Primitive

by Gil Adamson

Published in 1991, when Gil Adamson was in her 20s, by Coach House Press, Primitive explores the perils of family, the freedom of the road . .. -à sex, cars and lack of sleep. And lizards. 'The gaze is cinematic, precisely intimate yet distant all at once. It is like flipping through channels. It is a fim. It is not elegiac. It is not sleeping. The artefacts of the middle class are restless, their hallways and wallpaper, streets and shoes. This book is their theatre; we don't need a TV. ' - Erin Moure

56 pages, Paperback

First published January 19, 1991

About the author

Gil Adamson (born Gillian Adamson, 1961) is a Canadian writer. She won the Books in Canada First Novel Award in 2008 for her 2007 novel The Outlander.

Adamson's first published work was "Primitive," a volume of poetry, in 1991. She followed up with the short story collection "Help Me, Jacques Cousteau" in 1995 and a second volume of poetry, "Ashland," in 2003, as well as multiple chapbooks and a commissioned fan biography of Gillian Anderson, "Mulder, It’s Me," which she coauthored with her sister-in-law Dawn Connolly in 1998.

"The Outlander," a novel set in the Canadian West at the turn of the 20th century, was published by House of Anansi in the spring of 2007 and won the Hammett Prize that year. The novel was later selected for the 2009 edition of Canada Reads, where it was championed by actor Nicholas Campbell.

Adamson currently lives in Toronto with poet Kevin Connolly.