Sandra Djwa (born April 16, 1939) is a Canadian writer, critic and cultural biographer. Originally from Newfoundland, she moved to

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

where she obtained her PhD from the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks among the top thre ...

in 1968. In 1999, she was honored to deliver the Garnett Sedgewick Memorial Lecture in honor of the department's 80th anniversary. She taught Canadian literature in the English department at

Simon Fraser University Simon Fraser University (SFU) is a public research university in British Columbia, Canada, with three campuses, all in Greater Vancouver: Burnaby (main campus), Surrey, and Vancouver. The main Burnaby campus on Burnaby Mountain, located ...

from 1968 to 2005 when she retired as J.S. Woodsworth Resident Scholar, Humanities. She was part of a seventies movement to establish the study of Canadian literature and, in 1973, cofounded the

Association for Canadian and Québec Literatures The Association for Canadian and Québec Literatures (ACQL) is a learned society that supports research about Canadian and Québec literatures. Every year, the ACQL holds a conference with other scholarly groups during the Congress of the Canadian ...

(ACQL). She was Chair of the inaugural meeting of ACQL. She initiated textual studies of the poems of E. J. Pratt in the eighties, was editor of Poetry, "Letters in Canada" for the University of Toronto Quarterly (1980-4), and Chair of Canadian Heads and Chairs of English (1989). She is best known for articles on Canadian poets like Margaret Atwood and for her biographies of distinguished Canadians including

F.R. Scott Francis Reginald Scott (1899–1985), commonly known as Frank Scott or F. R. Scott, was a lawyer, Canadian poet, intellectual, and constitutional scholar. He helped found the first Canadian social democratic party, the Co-operative Common ...

, and Roy Daniells. A biography of the poet PK Page, ''Journey With No Maps'', was released in 2012. Djwa's biography of Scott was shortlisted for the Hubert Evans Prize in 1988 and a French translation, "F.R. Scott: Une vie," was shortlisted for the

Governor-General's Award The Governor General's Awards are a collection of annual awards presented by the Governor General of Canada, recognizing distinction in numerous academic, artistic, and social fields. The first award was conceived and inaugurated in 1937 by the ...

in French Translation in 2002. That same year, the biography of Roy Daniells was awarded the

Lorne Pierce Lorne Albert Pierce (3 August 1890 – 27 November 1961) was a Canadian publisher, editor, and literary critic. Biography Pierce was born in Delta, Ontario. He attended several universities including Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, Vict ...

Gold medal for literature from the Royal Society of Canada. Djwa was named to the Order of Canada in 2020 for her contributions to the fields of Canadian literature and Canadian literary criticism. She has also edited and introduced other books, including the memoirs of

Carl F. Klinck Carl Frederick Klinck (March 24, 1908 – October 22, 1990) was a Canadian literary historian and academic. Born in Elmira, Ontario, he received a BA from Waterloo College (now Wilfrid Laurier University) in 1927, and a MA and PhD from Colum ...

, first editor of "The Literary History of Canada". In 1981 she was awarded a Killam Senior Fellowship, in 1994 elected to the Royal Society of Canada, and in 1999 the Trimark Award for Mentoring. In 2002, Djwa was awarded an honorary degree from

Memorial University Memorial University of Newfoundland, also known as Memorial University or MUN (), is a public university in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, based in St. John's, with satellite campuses in Corner Brook, elsewhere in Newfoundland and i ...

, Newfoundland. She is now a general editor of the "Collected Works of P.K. Page". The biography of PK Page, ''Journey With No Maps'' was released in the fall of 2012 by McGill-Queen's University Press. It was shortlisted for the 2013

Charles Taylor Prize The RBC Taylor Prize (2000–2020), formerly known as the Charles Taylor Prize, is a Canadian literary award, presented by the Charles Taylor Foundation to the best Canadian work of literary non-fiction. It is named for Charles P. B. Taylor, a ...

for Literary Non-Fiction. It also won the 2013 Governor General Award for Non-fiction. She gave the convocation speech and received the honorary Doctor of Letters ''honoris causa from'' McGill University, in Arts and Religious Studies, June 2016.

Books

* ''Professing English: A Life of Roy Daniells''. Toronto, Buffalo and London: University of Toronto Press, 2002 * ''F.R. Scott: Une vie'', translation of ''F.R. Scott: The Politics of the Imagination'', trans. Florence Bernard. Montreal: Editions du Boréal, publication 15 November 2001. * Sandra Djwa, W.J. Keith, and Zailig Pollock, eds. ''Selected Poems of E. J. Pratt'', with an introduction by Sandra Djwa. Toronto, Buffalo and London: University of Toronto Press, 2000. * Monograph: ''Professing English at UBC: The Legacy of Roy Daniells and Garnett Sedgewick''. The 1999 Garnett Sedgewick Memorial Lecture. Vancouver: Ronsdale Press, 2000. * ''Giving Canada a Literary History: A Memoir by Carl F. Klinck'', ed. Sandra Djwa. Ottawa/London: Carleton University Press for University of Western Ontario, 1991. * ''Complete Poems of E. J. Pratt: A Definitive Edition'', two vols., eds. Sandra Djwa and Gordon Moyles with introduction, annotations, variants, unpublished verse, and textual notes. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1989. * ''The Politics of the Imagination: A Life of F.R. Scott''. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1987. * Paperback: ''The Politics of the Imagination: A Life of F.R. Scott''. Vancouver: Douglas & McIntyre, 1989. * ''On F.R. Scott: Essays on His Contributions to Law, Literature and Politics'', eds. Sandra Djwa and R.St.J. MacDonald. Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press, 1983. * ''Saul and Selected Poetry of Charles Heavysege'', ed. Sandra Djwa with introduction, bibliography, and notes (Literature of Canada: Poetry in Reprint). Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1976. * ''E. J. Pratt: The Evolutionary Vision''. Toronto/Montreal: Copp Clark/McGill-Queen's University Press, 1974.

Educational background

1968 Ph.D. English, University of British Columbia, Canada "The Continuity of English Canadian Poetry" 1964 B.Ed. Honours English (First Class), University of British Columbia, Canada

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Djwa, Sandra 1939 births 21st-century Canadian women writers 21st-century Canadian non-fiction writers Canadian feminist writers Canadian literary critics Women literary critics Fellows of the Royal Society of Canada University of British Columbia alumni Living people Canadian biographers Women biographers Writers from St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador 21st-century biographers Governor General's Award-winning non-fiction writers Canadian women non-fiction writers Members of the Order of Canada Writers from Vancouver