Marjorie Doyle (MA’87) has published four books of non-fiction, her most recent being Mary Foley, Mary Doyle: Unravelling a Mother’s Secrets.

Her columns and essays have appeared across Canada in the Globe and Mail, Ottawa Citizen, National Post, Fiddlehead, Geist, Calgary Herald, Queen’s Quarterly and Antigonish Review.

Her broadcast career included hosting the national CBC radio show That Time of the Night. Ms. Doyle has been awarded a National Magazine Award with her brother John W. Doyle, two CBC Radio Awards for Programming Excellence and a Golden Sheaf nomination for the documentary, Regarding Our Father.

A former chair of the Writers’ Union of Canada, she has read across Canada and was writer-in-residence at Haig Brown House on Vancouver Island.

Mary Foley, Mary Doyle: Unravelling a Mother’s Secrets is the current Coast Lines Book Club selection for September and October 2024. 

JH: Where did your interest in writing come from/when did it begin?

MD: I was lucky. My first job upon graduation from Memorial was a writing job.

I worked for J.R. Smallwood on his Book of Newfoundland.

Shortly after that, I went to work at the Evening Telegram as a reporter.

JH: How did your graduate education at Memorial University inform your perspective/worldview?

MD: It opened my eyes to acknowledging different perspectives.

It solidified my interest in reading, research, libraries, all of which I think are key in forming a worldview. 

JH: You’ve been a communicator all of your life, whether it be through non-fiction writing, broadcasting or documentary filmmaking. What is the thread that ties your work together?

MD: I may have taken the “write what you know” business too seriously. Much of my writing is personal.

I also have the idea that figuring out one’s point of view on any matter and expressing it is healthy. That’s driven a lot of my writing.

And, of course, a strong sense of place is an overriding theme: my home is the Island of Newfoundland. 

JH: Your latest book, Mary Foley, Mary Doyle, unravels the secrets of your mother’s life. Was there a particular reason for telling your mother’s story now?

MD:I think perhaps my age and perspective — and the distance in time between her passing and now — made this seem right.

And I’d stop agonizing over where the fault lay in our relationship. 

JH: What is your Newfoundland and Labrador hidden gem?

MD:It’s a small deep cove in Bonavista Bay.  You can steam in in your putt-putt, have an ocean swim and warm up with a beach fire.

The landscape and seascape are spectacular, and it’s quiet, still.

Coast Lines Book Club

Marjorie Doyle (MA’87) will appear with Willow Kean (BFA’99) at Coast Lines and Coffee on Sunday, Dec. 1, at the Emera Innovation Exchange, Signal Hill Campus, in a discussion moderated by Angela Antle (BA’91, PhD candidate).

Register for this special event here.

Copies of Mary Foley, Mary Doyle: Unravelling a Mother’s Secrets are available through the Memorial University Bookstore, the official Coast Lines Book Club bookseller.

Established in 2020, the Coast Lines Book Club encourages the university community and friends to connect through a common love of reading and interest in the Newfoundland and Labrador literary landscape.

All of the book club’s featured titles are either written by alumni and/or faculty or have a strong connection to Memorial University.

View the website for more information on Coast Lines and how to join.