JANE
URQUHART (ON) 1999
& 2007 Festival
- Governor General's Award winner for her fourth Novel The
Underpainter
(McClelland & Stewart1997).
- named to France's Order of Arts & Letters as a Chevalier (1996).
- Trillium Award winner Away (McClelland & Stewart, 1994)
remained on the National Bestseller list for a record 132 weeks.
GEOFFREY URSELL 1997, 2001 and
2003 Festivals
- winner of numerous awards for drama, poetry and fiction
- writer of drama for radio and television and editor of several short
story anthologies
- has won the Books in Canada Award for Best First
Novel and his plays have won two national awards
W.D. VALGARDSON 2001 Festival
-
An acclaimed author of adult fiction, Valgardson has recently turned
his hand to books for young people
- his first picture book, Thor, received the Mr. Christie Award
- His novel Gentle Sinners (1980) received the Books in Canada
First
Novel Award and was made into a television movie
GUY VANDERHAEGHE 2003 Festival
RICHARD
VAN CAMP 1998
Festival
–Published in magazines and anthologies,
-Advisor to CBC-TV’s North of Sixty
–First novel, The Lesser Blessed, (Douglas
&
McIntyre, 1996), Come a Little Death, (Douglas & McIntyre,
1998)
picks up 2 years later.
PETER PAUL VAN CAMP 1998
Festival
-TV, radio, Expo ‘86, folk festivals
-Delightful performer of exquisitely awful poetry,
alter
ego of Randy Woods
-“Most Panacean of our Present-Day Poets” Peter Paul
Van Camp
MOYEZ G. VASSANJI 2001
Festival
- the author of three acclaimed novels:
The Gunny Sack (1989), which won a Regional Commonwealth Prize;
No New Land (1991); and
The Book of Secrets, a national bestseller recognized as
the Best Work
of Fiction of 1994, when it won the inaugural Giller Prize
- Uhuru Street (1992) was a collection of linked stories set
in Dares
Salaam
SEAN VIRGO 2002
& 2007 Festival
- born in Malta, and grew up in South Africa, Malaya, Ireland
and the U.K. He immigrated to Canada in 1966.
- publications include poetry and fiction. He has also been
involved in theatre (as writer, actor & director)
- His work has won various awards, including the C.B.C.
Competition (first prize for fiction, 1979); the B.B.C. 3 Short Story
Competition (first prize, 1980); and National Magazine Awards (first
prizes for both Poetry [1979] and Fiction[1990]).
-published a book of stories about dying (A Traveller Came By,
Thistledown Press, October 2000)
- a double C.D., Virgo Out Loud, was released by Cyclops Press in
1999.
FRED
WAH 2000 Festival
- Born in Swift Current, raised in British Columbia, author
of seventeen books of poetry
- Professor of Creative Writing at the University of Calgary
- His book of prose-poems, Waiting For Saskatchewan, received
the Governor-General's Award in 1986
BILL WAISER 1998
Festival
-University of Saskatchewan professor; author of 5 books
-specialist in western and northern Canadian history,
-His latest, Loyal till Death: Indians and the
North-West
Rebellion (Fifth House, 1997), co-authored with Blair Stonechild
- Governor-General’s Award shortlist
PAMELA
WALLIN 2000 Festival
- Saskatchewanite who has gained renown in journalism
- Independent TV producer
- First recipient of the United Nations UNIFEM Canada Award
(outstanding
contributions toward the advancement of women)
- Authored a memoir Since You Asked
- In 1999 awarded Saskatchewan Order of Merit
DAVID WALTNER-TOEWS 2005 Festival
DONALD WARD 2004
Festival
- co-written and edited numerous non-fiction books
- Nobody Goes to Earth Anymore is his first full-length
collection of fiction
DIANNE
WARREN 2002
Festival
- the author of three books of short fiction and three
full-length plays.
- has won several awards for her short stories, including the
Saskatchewan Book of the year Award (Bad Luck Dog, 1993) and the
National Magazine Gold Award for Fiction (“Long Gone and
Mister Lonely”, 1995).
- is the two-time winner of both the Western Magazine Award for
Fiction and the City of Regina Writing Award.
- Her most recent book, A Reckless Moon, was
released by Raincoast Books in 2002.
- recently finished a two-year term as the Fiction Editor of the
literary magazine Grain
LARRY WARWARUK (SK) 1999
Festival
- Several of Warwaruk's works have won Saskatchewan Writers' Guild
literary awards.
- His recent novel The Ukrainian Wedding, part murder mystery,
part folk-tale, is a 1998 Saskatchewan Book Award winner.
- Other works include a novel, Rope of Time, a number of short
stories, and a non-fiction work, Red Finns of the Coteau.
