Jeannette Armstrong is the first aboriginal author to receive the George Woodcock Lifetime Achievement Award

June 20, 2016

VANCOUVER, B.C. – One of B.C.’s foremost aboriginal authors, Jeannette Armstrong, has been named as this year’s recipient of the George Woodcock Lifetime Achievement Award, recognizing her outstanding contributions to B.C. literature.

“We are pleased to be honouring Jeannette Armstrong for her contributions to the province’s literary landscape and history,” says VPL’s chief librarian, Sandra Singh. “She is an outstanding and important literary voice, and Armstrong’s advocacy for the cultural preservation and rights of indigenous peoples is remarkable.

“She has paved the way for future B.C. aboriginal writers and storytellers, and continues to create greater intercultural understanding of indigenous perspectives and worldviews.”

Armstrong will be the first indigenous author to receive the George Woodcock Award – the province’s most prestigious literary honour that recognizes a B.C. author whose outstanding literary career and contributions to society span several decades. It’s presented annually at Vancouver Public Library in a public ceremony, and is co-sponsored by the Writers’ Trust of Canada and Dr. Yosef Wosk.

“I am very happy to receive this honour, as it is more about the people I serve,” says Armstrong. “When George Ryga wrote the foreword in my first novel, he said to me, ‘Achievements are about the people around you.’ This resonates deeply with me now, as I accept this award.”

Armstrong’s early inspirations came from the written works and stories of her great-grandaunt Christine Quintasket, who wrote the 1927 novel Cogewea, the Half-Blood. Having published fiction, non-fiction, children’s literature and poetry, Armstrong has written many acclaimed books such as Slash, a novel about the First Nations alienation and militancy from 1960 to 1983, and Native Creative Process, a non-fiction collaboration with aboriginal architect Douglas Cardinal about creativity from the perspective of their aboriginal ancestries.

A recipient of numerous awards and honours for her work as a writer, educator and advocate for First Nations culture, Armstrong also played a critical role in the creation of the En’owkin International School of Writing for Native Students in 1989. With deep roots in the Okanagan, she teaches indigenous studies at the University of B.C.’s Okanagan campus and continues her work as the Canada research chair in Okanagan indigenous philosophy – a prestigious appointment to research, document, categorize and analyze Okanagan Syilx oral language literature.

Armstrong will receive the 2016 George Woodcock Award at a special public presentation on June 29 at 7 p.m. at VPL’s central library downtown. At the same event, author Andrew MacLeod will receive the George Ryga Award for Social Awareness.

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See the backgrounder for more details about Jeannette Armstrong and the George Woodcock Lifetime Achievement Award.

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Vancouver Public Library has been dedicated to meeting the lifelong learning, reading and information needs of Vancouver residents for more than 100 years. Our vision is an informed, engaged, and connected city. Our mission is a free place for everyone to discover, create and share ideas and information. Last year, VPL had more than 6.8 million visits with patrons borrowing more than 9 million items, including books, ebooks, CDs, DVDs and magazines. Across 21 locations and online, VPL is the most-visited major urban library per capita in Canada.

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