OSCAR MARTENS

141 - 6200 McKay Avenue, Box 381, Burnaby, BC V5H 4M9, CANADA
Phone: (604) 434-9107 Email: oscar@oscarmartens.com

OSCAR MARTENS BIO

Oscar Martens, born in 1968, has been publishing fiction and poetry in literary journals for 15 years. His work has been read on CBC Radio and shortlisted for the Bronwen Wallace Award.

He has served on the executive of the TREE Reading Series in Ottawa as well as the Ottawa Valley Book Festival Committee. Together with fellow writer James Spyker, he organized and sponsored the No Holds Barred Poetry Contest which received 1618 poems from Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom.

In order to support his very expensive writing habit, Oscar has been a deckhand, secretary, telephone solicitor, door-to-door sales guy, fence post painter, data entry zombie, farm hand, dish pig, and temp. He enjoys typical West Coast pursuits such as sailing, running, and diving.

During the summer of 2000, Oscar crewed on the Simon Fraser, the support vessel for the St. Roch Voyage of Rediscovery, a historic re-enactment of the St. Roch's original voyage through the Northwest Passage.

Although currently living in Burnaby, Oscar has lived in Victoria, Ottawa, Kenya and New Zealand.

BOOKS
The Girl with the Full Figure Is Your Daughter (Turnstone Press, 2002)

SERIALS
Arc (31)
Carousel (10)
Event (21:3, 25:2, 26:3, 31:1)
Geist (4:16)
Globe and Mail (June 23, 2000 - Facts & Arguments)
NeWest Review (23:1)
Prairie Fire (13:4, 18:3)
PRISM international (30:4, 32:1, 36:1)
Quarry (43:4)
Queen's Quarterly (92:3)
Rampike (8:2)
sub-TERRAIN (2:13)

CONTESTS
Honourable Mention - Confederation Poets' Prize (94)
Honourable Mention - Bronwen Wallace Award (97)
Short-list - PRISM international Fiction Contest (98)

GRANTS
Regional Municipality of Ottawa/Carleton grant (93)
Ontario Arts Council (94) Writer's Reserve Grant from Arc
Ontario Arts Council (93) Writer's Reserve Grant from Mosaic Press
Ontario Arts Council (94) Writer's Reserve Grant from Tsar Publications