Fonds F140 - Eugene Stickland Fonds

Eugene Stickland was born in Regina on September 24, 1956. He is the son of Leonard and Stella (Hunter) Stickland. He earned his Bachelor of Arts Honours in English at the University of Regina in 1980 and his Masters of Fine Arts in Theatre from York University in 1984. He is the father of artist Johanna Stickland who currently resides in Europe. He currently resides in Calgary.

He was Writer-in-Residence at St. Mary’s University in Calgary from 2010 – 2016, where he continues to teach creative writing courses. From 2004 – 2009 Eugene wrote a feature weekly column for the Calgary Herald. He was Playwright-in-Residence at Alberta Theatre Projects from 1994 – 2004. He taught at the Saskatchewan Indian Federated College at the University of Regina in 1990-91. Stickland was Playwright-in-Residence at Act IV Theatre Co. in Toronto from 1984 to 1987 and Communications Coordinator at Frontier College in Toronto from 1984 to 1989. He was a freelance writer for radio and television from 1989 to 1992. He was also a Resident Playwright at the National Theatre School in Montreal and as a Canadian delegate to the World Interplay Theatre Festival for Young Playwrights he traveled to Townsville, Australia.

His productions include: Appetite (2000), Closer and Closer Apart (1999), Noel de Force (Some Assembly Required French translation by Rene Gingras and produced by Campaign Jean Duceppe) (1999), The Hen House (1986), Quartet (1998), A Guide to Mourning, (1998 and 2000), Sitting on Paradise, (1996 and 1999), Excavations (1995 and 2000) and Some Assembly Required (1994 and 1999). Two plays: Sitting on Paradise and A Guide to Mourning were published at Red Deer College Press in 1999 and Some Assembly Required with Coteau Books in 1995. All Clear was written in 2004 and translated into Arabic in 2009 and another play, Queen Lear was produced in Istanbul in Turkish translation, presented by Kenter Theatre in 2009. It ran for over two years in Istanbul and throughout Turkey.

Other publications include Midlife (2002), Writer’s Block (2008) and Queen Lear (2010). His first novel, The Piano Teacher (2015) was awarded the W. O. Mitchell Award by the City of Calgary in 2016.

Awards include: the Betty Mitchell Award for the 1997-98 Season in the categories of Best New Play, Best Performance by a Supporting Actress (Val Pearson), Best Director (Bob White) and Outstanding Production of a Play for A Guide to Mourning; Governor-General’s Award Drama finalist for Some Assembly Required in 1995; and Alberta Playwriting Award for Excavations in 1995; W.O Mitchell Award for The Piano Teacher, 2016.

He is a former Board member of Frontier College in Toronto, past president of the Alberta Playwrights’ Network, a member of the Playwrights Union of Canada, as well as a Founding Member of the Auburn Theatre Practitioners Circle.