Iris Nowell is the author of six books as well as countless newspaper and magazine articles on topics ranging from sports to social issues. She was the first of the new generation of women to write on the sports pages of The Globe and Mail. Her subsequent work includes the well-received Women Who Give Away Millions: Portraits of Canadian Philanthropists and the artist biography Joyce Wieland: A Life in Art and her memoir Hot Breakfast for Sparrows: My Life with Harold Town, which was hailed by the Toronto Star as “one of the finest memoir/biographies of the last few years.”

Nowell’s passion and interest in art lead her to write her latest book, Painters Eleven: The Wild Ones of Canadian Art. She has a depth of knowledge and personal information of Painters Eleven artists she has known over the years – in particular Harold Town, Tom Hodgson and Walter Yarwood – and through them she became acquainted with many of the other Eleven. From the early 1970s – when she was at a party where lunch was served off of a naked model – Nowell knew that someone had to write about these fascinating, unique new artists. At the time, the only art purchased by collectors and exhibited in art galleries was traditional art. However the Painters Eleven persevered, making art history in Canada with their dramatic new works. In Painters Eleven, Nowell explores the art of the Painters Eleven, as well as their feisty, flamboyant lives.

Born in Vancouver, Nowell lived in Edmonton before moving to Toronto, where she currently lives and works. Painters Eleven is Nowell’s third book on art.