Karen Pinchin
Karen Pinchin is a Canadian writer and journalist based in Nova Scotia. Born in Toronto, Pinchin has been the recipient of an Atlantic Journalism Award and a National Magazine Award for her work in journalism. Her 2023 book Kings of Their Own Ocean covers the history of the bluefin tuna, and was the recipient of the Dartmouth Book Award for Non-Fiction at the Atlantic Book Awards in 2024.
Biography
Pinchin was born in Toronto, Ontario and is based in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. She attended Carleton University for journalism and history, Université Laval for French as a second language, Bard College for international affairs, and Northwest Culinary Academy for professional cooking. She earned her Master of Arts and Science from the Columbia Journalism School.[1]
In 2017, Pinchin was the recipient of the Gold Award for Business Reporting at the Atlantic Journalism Awards, awarded for her article Catch and Release published in The Deep.[2] In 2022, she won a National Magazine Award for her article Freeing Oysters from a Parasite's Hold published in Hakai Magazine.[3]
Pinchin released her first book, Kings of Their Own Ocean, in 2023. The book covers the history of the bluefin tuna and how the species was nearly destroyed by overfishing. In her research for the book, she travelled to locations with large amounts of tuna for four years, including Nova Scotia, Maine, Portugal, and Japan.[4] Pinchin's interest in bluefin tuna began in 2019, when she learned of the Rhode Island fisherman Al Anderson who had marked over 60,000 fish as a citizen science effort in the 1960s. Her book covers the story of Anderson and the migration of a specific tuna he caught named Amelia.[5] The book was received positively by critics from The Wall Street Journal[6] and The New Yorker,[7] and was the winner of the Dartmouth Book Award for Non-Fiction at the 2024 Atlantic Book Awards.[8] It was one of three finalists for the 2024 Edna Staebler Award for Creative Non-Fiction.[9]
Publications
Books
- Pinchin, Karen (2023). Kings of Their Own Ocean: Tuna, Obsession, and the Future of Our Seas. Toronto, ON: Knopf Canada. ISBN 978-1-0390-0064-3. OCLC 1346157645.
Selected articles
- Pinchin, Karen (15 June 2021). "Freeing Oysters from a Parasite's Hold". Hakai Magazine. British Columbia: Hakai Institute.
- — (2017). "Catch and Release". The Deep Magazine. Nova Scotia. Archived from the original on 8 November 2017.
See also
References
Citations
Sources
- [AJAs] (28 April 2018). "AJAs Announces 2017 Finalists". Atlantic Journalism Awards. Retrieved 10 July 2025 – via Newswire.
- Bauman, Martin (11 August 2023). "The reel deal: Halifax author Karen Pinchin's new book is making a splash". The Coast. Halifax, NS. Retrieved 28 June 2025.
- Brown, Sarah (14 July 2023). "Karen Pinchin discusses her new book and our history with bluefin tuna". Canadian Geographic. Retrieved 28 June 2025.
- Carey, Richard Adams (21 July 2023). "'Kings of Their Own Ocean' Review: The Trouble With Tuna". The Wall Street Journal. New York, NY: Dow Jones & Company. Retrieved 28 June 2025.
- Drudi, Cassandra (5 June 2024). "Amanda Peters, Karen Pinchin among 2024 Nova Scotia Book Awards winners". Quill & Quire. Toronto, ON: St. Joseph Media. Retrieved 28 June 2025.
- Galchen, Rivka (24 July 2023). "The Magnificence of the Bluefin Tuna". The New Yorker. Advance Publications. Retrieved 28 June 2025.
- Goldfarb, Ben (28 July 2023). "Book Review: In Bluefin Tuna, Fisheries Science Is Never Neat". Undark Magazine. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Retrieved 28 June 2025.
- [National Magazine Awards] (3 June 2022). "And the Winners Are…". National Magazine Awards. Retrieved 28 June 2025.
- Pinchin, Karen. "About". KarenPinchin.com. Retrieved 10 July 2025.
- [Wilfrid Laurier University] (1 October 2024). "Laurier announces finalists for 2024 Edna Staebler Award for Creative Non-Fiction". Wilfrid Laurier University. Retrieved 10 July 2025.
Further reading
Articles
- [Famous Writing Routines]. "Interview with Karen Pinchin: "All writing problems are reporting problems."". Famous Writing Routines. Retrieved 10 July 2025.
- Mcavoy, Christine (11 May 2012). "Dinner With... Karen Pinchin at Che Baba". Vancouver is Awesome. British Columbia: Lodestar Media. Retrieved 10 July 2025.
- Stanton, Carrie (11 May 2024). "Kings of Their Own Ocean: Tuna, Obsession, and the Future of Our Seas by Karen Pinchin". The Miramichi Reader. Miramichi, NB. Retrieved 28 June 2025.
- [The Toronto Star] (28 July 2023). "'King's Of Their Own Ocean': A fish tale featuring a tuna named Amelia tells the urgent story of the future of our seas". The Toronto Star. Torstar. Retrieved 28 June 2025.
Audio and video
- [Canadian Geographic] (31 October 2023). Kings of their Own Ocean with Karen Pinchin (Podcast). Canadian Geographic. Retrieved 28 June 2025.
- [CTV] (2023). Karen Pinchin on 'Kings of Their Own Ocean: Tuna, Obsession and the Future of Our Seas'. The Social. CTV Television Network. Archived from the original (Video) on 17 May 2025. Retrieved 28 June 2025.
External links
- Official website
- Works by Karen Pinchin at Open Library
- Karen Pinchin at 49th Shelf, Association of Canadian Publishers