Strays, Ed Kavanagh's first work of fiction since the award-winning novel The Confessions of Nipper Mooney, features ten memorable stories that explore the lives of those who somehow find themselves adrift. In "The Strayaway Child" a ninety-year-old woman recalls her girlhood during the Great Depression when she was a "sad, silent little nobody"; in "The Red Merc" a boy learns deep truths about his often absent father; and in "The Wind" a Newfoundlander in a big Canadian city struggles with issues of identity. Affecting, finely crafted, and often humorous, Strays speaks, ultimately, to our desire to belong.

What one critic said about The Confessions of Nipper Mooney applies equally to Strays: "Kavanagh writes beautifully . . . poignantly illustrating how experience shapes character . . . . The lyrical cadence of the writing is reminiscent of Alistair MacLeod, making it a book that begs to be read aloud."

Ed Kavanagh grew up in Kilbride, Newfoundland and Labrador, and now lives in Mount Pearl. He received an Honours B.A. in English and a B. Ed from Memorial University of Newfoundland, a B.A. in Music from Carleton University, and an M.A. in English and Creative Writing from the University of New Brunswick. He has worked as a writer, actor, musician, theatre director, university lecturer, and editor. His stories, essays, dramatic scripts, and poetry have earned many awards in the Newfoundland and Labrador Arts and Letters Competition. Ed has taught creative writing through the extension services of both Memorial University and the University of New Brunswick. He is a past-president of the Writer’s Alliance of Newfoundland and Labrador.

In addition to the Amanda Greenleaf series of children’s books, Ed has also published The Cat’s Meow: The Longside Players Selected Plays 1984-1989 (co-author and editor), and released a recording of his children’s songs: Alison Gross and Other Wickedly Wonderful Songs. In 2001, Killick Press published his first adult novel, The Confessions of Nipper Mooney, which won the Newfoundland and Labrador Book Award for Fiction, was a finalist for the Winterset Award, and was also nominated for the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award. His most recent releases are the Celtic harp CDs Weaving the Wind: Music from Newfoundland Performed on Celtic Harp, One Star Awake (both nominated by MusicNL for Best Instrumental Album of the Year), and On Strings of Light: Christmas Melodies Performed on Celtic Harp. An omnibus edition of his children=s stories, Amanda Greenleaf: The Complete Adventures, was published in 2004.

Since the publication of his first book in 1986, Ed Kavanagh has travelled widely, visiting many schools and libraries. As a musician, harper, and writer of children’s songs, he adds variety to his visits with musical selections on guitar and Celtic harp. He has performed extensively throughout Newfoundland and Labrador as well as in Nova Scotia, Ontario, New Brunswick, St. Pierre, New Zealand, and Ireland.

Ed Kavanagh's profile page

In Ed Kavanagh's Strays, readers are treated to a rare breed of storyteller--a natural, one who spins yarns as effortlessly as he breathes. These stories feature a striking variety of characters who invite you inside their minds, only to provoke you with their outcast laments as they grasp for meaning and a place to call home. They start with the easy familiarity of an old friend, enchant throughout, and like an aged Scotch they finish with a soft burn. - Thomas Raddall Atlantic Fiction Award jurors

"The music of Ed Kavanagh's prose lights his characters from within, lending them a lasting resonance. Strays is a great book, a book to be treasured." Jean M. Snook, Newfoundland Quarterly.