Aga Maksimowska

Aga Maksimowska is a novelist and teacher (born Gdynia, Poland, January 16, 1977). She grew up in Gdańsk, Poland, and immigrated to Toronto in 1988. She studied journalism at Ryerson University, Education at the University of Toronto, and Creative Writing at the University of Guelph. Maksimowska has written one novel and writes regularly for papers and journals across Canada. She lives in Toronto with her husband and daughter and teaches English and Creative Writing at a Toronto boys’ school.

Writing
Giant is Maksimowska's first novel published by Pedlar Press in May 2013. Giant tells the story of a young girl's coming-of-age in Communist-era Poland and Toronto, Ontario. Maksimowska says, "The world I created in Giant is the one I am and was intimately familiar with: the Baltic coast of Poland, where I grew up, in the 1980s; Mel Lastman’s suburban Toronto of the late ’80s and early ’90s; middle school bullies and high school posers; ESL kids trying desperately to fit in." In a review of Giant the National Post wrote, "The prose itself has an uncouth quality that seems to mirror this rough sailing.[…] From the same source flow some of the weirdest metaphors I’ve ever encountered." The Toronto Review of Books also reviewed Giant saying, "Maksimowska’s style is restrained, delivering information with an even tone, the prose devoid of the overly poetic excess that is too often paired with themes of revolution and longing. This style creates a voice for Gosia that has a satirical edge, the portrait of Communist Poland poignant and biting when seen through her eyes."

Maksimowska has been a guest editor at the National Post, has written columns for The Globe and Mail, and has written for The 49th Shelf and the International Festival of Authors blog. Her fiction writing has been published in Kurungabaa, Soliloquies Anthology, Swamp, and The Antigonish Review.

Awards
Giant is nominated for a 2013 Toronto Book Award and was on the CBC Scotiabank Giller Prize Readers' Choice shortlist.