Douglas Coupland
Douglas Coupland is a Canadian author and artist known for his insightful exploration of contemporary culture, particularly the lives and struggles of youth. Born on a NATO air force base in Germany in 1961, he moved to Canada with his family at a young age. Coupland studied sculpture at the Emily Carr College of Art and Design, graduating in 1984, and initially pursued a career in sculpture across Europe and Japan before shifting his focus to writing. He gained widespread recognition with his debut novel, *Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture* (1991), which coined the term "Generation X" and resonated with a generation navigating a rapidly changing world.
His subsequent novels, including *Shampoo Planet* (1992) and *Microserfs* (1995), further delve into themes of youth and technology. In addition to fiction, Coupland has published notable nonfiction works that reflect on Canadian culture and identity. His artistic endeavors extend beyond literature; he has curated significant art exhibitions and has continued to engage in sculpture and design. Coupland's contributions to both literature and the arts have earned him various accolades, including honorary degrees and an appointment as Officer of the Order of Canada in 2013.
Douglas Coupland
Canadian novelist, nonfiction writer, and artist.
- Born: December 30, 1961
- Place of Birth: Baden-Sollingen, Germany
Biography
Douglas Coupland was born on a Canadian NATO air force base in Germany to Dr. Douglas Charles Thomas Coupland and C. Janet Coupland. Four years after his birth, the family (which included two older brothers) returned to Canada. Coupland studied sculpture at the Emily Carr College of Art and Design in Vancouver, British Columbia, graduating in 1984. After working for a time as a sculptor in Europe and Japan, he returned to Vancouver, where he began writing on the side. Initially he wrote about youth and popular culture for magazines, and gradually, writing became his main focus.
Coupland found success at age thirty with his first novel, Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture (1991), which popularized the term “Generation X” to describe the generation after the Baby Boomers, born between the early 1960s and early 1980s. His second novel, Shampoo Planet (1992), also addresses the lives and struggles of youth, and though some critics lamented poor structure in Coupland’s early works, the writer’s accuracy of observation and attention to detail were widely praised. His next fictional outings were Microserfs (1995), about life in Silicon Valley, California, during the tech boom, and Girlfriend in a Coma (1998), about a group of friends growing up in Vancouver in the 1970s, one of whom falls into a coma for almost two decades.
Highlights of Coupland's output over the next decade or so include the novels All Families Are Psychotic (2001), Eleanor Rigby (2004), jPod (2006), Generation A (2009), and Worst. Person. Ever. (2013). He has also published works of nonfiction, including City of Glass (2000), a collection of essays and photographs about Vancouver; Souvenir of Canada (2002), a collection of essays about Canadian culture; and Extraordinary Canadians: Marshall McLuhan (2009), a well-received biography of the twentieth-century media theorist.
When he found his niche in writing, Coupland resumed his sculpting work and also worked in furniture design. Many of his books have been considered for film adaptation: in 2004 DreamWorks Pictures announced plans to film All Families Are Psychotic, although the project remains in development; however, Souvenir of Canada was made into a 2006 feature film focusing largely on Coupland's work as both a writer and artist.
Coupland debuted Bit Riot, a traveling art exhibition, in 2015. The exhibit traveled between various galleries through 2017. In 2018, he debuted the large-scale exhibition The National Portrait at Ottawa Art Gallery in Ontario, Canada. Coupland the curated the art exhibit Welcome to the Age of You for the Museum of Contemporary Art Toronto in 2019.
Coupland published the short story Binge in 2021. He then continued his visual arts career, exhibiting The New Ice Age at the Arsenal Contemporary Art Contemporain in 2024.
Coupland holds honorary degrees from Emily Carr University of Art and Design, Simon Fraser University, and the University of British Columbia. A member of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts, he was made Officer of the Order of Canada in 2013.
Author Works
Long Fiction:
Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture, 1991
Shampoo Planet, 1992
Life After God, 1993
Microserfs, 1995
Girlfriend in a Coma, 1997
Miss Wyoming, 1999
God Hates Japan, 2001
All Families Are Psychotic, 2001
Hey Nostradamus!, 2003
Eleanor Rigby, 2004
JPod, 2006
The Gum Thief, 2007
Generation A, 2009
Player One: What Is to Become of Us, 2010
Worst. Person. Ever. 2014
Short Fiction:
Highly Inappropriate Tales for Young People, 2011 (with Graham Roumieu)
Bit Rot: Stories + Essays, 2016
Binge, 2021
Nonfiction:
Polaroids from the Dead, 1996
Lara’s Book: Lara Croft and the Tomb Raider Phenomenon, 1998 (with Kip Ward)
City of Glass, 2000
Souvenir of Canada, 2002
School Spirit, 2002
Souvenir of Canada Two, 2004
Terry: The Life of Canadian Terry Fox, 2005
Marshall McLuhan, 2009
Kitten Clone: Inside Alcatel-Lucent, 2014
Drama:
September 10, 2001, 2004
Screenplay:
Everything’s Gone Green, 2006
Teleplay:
JPod, 2008
Bibliography
Bernstein, Fred. “Shopping for Home with: Douglas Coupland; Blame Canada: Bottling Gen X Style.” The New York Times, 30 Mar. 2000, www.nytimes.com/2000/03/30/garden/shopping-for-home-with-douglas-coupland-blame-canada-bottling-gen-x-style.html. Accessed 2 Oct. 2024.
Busby, Brian John, and Karen Grandy. “Douglas Coupland.” The Canadian Encyclopedia. Historica Canada, 7 July 2015, www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/douglas-coupland/. Accessed 2 Oct. 2024.
"Douglas Coupland." Arsenal Contemporary Art Contemporain, 2024, www.arsenalcontemporary.com/ny/exhib/detail/douglas-coupland-the-new-ice-age. Accessed 2 Oct. 2024.
MacQueen, Ken. “Playing with the Google Generation.” Maclean’s 8 May 2006: 47–50. Discusses Coupland’s 2006 novel JPod.
Tate, Andrew. Douglas Coupland, Manchester UP, 2007. eBook Academic Collection (EBSCOhost), search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=e000xww&AN=515062&site=eds-live. Accessed 2 Oct. 2024.