TOM WAYMAN 1998
and 2003 Festivals
-Popular people’s poet is co-head
of Kootenay School of the Arts
-Poetry collections: Did I Miss
Anything (Harbour, 1992 ), The Astonishing
Weight of the Dead (Polestar, 1994)
NANCY WHITE 2003 Festival
JACK WHYTE 2002
Festival
- born and raised in Scotland, and educated in England
and France. He emigrated to Canada from the UK, in 1967
- worked as a teacher of High School English, a
professional singer, musician, actor and entertainer
- wrote for CBC National television, and had a career in
advertising,
- novels are based in 5th Century history and the 460-year Roman
military occupation of Britain
BEN
WICKS 1998 Festival
-Highly popular humourist, writer, journalist,
illustrates
his talks
-Author of 26 books, illustrator of 6 children’s books
-Received Order of Canada for his commitment to literacy
ARMIN WIEBE 2001 Festival
- the author of three comic novels,
The Salvation of Yasch Siemens, Murder in Gutenthal: A
Schneppa Kjnals
Mystery, and The Second Coming of Yeeat Shpanst
- Armin's novels have been nominated for the
Books in Canada First Novel Award, The Leacock Medal for Humour, and
The McNally Robinson Manitoba Book of the Year
Award
RUDY WIEBE
1998 and 2001 Festival
-Twice winner of Governor-General’s Award
-His book The Temptation of Big Bear
(McClelland
and Stewart, 1973) was turned into a TV miniseries
-Stolen Life: The Journey of a Cree Woman
(Random
House, 1998) a major non-fiction work, co-authored with Yvonne Johnson,
great-great granddaughter of Big Bear.
SARA WILLIAMS 1998
Festival
-Horticulturalist, author of Creating
the Prairie Xeriscape
-Publishers’ Prize for design at 1997 Sask. Book
Awards
MELODY WOOD 1997 Festival
- puppeteer; has performed professionally since 1980
- holds workshops on puppetry and puppet construction
MARY WOODBURY (AB)
1999 Festival
- Bestselling author of Jess and the Runaway Grandpa, Mary
Woodbury
is a former elementary school teacher, editor, children's performer and
publisher of the Hodgepog series of first readers.
- Other titles include The Invisible Polly McDoodle, The Intrepid
Polly McDoodle, and
Where in the World is Jenny Parker?
ERIC WRIGHT 2002
Festival
- born in 1929 in London, England and emigrated to
Canada when he was 22 years old.
- served as Writer-in-Residence at the
Peterborough Public Library, taught English at Ryerson Polytechnic
University.
- The Night the Gods Smiled was awarded the John
Creasey Award for Best
First Crime Novel in 1993 and the Arthur Ellis Award for Best Novel in
1984.
- awarded the Arthur Ellis Best Short Story Award in 1899 and
1992.
- In 1998, Eric (along with Howard Engel) was awarded
the Derrick Murdoch Award.
RICHARD B. WRIGHT 2006 Festival
MAURY WRUBELSKI 2001 Festival
- poet, teacher, and children's performer
- co-edited the writing anthologies
Lines
in the Landscape and Dust and Skyline
- Controlled Burn, his first collection of
poetry, was short-listed for the Saskatchewan Book Awards in the First
Book
category and the Poetry category
DAN YASHINSKY 2005 Festival
PAUL YEE 2002
Festival
- was born in Spalding, Saskatchewan. Both his father
and grandfather were immigrants from China. Paul grew up in
Vancouver's Chinatown and, as a young adult, volunteered time there
teaching English, mounting exhibitions on Chinese-Canadian history, and
building support for the Chinese Cultural Center.
- was as an archivist and later switched to doing research work
for the Ontario Ministry of Citizenship, working in the area of
immigration policy.
- recognized as an expert in Chinese-Canadian history.
- Saltwater City: An Illustrated History of the Chinese in
Vancouver won the Vancouver Book
Prize
- works include juvenile novels such as Breakaway and Curses
of Third Uncle, picture books such as Ghost Train and Roses
Sing on New Snow, and story collections such as Tales from Gold
Mountain and Teach me to Fly, Skyfighter.
- Ghost Train received the Governor General's Award for
Children's Literature in 1997, and was adapted for stage by Young
People's Theater in 2001.
DIANNE YOUNG 1998
Festival
-Saskatchewan Writers’ Guild Literary Award winner for
children’s literature
-Author of Purple Hair? I Don’t Care (Stoddard,
1994) and The Abaleda Voluntary Firehouse Band
JAN ZWICKY
2002
Festival
- books include Wittgenstein Elegies (Brick,
1986), The New Room (Coach House, 1989), Lyric Philosophy
(UTP, 1992)
- Songs for Relinquishing the Earth (Cashion, 1996;
Brick, 1998), which won the Governor General’s Award in 1999.
- Twenty-One Small Songs was published by Barbarian
Press in 2000. She has also published widely as an essayist on issues
in music, poetry, and philosophy.
- has taught creative writing at the University of New Brunswick,
led a number of workshops, and taught in the Writing Program at the
Banff Centre for the Arts.
- currently teaches in the Philosophy Department at the
University of Victoria.
mailto:word.festival@sasktel.net
Updated: April 17, 2008