First Things First gathers 18 of the best of Diane Schoemperlen's earliest and uncollected stories, with several being published in book form for the first time. Playfully inventive, comic, moving and profound, this collection will reinforce Schoemperlen's importance as one of the leading short story writers of her generation.

DIANE SCHOEMPERLEN is the award-winning author of twelve works of fiction and non-fiction. Her works include In the Language of Love, which was short-listed for the Books in Canada/W.H. Smith First Novel Award; Forms of Devotion, a collection of illustrated stories which won the Governor General’s Award and was adapted as a stage play; Our Lady of the Lost and Found; Red Plaid Shirt: New and Selected Stories; Names of the Dead: An Elegy for the Victims of September 11; and At a Loss for Words: A Post-Romantic Novel. She recently published a collection called By the Book: Stories and Pictures, illustrated with her own full-colour collages, which was long listed for the Frank O’Connor International Short Story Award. She is the recipient of the Marian Engel Award from the Writers’ Trust of Canada.

Twitter: @dianesch

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Web: www.dianeschoemperlen.com

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Praise for First Things First

“The pleasures of such a collection — spanning three decades — are that it provides a bounty of good reading while charting the growth of one of our most interesting and iconoclastic writers.”—Toronto Star

“A generous selection of early and uncollected stories to provide a cross-section of Schoemperlen's output in the genre. This single-volume collection showcases the author's skill and versatility.”—Quill & Quire

“Since 1974, Diane Schoemperlen has been producing fine, often-quirky and sardonic short stories about young Canadian women grappling with self-identity and elusive love ... The stories are presented in the order in which Schoemperlen wrote them. The stories get better, more assured and more insightful, over the years. The final four are exceptional, highlighting the author’s strengths and giving three-dimensional pictures of authentic characters and their worlds.”—Dave Williamson, Winnipeg Review

Praise for Diane Schoemperlen

“There is no mistaking a Schoemperlen story—devoted to form, faithful to the mysteries of the everyday.”—The Globe & Mail

“Schoemperlen takes off from the modest launchpad of these seemingly simple concepts, soaring away in wholly unexpected directions. And we follow, thrilled by her quicksilver prose, warm humor, sexiness, precision, and tenderness.”—Booklist

“Schoemperlen’s inventive language and narrative structures encourage readers to be free ‘from the prison of everyday thinking.’”—The New York Times Book Review

“Lovely, clever [and] imaginative.”—The Wall Street Journal