Austin Clarke, Honorary Doctor of Letters Award - Part 2/3

Austin Clarke, author
Honorary Doctor of Letters
Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies V
Wednesday, June 16, 2010 - 3:30pm

Austin Clarke is an award-winning writer whose works have had an enormous impact on the Canadian literary imagination. Born in Barbados, Clarke has contributed to Canada as a public intellectual speaking out on issues of race and racism since the 1960s, and as an author whose fiction gives voice to the immigrant experience. His 2002 novel The Polished Hoe, in which Clarke returned to a Caribbean setting, was awarded the 2002 Scotiabank Giller Prize, the 2003 Commonwealth Writers' Prize and the 2003 Trillium Book Award. Clarke was made a member of the Order of Canada in 1998 for his contributions as an author, teacher and community activist, and is also a member of the Order of Ontario (2002). A mentor to young writers, he has contributed greatly to the Canadian literary scene and in particular to the strong presence of writers of colour. He was awarded the W.O. Mitchell Literary Prize in 1999, presented annually by the Writers' Trust of Canada to a writer who has produced an outstanding body of work and has acted as a caring mentor for writers.

Category:

Education

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• hon docs
• alumni
• York University
• Austin Clarke
• canadian writer