October 06, 2006

SFU English professor and Governor-General award-winning poet Roy Miki is the winner of the 2006 Nora and Ted Sterling Prize in Support of Controversy, his third significant honour this year.

The unique prize recognizes those who question conventional wisdom and includes a $5,000 honorarium which will be presented at a free public event to be held at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 11 at the Wosk Centre for Dialogue, 580 W. Hastings. Miki, a key force behind the Japanese Canadian redress movement, will read from his recent book Redress: Inside the Japanese Canadian Call for Justice (Raincoast).

In August, Miki was admitted to the Order of Canada for his contributions to community and the arts. Earlier this month, he received the 20th annual Gandhi Peace Award and the 16th annual Thakore Visiting Scholar award for his commitment to Mahatma Gandhi's ideals of truth, justice, human rights and non-violence.

"I am honoured by this recognition,"; says Miki, "and I would like to see the creation of more awards that recognize struggle. Most awards simply recognize achievement, but it's important to acknowledge people who have gone against the system in order to eventually improve it.";