Fred Wah has received another accolade for his prestigious writing career.
Wah, an author and poet who grew up in Nelson and now lives in Vancouver, was named winner of the Lieutenant Governor’s Award for Literary Excellence at the 41st annual B.C. and Yukon Book Prizes on Sept. 21.
The award recognizes an author who has “written a substantial body of literary work throughout their career and contributed significantly to the literary community/industry of the Province of British Columbia.”
Jurors Cathy Armstrong, Kevin Chong and Dani Sidloski said in a statement that Wah's 60-year career as a writer and teacher has had a major impact on B.C. literature.
“Wah’s work, which includes poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and criticism, has often focused on hybridities of people, cultures, and form. In a province full of writers and readers with overlapping identities and histories, Wah shows us all how to plumb the hyphen for new meanings.”
The 86-year-old previously won the Governor General’s Award for the 1985 book Waiting for Saskatchewan, was named a Parliamentary Poet Laureate in 2011 by the federal government, and was also honoured as an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2013.
Wah is author of Diamond Grill, about a Chinese-Canadian cafe in a small town inspired by his time working as a youth at a restaurant of the same name in Nelson during the 1950s. Published in 1996, Diamond Grill was later adapted into a radio play, and in 2022 recorded as the three-part podcast A Door to be Kicked.
Earlier this year Wah also contributed to the book Dark Chapters by David Garneau for an exhibit at the Nelson Museum, Archives and Gallery.
Wah founded the writing program at the former David Thompson University Centre and taught at Selkirk College.
