Beth Powning

Beth Davis Powning is a Canadian writer and photographer. She is best known for her novels, which explore themes of nature, history, and personal resilience. Her work often reflects her connection to the natural world, drawing on her experiences living in rural New Brunswick. Her works include Seeds of Another Summer, The Hatbox Letters (2004), A Measure of Light (2015) and The Sister’s Tale (2021).

Early life and education Beth Davis Powning was born on August 15, 1949, in Putnam, Connecticut and was raised in a Quaker family.

She received a Bachelor of Arts in creative writing from Sarah Lawrence College in 1972. She also received an honorary Doctor of Letters from the University of New Brunswick in 2014. In 2020, Beth Powning received an honorary Doctor of Laws from Mount Allison University in 2020.

Career Though Powning had always been interested in pursuing writing, she began her career running a pottery business with her husband on their old farmhouse in Sussex, New Brunswick. After beginning to take photographs, Powning published her first book, Seeds of Another Summer (1996), published as Home: Chronicle of a North Country Life in the United States. The book incorporates essays and photographs. Home won the 1996 New England Booksellers Association Discovery Award and was shortlisted for the 2000 Rutstrum Author's Award. and Edge Seasons (2005), a memoir of personal transformation. Shadow Child was shortlisted for the 2000 Edna Staebler Award. and was longlisted for the Dublin Literary Award. Powning's most recent novel,The Sister’s Tale (2021), is about three women confronting their pasts.

In addition to writing books, Powning has published non-fiction works and contributed to various literary anthologies. She has received several awards and nominations for her writing, including New Brunswick’s Lieutenant Governor’s Award for High Achievement in English Language Literary Arts.

Beyond writing, Powning's photographs have been featured in the work of Robert Osborne, including Roses for Canadian Gardens (1991), Hardy Trees and Shrubs (1994), and Hardy Apples (2022).

Personal life In 1968, Powning met Canadian artist Peter Powning through mutual friends in New York City. They were married the following year at Beth's parents farm in rural Connecticut. In 1970, the pair relocated to rural New Brunswick, Canada, sharing a desire to live close to the land in as self-sufficient way as possible. They bought an 1870s farmhouse near the town of Sussex, New Brunswick, where they still resided as of 2020, and Peter built his first studio in a converted grain shed. The farmhouse has served as inspiration for many of Powning's books.