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about
Shayne Woodsmith is a Canadian-British screenwriter, playwright, novelist and filmmaker based in the UK.
He wrote the feature BIRDSONG for Emineo Films, developed with support from the BFI and BBC Film. His current work spans film, television, theatre and comedy, with a particular interest in dark humour, social satire, horror, thriller and speculative storytelling.
Shayne is also an award-winning novelist. His debut novel, TWENTY-SEVEN, is a work of science fiction exploring a health-obsessed future, while his second novel, MY BROTHER MERCY, won a 2015 Next Generation Indie Book Award. His writing has appeared in Carte Blanche and Inscribed: A Magazine for Writers.
His film work includes PAY PHONE, selected for the 2013 Toronto Urban Film Festival, and TOURIST and TIME TRAVEL, both featured at Edmonton’s Gotta Minute Film Festival.
Shayne is also the creator of FACES OF EDMONTON, a photography and non-fiction project inspired by street portraiture and storytelling, which grew from a photoblog into a published book.
Across forms, his work is drawn to complicated characters, social pressure, belief, power and people trying to find their way through systems that have gone slightly wrong.
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books
My Brother Mercy
My Brother Mercy is a 2015 Next Generation Indie Book Awards winner. It is a deeply personal, heartbreaking, and at times hilarious take on the monotony of daily life, the complexities of familial relationships, and the pursuit of meaning in the seemingly endless loop of day-to-day existence. It is Shayne Woodsmith’s followup to his arresting, dystopian novel Twenty-Seven.
Twenty-Seven
Twenty-Seven, Shayne Woodsmith’s arresting, dystopian debut novel, lays bare the plight of this one mere mortal and what her all-too-human condition suggests for a species that has been forever fixated on cheating death. As Sophia rapidly approaches the age of twenty-seven, she must reckon with the consuming obsession of the society around her. You may never look at the notion of a long and healthy life in the same way again
Faces of Edmonton
Faces of Edmonton is a community-building project and photoblog that showcases Edmonton through the portraits and stories of the city’s inhabitants. It is a forum where people can connect and share thoughts and feelings about the portraits and stories of strangers. It’s a community where strangers become acquaintances and dear friends dearer. Faces of Edmonton has introduced many people to the beauty and diversity of Edmonton and the dynamic people who animate it.