Jane Urquhart was born in the small northern Ontario mining community of Little Long Lac (near Geraldton) and spent her later childhood and adolescence in Toronto.

She has published three books of poetry (I'm Walking in the Garden of His Imaginary Palace, False Shuffles, and The Little Flowers of Madame de Montespan), four novels (The Whirlpool, Changing Heaven, Away, and The Underpainter), and a collection of short fiction (Storm Glass) as well as numerous articles and reviews.

Jane Urquhart's books have been published in many countries, including Holland, France, Germany, Britain, Scandinavia, Australia, and The United States, and have been translated into several languages. In 1992, her novel The Whirlpool was the first Canadian book to win France's prestigious Prix du Meilleur Livre Etranger (Best Foreign Book Award). Her third novel, Away, remained on Globe & Mail's National Bestseller list for 132 weeks (the longest of any Canadian book), and won the 1994 Trillium Award. In 1994 Urquhart also received the Marian Engel Award for an outstanding body of prose written by a Canadian woman. In 1996 she was named to France's Order of Arts and Letters as a Chevalier, and Away was shortlisted for the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award , the world's largest literary prize for a single work of fiction. In 1997 Urquhart was asked to serve on the jury for this award.

Jane Urquhart has been Writer-in-Residence at the University of Ottawa and at Memorial University of Newfoundland and, during the winter and spring of 1997, she held the Presidential Writer-in-Residence Fellowship at the University of Toronto. She has also given readings and lectures in Canada, Britain, Europe, the USA and Australia.

Jane Urquhart's first three novels have recently been reprinted in beautiful new trade paperback editions. In the fall of 1997, her fourth novel, The Underpainter, was published to wide critical acclaim, won the 1997 Governor General's Award, and became a fixture on the national bestseller lists.

Her fifth novel, The Stonecarvers was published in 2001 and shortlisted for the Giller prize.

The author lives in a Southwestern Ontario village with her husband, Tony Urquhart.

Jane Urquhart's works copyright © to the author.