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Bruce Cinnamon’s first novel, The Melting Queen, is an effervescent composition of magic realism and urban fantasy used to explore LGBTQ+ themes, pursuing his mission of “sprinkling a layer of fairy dust over the supposedly grey prairie.” He has published a number of other short stories, as well as reviews and interviews with writers, filmmakers, and theatre artists that help amplify the works of other Alberta artists.
– Emerging Artist adjudicators
Bruce Cinnamon is a writer who was born and raised in Edmonton and Fort Saskatchewan. Although various jobs have cast him far and wide across the world over the last decade, his creative work thrives in the radiant sunshine of the gigantic Alberta sky, twisting and bending the familiar prairie landscape into carnivalesque fantasies.
He won the 2015 Alberta Views short story contest for a story about a woman who sat down in the middle of a wheat field and has been meditating there for decades, aging in reverse as a temple is constructed around her. His first novel, The Melting Queen, was published by NeWest Press in 2019, telling the tale of a genderfluid ex-frat brother who is named as the sacred spring goddess of an alternate-history Edmonton. He is currently working on his second novel, a fantasy story about a small Alberta town which suddenly vanishes when it is torn into a parallel universe by a predatory City. He holds a BA in English and Creative Writing from the University of Alberta and a Master of Global Affairs from the University of Toronto.
© 2025 the Lieutenant Governor of Alberta Arts Awards
