Award-Winning Author

Deni Ellis
Béchard

Exploring the boundaries of technology and human experience through fiction.

Nautilus Book Award Grand Prize Commonwealth Writers' Prize Midwest Book Award for Literary Fiction Best Canadian Essays CASE Circle of Excellence Gold Award Nautilus Book Award Grand Prize Commonwealth Writers' Prize Midwest Book Award for Literary Fiction Best Canadian Essays CASE Circle of Excellence Gold Award
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Deni Ellis Béchard is the author of ten books of fiction and nonfiction and the winner of the 2007 Commonwealth Writers' Prize for best first book, the 2016 Midwest Book Award for Literary Fiction, and 2015 Nautilus Book Award Grand Prize. His writing has been nominated for a Canadian National Magazine Award and featured in Best Canadian Essays.

The National Post Paris Review The Washington Post Foreign Policy The Times of London Los Angeles Times Salon Pacific Standard CityLab The Guardian Vanity Fair Italia The Walrus Harvard Review La Repubblica The National Post Paris Review The Washington Post Foreign Policy The Times of London Los Angeles Times Salon Pacific Standard CityLab

Books

We Are Dreams in the Eternal Machine book cover
NEW RELEASE

We Are Dreams in the Eternal Machine

A haunting novel exploring artificial intelligence and the meaning of human existence in a post-coup America.

A Literary Hub Notable Book of the Year
A Millions Most Anticipated Book of 2025
Featured in Reactor's New Science Fiction Books
Featured in Book Riot's New Science Fiction and Fantasy Books
Speculative Fiction Buy on Amazon
Into the Sun book cover
Midwest Book Award

Into the Sun

A novel about the civilian surge in Afghanistan, the lives of expats living in Kabul during the war, and their messianic quests. Chosen by Radio Canada/CBC as one of the most important books of 2017.

Literary Fiction Buy on Amazon
Cures for Hunger book cover
Oprah's Summer Reading List

Cures for Hunger

A memoir about Béchard's experience growing up with bank robber father and his search to understand his family's origins.

Memoir Buy on Amazon
Of Bonobos and Men book cover
Nautilus Book Award

Of Bonobos and Men

A mix of travelogue, natural history, and science writing, this book describes Béchard's journey into the Congo to understand bonobos, the great ape that shares 99 percent of human DNA and that resolves conflicts through sex. Their approach to building peaceful coalitions and sharing resources has much to teach us, particularly at a time when our violent ways have pushed them to the brink of extinction.

Narrative Nonfiction Buy on Amazon
My Favorite Crime book cover

My Favorite Crime

These essays from around the world gather years of international travel and personal reflection on war, family, and place.

Essays Buy on Amazon
A Song from Faraway book cover

A Song from Faraway

A novel of linked stories about art and personal expression that follow a family across two centuries of war and reinvention.

Literary Fiction Buy on Amazon
Vandal Love book cover
Commonwealth Writers' Prize

Vandal Love

The magical story of a family during the French-Canadian exodus: A curse—a genetic trick from centuries of hardship—causes the Hervé children to be born giants or runts. While the giants fight in search of a new home in the United States, the runts discover that their power lies in a kind of unifying love. But none of the Hervés can abandon their longing for a place where they might find others like themselves.

Literary Fiction Buy on Amazon
Kuei, My Friend book cover

Kuei, My Friend

A book of letters written between Béchard and First Nations poet Natasha Kanapé-Fontaine about growing up on either side of the racial divide and the important work of understanding racism to foster reconciliation.

Epistolary Nonfiction Buy on Amazon
White book cover
Foreword Indie Award

White

A novel with echoes of Heart of Darkness about a writer's journey to find and expose an American criminal hiding in the Congo rainforest.

Foreword Indie Book of the Year Awards: Bronze Winner for General Fiction
Literary Fiction Buy on Amazon

Critical Acclaim

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