Oakland Ross (born 1952) is a Canadian journalist and writer.Stephen Smith, "Under southern skies". Toronto Star, November 19, 1994. He is most noted for his short story collection Guerrilla Beach, which was a shortlisted Trillium Book Award nominee for English Literature in 1995.Murray Hogben, "Kingston writers in line for Trillium". Kingston Whig-Standard, March 6, 1995.
He began his career in journalism as an editor of Excalibur, the student newspaper at York University, in the 1970s, before joining the editorial board of The Globe and Mail in 1976."Webster assistant editor; Ross opens Mexico bureau". The Globe and Mail, December 20, 1980. In that role, he wrote extensively about the issue of child abuse in Canadian child protection services, for which the paper won a Michener Award for public service journalism in 1978."Globe receives award". Sault Star, October 7, 1978. He was appointed the paper's assistant editor in 1978,"Smith to organize new Globe projects; Ross assistant editor". The Globe and Mail, October 18, 1978. and was appointed to head up the newspaper's new Latin American bureau in 1980. He later served for several years as the paper's foreign correspondent in Africa.
He won two National Newspaper Awards during his time with The Globe and Mail, for editorial writing in 1980"Six from Toronto dominate National Newspaper Awards". Owen Sound Sun-Times, March 13, 1980. and a citation of merit enterprise reporting, for his series of articles on a battle between Nicaraguan army units and insurgents, in 1984."Citizen photographer captures spot news award". Ottawa Citizen, March 30, 1984.
After leaving The Globe and Mail in 1990,Beverly Slopen, "Stories of Guerrilla Beach forged in political conflict". Toronto Star, July 16, 1994. he published Guerrilla Beach in 1994 as his fiction debut.P. Scott Lawrence, "Suffering made palpable in stories; Ross makes fictional return to beat". Montreal Gazette, August 27, 1994. The following year he published A Fire on the Mountains: Exploring the Human Spirit from Mexico to Madagascar, a memoir of his experiences as a foreign correspondent.Ross Longbottom, "Oakland Ross did go and he did see". Hamilton Spectator, December 6, 1995. In 1996 he won a National Magazine Award for his short story "Good Luck and Cheerio", published in The New Quarterly.H.J. Kirchhoff, "Toronto Life dominates annual magazine awards". The Globe and Mail, May 4, 1996.
In 2001 he published the novel The Dark Virgin.Meredith Renwick, "The Dark Virgin: A Novel of Mexico". Quill & Quire, February 2001. He briefly returned to journalism as a Middle East correspondent for the Toronto Star in the 2000s, winning another National Newspaper Award in 2004."Media honour their own". Waterloo Region Record, June 7, 2004. After leaving that role, he published two further novels, The Empire of Yearning in 2013Candace Fertile, "The Empire of Yearning". Quill & Quire, May 2013. and Swimming with Horses in 2019.Stephen Knight, "Swimming with Horses". Quill & Quire, January 2019.
Books Guerrilla Beach - 1994 A Fire on the Mountains: Exploring the Human Spirit from Mexico to Madagascar - 1995 The Dark Virgin - 2001 The Empire of Yearning - 2013 Swimming with Horses - 2019
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