Press.) Tanga, Tanzania, the gateway to the East Usambara mountains, is one of the 11 cities she uses in Green City as points of departure for discussing the way people have brought nature into cities over history .
PUBLICATIONS:
The Walkable City: From Haussmann's Boulevards to Jane Jacob's Streets and Beyond. Véhicule Press, 2008
The Violets of Usambara. Cormorant Books, 2008
Green City: People, Nature and Urban Places. Véhicule Press, 2006
After Surfing Ocean Beach. Dundurn, 2004
Re-creating Eden: A Natural History of Botanical Gardens. Véhicule Press, 2001.
The Truth Is. Oberon Press, 2000.
The Words on the Wall; Robert Nelson and the Rebellion of 1837. Ottawa, ON: Oberon Press, 1998.
Finding the Enemy. Ottawa, ON: Oberon Press, 1997.
Endangered Species. Ottawa, ON: Oberon Press, 1995.
Maybe Tomorrow I'll Have a Good Time. Human Sciences Press, 1982
The Descent of Andrew McPherson. McGraw Hill-Ryerson Press, 1976
AWARDS:
One of The Globe and Mail's 100 best books of 2007 for Green City: People, Nature and Urban Places, 2007
Shortlisted, QSPELL Hugh MacLennan Prize for Fiction for Finding the Enemy, 1997.
Shortlisted, QSPELL Hugh MacLennan Prize for Fiction for Endangered Species, 1995.
Finalist, Books in Canada First Novel Award, 1977.
