Betsy Warland Explained

Betsy Warland
Birth Place:Fort Dodge, Iowa, U.S.
Alma Mater:Luther College

Betsy Warland (born 1946) is a Canadian feminist writer of over a dozen books of poetry, creative nonfiction, and lyrical prose. She is best known for her collection of essays, Breathing the Page: Reading the Act of Writing (2010).[1]

Life

Warland was born in Fort Dodge, Iowa, in 1946. She studied at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa, before emigrating to Canada in 1972. She started the Toronto Women's Writing Collective (1973–1981), which hosted events, including co-hosting (with the Toronto Women's Bookstore) Writers in Dialogue, featuring Adrienne Rich, Nicole Brossard, May Sarton, Audrey Thomas, Margaret Atwood, and Marge Piercy.[2] She initiated and co-organized (with Victoria Freeman) the Women and Words/Les Femmes et les mots conference at the University of British Columbia (UBC) in 1983.[3]

From 1986 to 1987, Warland was the executive director of the Federation of BC Writers; additionally, she initiated Spring Rites, the annual competition for BC Writers. Warland sat on the Special Council Committee of the Arts for the Vancouver City Council. Warland has mentored writers such as Jónína Kirton.[4] She co-founded the Creative Nonfiction Collective with Myrna Kostash in 2004 and served on its board. She served on the National Council of the Writers' Union of Canada from 2009 to 2012.[5]

She designed the Writer's Studio program at Simon Fraser University in 2001 and served as its director until 2012, during which time she helped initiate the Thursdays Writing Collective in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside.[6] In 2007, she founded the Vancouver Manuscript Intensive program, for which she continues to serve as a director. Warland has led multiple workshops in the United Kingdom at the Poetry School (London), the Poetry Library (London), and the Arvon Foundation (Devon). She also led workshops in Canada at Sage Hill, Booming Ground (UBC), the Metchosin International School of the Arts, Hollyhock,[7] and Simon Fraser University, among others.

An annual book award honoring Warland, the VMI Betsy Warland Between Genres Award, was launched in 2021. Jordan Abel was the inaugural 2021 winner for his book, Nishga.[8] In 2022, the winning book was Remnants, written by Céline Huyghebaert and translated by Aleshia Jensen.[9] The 2023 winner was Nicholas Dawson, with translator D.M. Bradford, for the book House Within a House.[10]

Warland's personal documents, interviews, photographs, and manuscripts have been acquired by the literary archives at Library and Archives Canada.[11]

Writing

Much of Warland's literary output has been in the form of essays, memoirs, and poetry books relating to the writing process, feminism, women's studies, and lesbian issues. Her work has appeared in both Canadian and international journals, as well as anthologies.

Selected works

Awards

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Betsy Warland . 2022-05-06 . en.
  2. Web site: Margento: University of Ottawa. August 5, 2017. August 13, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170813222317/http://artsites.uottawa.ca/margento/en/2013/10/29/betsy-warland-saving-a-seat-for-the-reader/. dead.
  3. Web site: Betsy Warland . 2023-08-02 . www.sfu.ca . en.
  4. Web site: In Conversation with Betsy Warland Room Magazine . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20180823042020/https://roommagazine.com/interview/conversation-betsy-warland . August 23, 2018 . 2018-08-22 . roommagazine.com . en.
  5. Web site: BetsyWarland.com.
  6. Web site: Thursdays Writing Collective. April 29, 2014.
  7. Web site: Hollyhock Programs . 2024-03-11 . www.hollyhock.ca . August 3, 2022 . en.
  8. Web site: 2021 Shortlist and Winner . 2023-05-08 . Vancouver Manuscript Intensive . en-CA.
  9. Web site: 2022 Shortlist and Winner . 2023-05-08 . Vancouver Manuscript Intensive . en-CA.
  10. Web site: 2023 Shortlist and Winner . 2024-03-11 . Vancouver Manuscript Intensive . en.
  11. Web site: April 8, 2013 . Library and Archives Canada .
  12. Web site: Breathing the Page .
  13. News: Bloodroot: Tracing the Untelling of Motherloss. 2021-05-19. Inanna Publications. en-US.
  14. Web site: Lost Lagoon/lost in thought. 2021-05-19. Caitlin Press. en-US.
  15. Web site: Oscar of Between. 2021-05-19. Caitlin Press. en-US.
  16. Web site: Breathing the Page. 2021-05-19. Cormorant Books. en.
  17. Web site: whuh. 2021-05-19. www.buschekbooks.com.
  18. Web site: 2016 Mayor's Arts Awards Recipients Announced . 2023-05-08 . BC Alliance for Arts + Culture . September 29, 2016. en-CA.

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