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Lieutenant Governor’s Award for Literary Excellence
Vancouver, BC - The West Coast Book Prize Society is proud to recognize George Bowering as the recipient of the 8th annual Lieutenant Governor's Award for Literary Excellence.
British Columbia's Lieutenant Governor, the Honourable Steven Point, will present the award at the Lieutenant Governor's BC Book Prizes Gala to be held at the Kay Meek Centre in West Vancouver on April 21, 2011. The event will be hosted by Double Exposure, Bob Cullen and Linda Robertson.
"It is my honour to present this year's Lieutenant Governor's Award for Literary Excellence to George Bowering. As Canada's first ever Parliamentary Poet Laureate, an Officer of the Order of Canada and Member of the Order of British Columbia, two-time winner of the Governor General's Literary Award and recipient of many other accolades, he is one of our province's most celebrated authors. A long-time professor at Simon Fraser University, Mr. Bowering shared his talent and inspired new generations of young writers. While his subjects are often deeply connected to his roots here in British Columbia, his poetry and prose has nevertheless touched the lives of people around the world. Congratulations to George Bowering on this well-deserved honour.
-The Honourable Steven L. Point, OBC, Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia
George Bowering, Canada's first Poet Laureate, was born in the Okanagan Valley of British Columbia.
After serving as an aerial photographer in the Royal Canadian Air Force, Bowering earned a BA in English and an MA in History at the University of British Columbia, where he became one of the co-founders of the avant-garde poetry magazine TISH. He also studied, and later served as writer-in-resident, at the University of Western Ontario. He has taught literature at the University of Calgary, Simon Fraser University, Sir George Williams University (now Concordia University), and at universities in Berlin, Rome, and Aarhus. He continues to act as a Canadian literary ambassador at international conferences and readings.
A distinguished novelist, poet, editor, professor, historian, and tireless supporter of fellow writers, Bowering has authored more than eighty books, including works of poetry, fiction, autobiography, biography, and youth fiction. His writing has also been translated into French, Spanish, Italian, German, Chinese, and Romanian.
Mr. Bowering is a two-time winner of the Governor General's Award and has been short-listed for the Griffin Prize for Poetry. In November 2002, he was appointed the first Canadian Poet Laureate.That same month, he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada. In 2004, he was awarded the Order of British Columbia.
The jury for this year's Lieutenant Governor's Award was: Audrey Thomas, novelist and short story writer; Rob Sanders, publisher, Greystone Books; and Jane Davidson, producer, Sunshine Coast Festival of the Written Arts.
This prize was established in 2003 by former Lieutenant Governor, the Honourable Iona Campagnolo, to recognize British Columbia writers who have contributed to the development of literary excellence in the province. The recipient receives a cash award of $5,000.00 and a commemorative certificate.
British Columbia's Lieutenant Governor, the Honourable Steven Point, will present the award at the Lieutenant Governor's BC Book Prizes Gala to be held at the Kay Meek Centre in West Vancouver on April 21, 2011. The event will be hosted by Double Exposure, Bob Cullen and Linda Robertson.
"It is my honour to present this year's Lieutenant Governor's Award for Literary Excellence to George Bowering. As Canada's first ever Parliamentary Poet Laureate, an Officer of the Order of Canada and Member of the Order of British Columbia, two-time winner of the Governor General's Literary Award and recipient of many other accolades, he is one of our province's most celebrated authors. A long-time professor at Simon Fraser University, Mr. Bowering shared his talent and inspired new generations of young writers. While his subjects are often deeply connected to his roots here in British Columbia, his poetry and prose has nevertheless touched the lives of people around the world. Congratulations to George Bowering on this well-deserved honour.
-The Honourable Steven L. Point, OBC, Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia
George Bowering, Canada's first Poet Laureate, was born in the Okanagan Valley of British Columbia.
After serving as an aerial photographer in the Royal Canadian Air Force, Bowering earned a BA in English and an MA in History at the University of British Columbia, where he became one of the co-founders of the avant-garde poetry magazine TISH. He also studied, and later served as writer-in-resident, at the University of Western Ontario. He has taught literature at the University of Calgary, Simon Fraser University, Sir George Williams University (now Concordia University), and at universities in Berlin, Rome, and Aarhus. He continues to act as a Canadian literary ambassador at international conferences and readings.
A distinguished novelist, poet, editor, professor, historian, and tireless supporter of fellow writers, Bowering has authored more than eighty books, including works of poetry, fiction, autobiography, biography, and youth fiction. His writing has also been translated into French, Spanish, Italian, German, Chinese, and Romanian.
Mr. Bowering is a two-time winner of the Governor General's Award and has been short-listed for the Griffin Prize for Poetry. In November 2002, he was appointed the first Canadian Poet Laureate.That same month, he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada. In 2004, he was awarded the Order of British Columbia.
The jury for this year's Lieutenant Governor's Award was: Audrey Thomas, novelist and short story writer; Rob Sanders, publisher, Greystone Books; and Jane Davidson, producer, Sunshine Coast Festival of the Written Arts.
This prize was established in 2003 by former Lieutenant Governor, the Honourable Iona Campagnolo, to recognize British Columbia writers who have contributed to the development of literary excellence in the province. The recipient receives a cash award of $5,000.00 and a commemorative certificate.
Submitted on April 14, 2011 in By David.
