Gloria Sawai (20 December 1932 – 20 July 2011), born Gloria Ruth Ostrem in

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

, was an American-born fiction

author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

, based in

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

, Canada. She died on 20 July 2011. In early childhood, she moved with her family to

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a province in western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dak ...

, then in her youth to

. Her father was a

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Cathol ...

minister.

Education

* 1948:

Camrose Lutheran College Augustana University College was a Lutheran college in Camrose, Alberta, Canada, from 1910 until it merged in 2004 with the University of Alberta The University of Alberta, also known as U of A or UAlberta, is a Public university, public re ...

(today the

University of Alberta Augustana Faculty The Augustana Campus is a faculty of the University of Alberta located in Camrose, Alberta, Canada. It was merged into the larger, Edmonton, Alberta-based University in 2004. History Augustana has a long history in Alberta, beginning in 1910 as ...

) ( Camrose,

). ** October 2003: Received Distinguished Alumni Award * 1953: Bachelor of Arts,

Augsburg College Augsburg University is a private university in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It is affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. It was founded in 1869 as a Norwegian-American Lutheran seminary known as Augsburg Seminarium. Today, the u ...

(

) * 1977: Master of Fine Arts,

University of Montana The University of Montana (UM) is a public research university in Missoula, Montana. UM is a flagship institution of the Montana University System and its second largest campus. UM reported 10,962 undergraduate and graduate students in the fa ...

(

Missoula Missoula ( ; fla, label=Salish language, Séliš, Nłʔay, lit=Place of the Small Bull Trout, script=Latn; kut, Tuhuⱡnana, script=Latn) is a city in the U.S. state of Montana; it is the county seat of Missoula County, Montana, Missoula Cou ...

Montana Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columb ...

)

Awards and recognition

* fiction winner,

Governor General's Award The Governor General's Awards are a collection of annual List of awards presented by the Governor General of Canada, awards presented by the Governor General of Canada, recognizing distinction in numerous academic, artistic, and social fields. Th ...

, ''A Song for Nettie Johnson'', 2002 *

Danuta Gleed Literary Award The Danuta Gleed Literary Award is a Canadian national literary prize, awarded since 1998. It recognizes the best debut short fiction collection by a Canadian author in English language. The annual prize was founded by John Gleed in honour of his ...

: ''A Song for Nettie Johnson'', Coteau Books, for the year 2001

Works

* 1983: contributor, ''Three Times Five: Short Stories'' (NeWest) * 2001: ''A Song for Nettie Johnson'' (Coteau) ** 2002 reissue:

References

External links

Coteau Books: author profiles, including Gloria Sawai
Retrieved 17 July 2006
''The Canadian Encyclopedia'': Gloria Sawai
Retrieved 17 July 2006 * , p. 8 "Sawai will be special guest", Retrieved 17 July 2006 * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sawai, Gloria 1932 births 2011 deaths American expatriate writers in Canada Christian writers Writers from Edmonton Writers from Minneapolis Governor General's Award-winning fiction writers University of Montana alumni Canadian women novelists 20th-century Canadian novelists 21st-century Canadian novelists 20th-century Canadian women writers 21st-century Canadian women writers