14 ratings | 0 reviews | avg rating:4.36

more photos (3)

Ryan Uytdewilligen’s Followers (16)

Ryan’s Bookshelves

to-read (0)
currently-reading (1)
read (13)
did-not-finish (0)
america (1)
animal-fiction (1)
animal-lovers (1)
childrens (1)
funny (1)
genre (1)
See all bookshelves »

Ryan’s Friends (67)

Anthony Whitt

1,146 books | 1,193 friends

Dave-Jackie Reich

275 books | 9 friends

Katya Epstein

1,042 books | 28 friends

Emi Reich

169 books | 21 friends

Brad

71 books | 73 friends

Kyla

350 books | 40 friends

Fiona

603 books | 32 friends

John Roberts

298 books | 77 friends

More friends…

Ryan Uytdewilligen

Goodreads Author

Born

in Lethbridge, Canada

Website

https://ryanuytdewilligenauthor.com/

Twitter

@r_uytdewilligen

Genre

Young Adult, Nonfiction, Children's

Influences

John Irving, Larry McMurtry, Dave Eggers

Member Since

June 2016

edit data

Born in Lethbridge, Alberta and raised on the family farm outside the town of Coaldale, Uytdewilligen studied Communication Arts with a major in Broadcast Journalism at Lethbridge College – leading to work as a radio news anchor, television reporter, and copywriter.

He later studied Writing for Film and Television at Vancouver Film School where he wrote and produced the short films Tea Time and Even the Devil Swiped Right.

His first novel, Tractor, was published in 2016 by Sartoris Literary. Taking inspiration from Jack Kerouac and Larry McMurtry novels, the story follows a teenager in the early 1960s drive a tractor across the American south.

Uytdewilligen’s second novel, Akela, was published in 2019 by BHC Press – earning numerous accolades Born in Lethbridge, Alberta and raised on the family farm outside the town of Coaldale, Uytdewilligen studied Communication Arts with a major in Broadcast Journalism at Lethbridge College – leading to work as a radio news anchor, television reporter, and copywriter.

He later studied Writing for Film and Television at Vancouver Film School where he wrote and produced the short films Tea Time and Even the Devil Swiped Right.

His first novel, Tractor, was published in 2016 by Sartoris Literary. Taking inspiration from Jack Kerouac and Larry McMurtry novels, the story follows a teenager in the early 1960s drive a tractor across the American south.

Uytdewilligen’s second novel, Akela, was published in 2019 by BHC Press – earning numerous accolades including a nomination for the Pushcart Prize. It followed the century-spanning life of an adventurous sea turtle that becomes entangled in historical events as he searches for his long lost love.

He is also the author of numerous non-fiction works including the film history book 101 Most Influential Coming of Age Movies, the true crime story Love, Land, and Lawyers, and The History of Lethbridge, a look at the unique story of his hometown.

He currently has several feature film screenplays in development with Hollywood producers and has served as a script doctor and writer for hire.

His latest non-fiction work, Killing John Wayne: The Making of The Conqueror, tells the story of how the worst movie ever made, a 1956 epic starring John Wayne and produced by Howard Hughes, became a deadly disaster. It was published by Rowman and Littlefield.

Ryan’s third fiction novel, He’s No Angel, was released in the summer of 2022. It is an absurdist comedy book satirizing Hollywood and the afterlife.

His first children’s picture book, This is Not My Story, was published by KidsCan Press in June of 2023. His early reader novel, The Next Big Pigs, is out at the end of March, 2026.

His writing has appeared in numerous publications including The Toronto Star, Whetstone Magazine, ScreenRant, Sessions X, Quirk Magazine, The Chicago Tribune, InFocus Film School, and Taste of Cinema while his weekly column, Ryan’s Regards, maintained a popular readership in the for two-and-a-half years.

Armed with an encyclopedic knowledge for film history, Uytdewilligen can eagerly name you every Academy Award winner in case you ever wanted to know.

Ryan currently teaches several pop culture courses at Toronto Metropolitan University’s Life Institute.

Ryan lives in Calgary, Alberta with his golden retriever Fleetwood. ...more

Learn more
Ask the Author

To ask Ryan Uytdewilligen questions, please sign up.

