Available October 21, 2025
“Poignant, sparkling, bittersweet. This book will open your heart.”
– Lorri Neilsen Glenn, Author of The Old Moon In Her Arms
“Thompson’s timeless prose glimmers with clarity as she explores the nuance and complexity of a fraught, beloved season.”
– Deborah Hemming, Author of Goddess
“Wow. Wow. Wow. I want to roar: READ THIS BOOK.”
– Sheree Fitch, Winner of the Order of Canada for outstanding contributions to the Canadian literary community
A novel inspired by the original screenplay for the award-winning feature film Dawn, Her Dad & the Tractor, about a young trans woman who returns to her family farm in the wake of her mother’s death, written by celebrated actor and screenwriter Shelley Thompson.
“ROAR is also a story about community; Thompson resists romanticizing it, doesn’t shy away from exposing its underbelly – but she also reveals its capacity for acceptance and change. We’ve always needed this story, but now we need it more than ever.”
– Jeanette Lynes, Author of The Apothecary’s Garden
“Fierce, tender, brave, and incendiary, ROAR is a story for these fractious times that couldn’t be more true.”
– Carol Bruneau, Author of brighten the Corner Where You Are
Local to Wolfville and have a book club?
Shelley is available to join book clubs to talk about her work.
Audiobooks narrated by Shelly Thompson
For the years Shelley Thompson lived in the UK, much of her work was as a narrator of audiobooks for the BBC, Chivers, Oxford and Cambridge Press, and then back at home, the CBC.
Shelley loves reading to people, and continues to record and produce her own writing, as well as others’ (such as Lesley Crewe’s THE SPOON STEALER).
About Shelley Thompson
Shelley Thompson is based in Wolfville, Mi'kma'ki.
She trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, The Canadian Film Centre, The Writers’ Lab NYC, The Women in the Directors Chair and the Whistler Producers Lab.
Thompson has been a writer all her life: her first attempt at publication was rewarded with a letter from the editor of Chatelaine when she was ten, having submitted her poem CLOUDS. The very kind editor of the magazine took the time to write a long letter to the 10-year-old genius, encouraging her to keep writing!
And so she did.
Poems that were included in anthologies like Towards the Light and Papirmasse. Short Stories that were included in anthologies, including a Nimbus Christmas collection, and plays produced on Nova Scotia stages.
Her first novel ROAR was published in 2023 by Nimbus/Vagrant and drew strongly on Thompson’s experience as the parent of a young trans man in rural Nova Scotia. ROAR was nominated for The Margaret & John Savage First Book Award, and for the Forest of Reading’s Everygreen Award.
Her latest book, WINTER SKY, is a collection of short stories, reflecting the season’s contrasts: the light and the dark, the complexity, and the comfort. A chance encounter on a bus during a winter storm leads to the unravelling of a family mystery decades old. An unexpected trio of carollers visits the home of a sick child on Christmas Eve, bringing an unexpected gift. The constellations provide company for a prairie boy on his frigid early-morning walks to school. A couple’s never-ending home renovation binds them to a carpenter understands exactly what the heart needs, to build comfort and joy. Stories that reflect our own love and confusion about this season.
Her company, Rusty Tractor Productions, focuses on marginalised voices - and in particular the stories of rural women. Thompson is married to writer/director/actor Ed Thomason and is parent to singer/songwriter T. Thomason. Shelley is a champion of 2SLGBTQ+ issues.
FOLLOW SHELLEY ON INSTAGRAM
