Keith Harrison

John Keith Harrison (June 18, 1945 – April 10, 2019) was a Canadian novelist. He published five novels.

Harrison was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. His education included an English degree from the University of British Columbia in 1967, a Master of Arts from University of California, Berkeley in 1968, and a Ph.D. from McGill University in 1972, in which he focused on the literature of Malcolm Lowry.^[1]

Harrison taught in the English department at Dawson College in Montreal, Quebec,^[2] and was chair of the creative writing department at Malaspina University-College in Nanaimo.^[3] He continued to teach at the same institution, which became Vancouver Island University.

His novels include Eyemouth (1990), a story of four characters from a Scottish fishing village around the turn of the 19th century.^[4][5] Told entirely in the form of letters, the novel was a finalist for the QSPELL Awards, which recognize books written by English-speaking Quebec residents.^[6] Furry Creek, his 1999 "true-life novel", recounts the story of the murder of British Columbia poet Pat Lowther. In a generally positive review, writer Mark Anthony Jarman said, "The best parts of Furry Creek ... are fascinating and evocative ... Lowther's troubled shadow looms behind the text ... This is a kind of magic trick on the part of Keith Harrison, a labour of love, a monument to a writer's memory ..."^[7] It was nominated for the Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize.^[8]

He edited the 2001 anthology Islands West, a compilation of short stories authored by writers from the west coast of Canada.^[3]

Harrison lived on Hornby Island with his wife, JoAnn, whom he had known since elementary school.^[1] He died on April 10, 2019.^[9]

• Dead Ends (1981)
• After Six Days (1985)
• Eyemouth (1990)
• Furry Creek (1999)
• Elliot & Me (2006)