Combine Editions
Ryan Uytdewilligen’s books

Average rating: 3.89 · 235 ratings · 81 reviews · 10 distinct works • Similar authors

	This Is Not My Story by Ryan Uytdewilligen (Goodreads Author), David Huyck (Illustrations) 3.82 avg rating — 153 ratings — published 2023 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Killing John Wayne: The Making of the Conqueror 3.81 avg rating — 32 ratings — 7 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Akela 3.29 avg rating — 17 ratings — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The History of Lethbridge 4.50 avg rating — 10 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	101 Most Influential Coming of Age Movies 4.83 avg rating — 6 ratings — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Tractor 4.80 avg rating — 5 ratings — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	He's No Angel 4.40 avg rating — 5 ratings — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	the cattle driver it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 3 ratings — published 2018	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Next Big Pigs 4.33 avg rating — 3 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Mystery Magazine: December 2022 by Mystery Weekly Magazine, Kerry Carter (Editor), Carl Tait really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 1 rating — published 2022 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by Ryan Uytdewilligen…

2 posts
Ryan Uytdewilligen's Blog

He's No Angel lands this month!

He's No Angel

Hello!

Ryan Uytdewilligen the author here.

A lot has happened in the years since I've created my Goodreads author profile.

In 2016, I published both my first fiction novel and first non-fiction novel - Tractor and 101 Most Influential Coming of Age Movies.

Since then, I've penned the Will Rogers Medallion winning novella The Cattle Driver, the anthropomorphic sea turtle adventure Akela, a Read more of this blog post »

Like • 0 comments • flag

Published on July 11, 2022 14:29 • Tags: he-s-no-angel

View all 2 posts »

Ryan is Currently Reading

Ryan Uytdewilligen is currently reading

My Dog Tulip

by J.R. Ackerley

bookshelves: currently-reading

read in January 2022

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Jul 19, 2022 10:44AM

rss
Ryan’s Recent Updates

Ryan Uytdewilligen made a comment in the group Children's Books — Meet The Next Big Pigs topic " My next children’s book, an early reader chapter book for children 6 to 8 called The Next Big Pigs, is set to release on March 31. Ten-year-old Mikey i ...more "
Mar 29, 2026 09:24AM
Ryan Uytdewilligen joined the group Children's Books
Mar 29, 2026 09:23AM · like
Ryan Uytdewilligen rated a book it was amazing The Next Big Pigs by Ryan Uytdewilligen (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Mar 29, 2026 09:10AM · like

More of Ryan's books…

recent posts
Ryan’s Groups

Western Romance — 145 members — last activity Aug 05, 2025 09:06AM
Rugged cowboys & defiant outlaws lassoed by love. This is an open group for authors to share their own western romance work and for authors & readers ...more

Children's Books — 6970 members — last activity 18 hours, 14 min ago
From picture-books to juvenile fiction, award-winners to overlooked gems, the world of children's literature provides an endless supply of fabulous bo ...more

Everything and Anything — 47 members — last activity Apr 15, 2024 08:00PM
In this group, we can talk about anything! Any one is allowed to create polls and topics and folders---you name it:) You can talk about books/movies/t ...more

Golden Age of Hollywood Book Club — 428 members — last activity 2 hours, 13 min ago
This reading group is for lovers of classic Hollywood. We discuss the films, crews, actors, designers, and books that cover the Golden Age of Tinsel ...more

Silver Screen Book Club — 419 members — last activity Mar 28, 2026 07:52PM
For anyone interested in black and white movies, actors from the dawn of film through the 1960s, or the culture of the era, this is the book club for ...more

The Midnight Readers — 258 members — last activity Nov 19, 2018 06:39AM
A group of bibliophiles who enjoy discussing books and reading far too late into the night. Each month we come together to discuss a book our member ...more

Historical Info for Historical Fiction Readers — 1561 members — last activity Aug 11, 2022 01:41AM
Information about eras past in different parts of the world. Help for readers who may feel lost in an unfamiliar historical setting, may not understan ...more

Short & Sweet Treats — 1259 members — last activity Dec 15, 2021 04:49AM
Welcome to Short & Sweet Treats! We are here to read books together, engage in discussions, and have fun. We play lots of games and read lots of go ...more

The Wild West — 165 members — last activity Nov 07, 2025 01:23AM
Be transported into the wild and wooly past of the American Wild West, its history and legends of cowboys, western cowgirls,pioneer men and women of t ...more

COWBOY ADDICTS ANONYMOUS — 287 members — last activity Nov 16, 2018 10:08AM
A group of authors and lovers of cowboy romances (historical and contemporary) and for anyone who thinks there's something very special about a man in ...more

More of Ryan’s groups…

Ryan’s Friend Comments

No comments have been added yet.