AS Penne

A.S. Penne’s work has been published on both sides of the Atlantic, winning the UK’s acclaimed Ian St James Award (1996 and 1994) and the USA’s Writers’ Digest award (1994).  In Canada her work has been a finalist in the prestigious Western Magazine Awards (2000) as well as honourably mentioned in the Norma Epstein Creative Writing Competition (1993).  She has been a participant at both the Iowa Writers Workshop as well as the Banff Writing Studio.

Penne’s short fiction in Reckoning (Turnstone, 2008) focuses on relationships – how they work or don’t work – and how communication affects relationship.  After living at various times in Montreal, France, London, Sacramento, Glasgow and Gloucestershire, Penne now resides on BC’s Sunshine Coast where she is a freelance editor and continues to write stageplays, momfiction and fiction.  Penne has been a participant at both the Banff Writers' Studio and the Iowa Writers Workshop.

The story behind her literary nonfiction book, Old Stones, came full circle during a year spent in Gloucestershire at the change of millenium.  Through a circuitous route, Penne was contacted by the French family who had rescued her wounded RCAF father in 1942.  Crossing the Channel to meet and thank them brought home the recognition that without their intervention, her own life would never have existed.

Reviewers have said:

 “…a powerful and captivating story that resonates on multiple levels.  …literate, original, entertaining, emotionally rewarding, deftly written, and highly recommended reading.”  The Bookwatch, Midwest Book Review.

“An unusually well-written account of the author's research into her parents’ origins.”  Family History Monthly  (London).