Biography
Royston Tester grew up in Birmingham, the English Midlands. Before emigrating to Canada in 1978, he spent time in London, Barcelona, and Melbourne. A Canadian citizen, he is a fellow of the Hawthornden writers’ retreat in Scotland, the Valparaiso Foundation in Spain, and is a frequent Leighton Studio artist-resident at The Banff Centre. He was educated in English and European Literature at Essex University in the U.K. and in Modern British Literature at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario.
He has published short fiction in numerous Canadian literary journals, including Descant, The New Quarterly, The Antigonish Review, and The Malahat Review; his work has been anthologized in Rip-Rap and Intersections (Banff Centre Press) and the Quickies series (Arsenal Pulp Press); in 2003 he was shortlisted for Pagitica’s International Literary Competition. In the U.S. his stories have appeared in online publications such as Blithe House Quarterly, Lodestar, and the anthology Everything I Have Is Blue (Suspect Thoughts Press); and in 2002 he was a finalist in the U.S. New Century Writer Awards. His first collection of linked stories Summat Else (Porcupine's Quill, 2004) is followed by a second, You Turn Your Back. Currently working on a novel, Heather's Masterpiece, Tester lives in the Little Italy area of Toronto.
