Flood, Cynthia

Cynthia Flood, born September 17, 1940, is a Canadian short-story writer and novelist. She is the daughter of novelist Luella Creighton and historian Donald Creighton. Flood grew up primarily in Toronto, but spent two years in an English boarding school from the time she was 11 until she was 13. After graduating from the University of Toronto in 1961, Flood began her professional career in publishing in San Francisco, New York, Toronto, and Montreal. She moved to Vancouver in 1969 where she taught English and Women’s Studies part-time at Langara College and was eventually offered a regular contract position in 1985. After her retirement, Flood taught creative writing in the Writing and Publishing program at Simon Fraser University. She has been a member of the Writers’ Union of Canada, PEN International, and the Federation of BC Writers.

Flood has been active in many socialist, feminist, anti-war and environmental groups, all of which have influenced her writing. During the 1970s, she gave birth to two daughters and began to seriously establish herself as a writer. Her short fiction has appeared in many Canadian literary magazines and has been widely anthologized.

Flood’s first book of short stories, "The Animals in Their Elements," appeared in 1987 followed by "My Father Took a Cake to France" in 1992. The title story from "My Father Took a Cake to France" won the Writers' Trust / McClelland and Stewart Journey Prize in 1990. Flood also has won awards from Western Magazines and Prism International. Her works have been repeatedly included in the "Best Canadian Stories" anthology by Oberon Press.

In 2002, Flood published her first novel, "Making a Stone of the Heart," with Key Porter Books. The book was nominated for the City of Vancouver Book Award that year.

While writing "Making a Stone of the Heart," Flood was working on a series of short fiction stories all set in 1950s England that eventually grew into what she describes as a linked sequence. These were published by Biblioasis in 2009 as Flood’s third collection of short fiction, "The English Stories." The story “Religious Knowledge” won the National Magazine Gold Award in 2000 after it appeared in Prism International magazine.

Flood published her fourth collection, "Red Girl Rat Boy," in 2013 once again in collaboration with Biblioasis. The book was chosen by "January Magazine" and "Quill & Quire" magazine as one of 2013’s notable books. It was shortlisted for the Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize from BC Book Prizes, and long-listed for the Frank O’Connor Short Story Award.