Betty Lambert, born Elizabeth Minnie Lee (August 23, 1933 – November 4, 1983) was a Canadian writer.
Lambert was born in
Calgary
Calgary () is a major city in the Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the third-largest city and fifth-largest metropolitan area in C ...
,
Alberta
Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...
, Canada to Christopher and Bessie Lee (née Cooper), the oldest of three daughters.
She graduated from the
University of British Columbia
The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a Public university, public research university with campuses near University of British Columbia Vancouver, Vancouver and University of British Columbia Okanagan, Kelowna, in British Columbia, Canada ...
,
Vancouver
Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...
, in 1957.
She married Frank Lambert in 1952. They were divorced in 1962. Betty had a daughter in 1964.
Lambert received the 1956 Brissenden Creative Writing Award and the 1957 Macmillan Best Short Story Award.
In 1965 she joined the English Department of the newly founded
Simon Fraser University
Simon Fraser University (SFU) is a Public university, public research university in British Columbia, Canada. It maintains three campuses in Greater Vancouver, respectively located in Burnaby (main campus), Surrey, British Columbia, Surrey, and ...
, where she eventually became professor.
Lambert died in
Burnaby, British Columbia
Burnaby is a city in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia, Canada. Located in the centre of the Burrard Peninsula, it neighbours the City of Vancouver to the west, the District of North Vancouver across the confluence of the Burrard ...
, in 1983.
Her work includes over seventy stage, radio, and television plays; additionally, works of both long and short fiction. While handling a broad range of topics, many of her works deal with feminism, strong women, and sexual violence.
Works
* ''The Pony'' (1956)
* ''The Best Room in the House'' (radio play, 1959)
* ''The Good of the Sun'' (radio play, 1960)
* ''Falconer's Island'' (radio play, 1966)
* ''Tumult with Indians'' (children's play, 1967; winner of the Canadian Centennial Award for best historical children's play)
* ''The Visitor'' (performed at the Vancouver Playhouse production history 1968–1969)
* ''The Dandy Lion'' (1972)
* ''The Popcorn Man'' (1973)
* ''The Riddle Machine'' (children's play, 1974)
* ''Sqrieux-de-Dieu'' (comedy, 1976)
* ''Guilt'' (short story, 1978)
* ''The Last Dinner'' (1979)
* ''Crossings'' (novel, 1979; nominated for the
Books in Canada First Novel Award
The Amazon Canada First Novel Award, formerly the Amazon.ca First Novel Award and the Books in Canada First Novel Award, is a Canadian literary award, co-presented by Amazon.ca and ''The Walrus'' to the best first novel in English published the p ...
)
* ''Clouds of Glory'' (1980)
* ''Jennie's Story'' (1981; finalist for the
1982 Governor General's Awards
Each winner of the 1982 Governor General's Awards for Literary Merit was selected by a panel of judges administered by the Canada Council, Canada Council for the Arts.
English
French
References
{{GovernorGeneralsAwards
Governor General ...
; winner of the 1984
Floyd S. Chalmers Canadian Play Award
The Floyd S. Chalmers Canadian Play Award was a Canadian literary award given to Canadian plays produced by any professional Canadian theatre company, and having performances in the Toronto area.
The prize had a monetary value of $25,000, and wa ...
; basis for the movie '' Heart of the Sun'' (1999))
* ''Under the Skin'' (drama, 1985)
* ''Grasshopper Hill'' (radio play; winner of the
ACTRA Award
The ACTRA Awards are Canadian accolades presented since 1972 to celebrate excellence in cinema, television and radio industries.Official Website
Literary Encyclopedia
''Literary Encyclopedia'' (Russian: Литературная энциклопедия) is a 12-volume encyclopedia published in the USSR from 1929 until 1939. It contains more than 5000 entries with a focus on Russian and Soviet authors, as well ...
Dictionary of Literary Biography
The ''Dictionary of Biography in literature, Literary Biography'' is a specialist biographical dictionary dedicated to literature. Published by Gale (Cengage), Gale, the 375-volume setRogers, 106. covers a wide variety of literary topics, periods ...