David A. Poulsen has been a broadcaster, teacher, rancher, high school football coach, stage and film actor and‚ most of all‚ writer. His writing career began in earnest when his story The Welcomin’ won the 1984 Alberta Culture Short Story Competition. Now the author of more than 20 books, many for middle readers and young adults, David has been a popular and much sought-after presenter for all ages and grades schools and at teacher and library conferences for the over two decades. He recently completed his Masters degree in Creative Writing at UBC and in 2012-13 was the Writer in Residence at the Saskatoon Public Library.
In 2011 David’s young adult novel Numbers was selected for the Sakura Medal (awarded by English speaking high school students in Japan to their favourite novel of the year). As a result he was invited to tour International Schools in Japan and Korea in the fall of 2011. Numbers has since been added to the new English curriculum for Grade 10 in Saskatchewan. His 2013 teen novel, Old Man, a YA/Adult crossover novel was a nominee for the White Pine Award in the OLA’s Forest of reading competition. David’s most recent novel, Serpents Rising, his first foray into adult crime fiction and first title in the Cullen and Cobb Mystery series, was released on October 25, 2014. The native Calgarian divides his time between his small ranch in the Alberta foothills southwest of Calgary and a second home in Maricopa, Arizona.
Publications
1984 The Welcomin’ Winner of the Alberta Culture Short Story competition
1987 Middle Reader novel The Cowboy Kid. Book 1 of Rodeo Trilogy (Plains Publishing, Edmonton)
1989 Middle Reader novel Ride for the Crown, Book 2 of Rodeo Trilogy. (Plains, Edmonton).
1990 Short story collection Dream. (Plains, Edmonton).
1995 Sports Bio Robokicker, co-written with Dave Ridgway. (Johnson/Gorman Publishing, Red Deer)
1995 Middle Reader novel Ride the High Country, third book in Rodeo Trilogy.
(Red Hawk Books, High River, Alberta. (Coincides with second printings of first two books in trilogy).
1996 Young Adult Novel Billy and the Bearman. (Napoleon Publishing, Toronto) ¬†Selected by the Canadian Children’s Book Centre for a Choice Award. ¬†Shortlisted for Blue Heron Book Award and Writers Guild of Alberta Children‚’s Book of the Year.
2000 Wild Ride: Three Journeys Down the Rodeo Road. (Stoddart Publishing Co., Toronto).
2004 Young Adult novel, Last Sam’s Cage. (Key Porter Books, Toronto). Nominated for Snow Willow (Saskatchewan), MYRCA (Manitoba) Young Reader’s Choice Awards and R. Ross Annette (Alberta) Award. Selected by the Canadian Children’s Book Centre for a Choice Award
2006 The Vampire’s Visit and The Hunk Machine–first two books of middle reader series The Salt and Pepper Chronicles. Key Porter Books (Toronto).
2007 No Time Like the Past and The Book of Vampire (books 3 and 4 of The Salt and Pepper Chronicles) Key Porter Books (Toronto). The Vampire’s Visit was a finalist for the Silver Birch Reader’s Choice Award in Ontario. No Time Like the Past was a finalist for The Golden Eagle Children’s Choice Book Award in southern Alberta.
Key Porter Books publishes the first two books of the reluctant reader series The Lawrence High School Yearbook‚Wild Thing and Blind Date.
2008 Book 5 of The Salt and Pepper Chronicles‚ÄîThe Prisoners and the Paintings. (Key Porter, Toronto). This book won the 2010 Golden Eagle Children’s Choice Book Award.
Books 3 and 4 of The Lawrence High School Yearbook Series‚ Jeremy’s Song and Cowboy Cool. Key Porter, Toronto)
2009 Book 6 of The Salt and Pepper Chronicles—Shivers and Shakes. (Key Porter, Toronto).
2010 Numbers‚ Young Adult novel (Key Porter Books, Toronto). Winner of the 2011 Sakura Medal, Japan.
2011 I Wish I Could Be Like Tommy Blake (picture book) Donahue House Publishing, Edmonton.
2013 Old Man. (YA/Adult crossover) Dundurn Books, Toronto.
2014 Serpents Rising, (Adult crime fiction) Dundurn Books, Toronto