Czech-Canadian Jan Drabek is this year's recipient of the Masaryk Prize, awarded by the Czech and Slovak Association of Canada. The prize is presented annually to Canadians of Czech or Slovak origin who have in some significant way played a role in bringing freedom to Czechoslovakia or in some way enriched the lives if Czechs and Slovaks in Canada.

Drabek, a former three-time president of Federation of British Columbia Writers, is an author of twenty books both in English and Czech. Among them is the recently published biography of Czech-Canadian botanist and World War II resistance hero Vladimir Krajina and a satirical novel called Grungia.

He is also a former ambassador, taxi driver and high school teacher.
More about him at www.jandrabek.com.

[BCBW 2013]