Photo Credit:
Photo credit
Eydis Einarsdottir
George McWhirter
BIO
Biography
George McWhirter is an award winning poet, novelist and translator born and raised in Belfast, Northern Ireland who came to Canada via Spain. He taught high school in Port Alberni before going to UBC in 1968. He retired from the Creative Writing Department as a Professor Emeritus in 2005 to write and translate full-time. He translates from Spanish and has had a long association with Mexican poets José Emilio Pacheco, Homero Aridjis and Gabriel Zaid. In March 2007, he was named Vancouver's inaugural Poet Laureate for two years.
ADDRESS
City: ,
Province/Territory: _none
EMAIL
c/o TWUC
GENRE
poetry, prose and literary translation
AWARDS
Awards
Name
Griffin Poetry Prize
Publication
self-portrait in the zone of silence by Homero Aridjis, translated by George McWhirter (New Directions, New York, 2023)
Year
2024
Name
Canadian Poetry Chapbook Competition Winner, League of Canadian Poets
Publication
OVID in SASKATCHEWAN (League of Canadian Poets 1998)
Year
1998
Name
Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize
Publication
Cage (Oberon Press, Ottawa, 1987)
Year
1988
Name
F.R. Scott Prize for Translation (League of Canadian Poets)
Publication
Jose Emilio Pacheco :SELECTED POEMS (New Directions, New York, 1987)
Year
1988
Name
Commonwealth Poetry Prize (Shared with Chinua Achebe)
Publication
CATALAN POEMS (Oberon Press, Ottawa, 1971)
Year
1972
PUBLIC PRESENTATIONS AND WORKSHOPS
Programs & Interests
Interested in participating Union’s Ontario Writers-in-the-Schools program:
All members are eligible for the Union’s Ontario Writers-in-the-Schools program. Are you interested in participating in this pro
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Interested in participating in the Northern Ontario WITS program:
The Union’s Northern Ontario Writers-in-the-Schools program funds in-person visits to northern Ontario schools when possible. Ar
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