Awarded Annually for Literary Achievement in British Columbia.
The GEORGE WOODCOCK LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD annually honours an outstanding literary career in British Columbia. Since 1995, the City of Vancouver (Mayor of Vancouver's office), the Vancouver Public Library and Pacific BookWorld News Society (BC BookWorld, founded in 1988) have been working in partnership to jointly sponsor and present an annual $5,000 prize to a B.C. author whose enduring contribution to society spans several decades. Terasen (formerly BC Gas) concluded its sponsorship of the award in 2006; The Writers Trust of Canada and Yosef Wosk have contributed partnership since 2009.
Download the Woodcock Award Information Kit (2010) here.
During his lifetime, George Woodcock was variously described as "quite possibly the most civilized man in Canada," "by far Canada's most prolific writer," "Canada's Tolstoy," "a regional, national and international treasure" and "a kind of John Stuart Mill of dedication to intellectual excellence and the cause of human liberty." His unrivaled productivity as British Columbia's foremost man of letters was achieved in concert with consistent political ideals and humanitarian actions since he and Ingeborg Woodcock arrived to build a cabin in B.C. in 1949.
A thorough introduction to George Woodcock's wide-ranging career as a public intellectual can be found at www.abcbookworld.com. Also included, under George Woodcock's entry on this site, is a comprehensive bibliography and an interview/conversation that occurred between Alan Twigg and George Woodcock, founding editor of Canadian Literature, during the making of the documentary film for CBC, George Woodcock: Anarchist of Cherry Street.
For more information about the George Woodcock Lifetime Achievement Award, contact 604-736-4011. To nominate a candidate for the award, send a brief letter or postcard to George Woodcock Lifetime Achievement Award, c/o BC BookWorld, 3516 West 13th Avenue, Vancouver, B.C. V6R 2S3
Margaret Atwood presented David Suzuki with the George Woodcock Lifetime Achievement Award in 2011, at the Fairmont Hotel Vancouver.
See the full story on the David Suzuki page.