Geoffrey Bilson (27 January 1938 – 25 July 1987) was a Welsh Canadian academic and author. Between 1964 and 1987, Bilson worked for the

University of Saskatchewan The University of Saskatchewan (U of S, or USask) is a Universities in Canada, Canadian public university, public research university, founded on March 19, 1907, and located on the east side of the South Saskatchewan River in Saskatoon, Saskatch ...

in their history department as a

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...

. During this time period, Bilson primarily released children's books while also publishing non-fiction books. Some of the topics that Bilson wrote about include the

Boston Massacre The Boston Massacre, known in Great Britain as the Incident on King Street, was a confrontation, on March 5, 1770, during the American Revolution in Boston in what was then the colonial-era Province of Massachusetts Bay. In the confrontati ...

cholera Cholera () is an infection of the small intestine by some Strain (biology), strains of the Bacteria, bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea last ...

and the

Winnipeg general strike The Winnipeg General Strike of 1919 was one of the most famous and influential strikes in Canadian history. For six weeks, May 15 to June 26, more than 30,000 strikers brought economic activity to a standstill in Winnipeg, Manitoba, which at the ...

. Following his 1987 death, his non-fiction book titled ''The Guest Children'' was released in 1988. The following year, the

Geoffrey Bilson Award The Geoffrey Bilson Award for Historical Fiction for Young Readers is a Canadian literary award that goes to the best work of historical fiction written for youth each year. The award is named after Geoffrey Bilson, a writer of historical fiction ...

was first presented by the

Canadian Children's Book Centre Canadian Children's Book Centre (CCBC) is a national non-profit organization that dedicates its resources to promoting quality Canadian children's literature to parents, librarians, teachers, and youth across Canada. Founded in 1976, the CCBC has l ...

Early life and education

Bilson's birth occurred at

Cardiff Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

, on 27 January 1938. During his childhood, Bilson lived in

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

. After he became interested in journalism, Bilson worked in newspaper

publishing Publishing is the activities of making information, literature, music, software, and other content, physical or digital, available to the public for sale or free of charge. Traditionally, the term publishing refers to the creation and distribu ...

and

editing Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written language, written, Image editing, visual, Audio engineer, audible, or Film editing, cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing p ...

while completing his education. For his post-secondary education, Bilson first attended

Aberystwyth University Aberystwyth University () is a Public university, public Research university, research university in Aberystwyth, Wales. Aberystwyth was a founding member institution of the former federal University of Wales. The university has over 8,000 stude ...

. Throughout the 1960s to 1970s, Bilson also went to the

University of Omaha The University of Nebraska Omaha (UNO) is a public research university in Omaha, Nebraska, United States. Founded in 1908 by faculty from the Omaha Presbyterian Theological Seminary as a private non-sectarian college, the university was origin ...

and

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

. While at Omaha during 1961, the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

, gave Bilson a

graduate assistant A graduate assistant serves in a support role at a university, usually while completing post-graduate education. The assistant typically helps professors with instructional responsibilities as teaching assistants or with academic research resp ...

position.

Career

Academics and publications

During his tenure between 1964 and 1987, Bilson worked at the

as a

. For his academic career, Bilson focused on historical events throughout North America. While at Saskatchewan, his articles about

were released in the 1970s and 1980s. For a 1984 book by Charles G. Roland, Bilson wrote about Canadian healthcare for immigrants. The following year, Bilson's journal article on Frederick Montizambert was published. Bilson had continued studying healthcare for immigrants before he died in 1987.

Writings

As a writer, Bilson had a book in 1977 about the 1770

. Bilson's book, ''A Darkened House: Cholera in 19th Century Canada'', was made available in 1980. When his kids left the country for a vacation, Bilson decided to become a children's author. His first two written books for children were released out of order. In 1981, Bilson's first published book for children was ''Goodbye Sarah''. After Bilson converted his 1919

work into a stage production, ''Goodbye Sarah'' was performed in 1984. In 1982, Bilson continued his children's writings with ''Death Over Montreal''. To make the book, Bilson used his previous research he performed for ''A Darkened House''. In ''Death Over Montreal'', Bilson wrote about a Scottish family experiencing cholera after moving to Canada. With his 1984 children's work titled ''Hockeybat Harris'', Bilson wrote about a Guest Child who moved from

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

to live in Canada during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. In the late 1980s, Bilson had begun writing a children's book about "a sort of conventional child who wants things to go right". Bilson's non-fiction book, ''The Guest Children: The Story of the British Child Evacuees Sent to Canada during World War II'', was posthumously released in 1988.

Writing style and themes

While raising a family, Bilson used ideas provided by his children to create bedtime stories.Noyes and Pearson eds. 1994, p. 34 To create his children's books, Bilson handwrote his manuscripts before he typed them up. During the editing stage, he wrote on his physical copies. For his children's books, Bilson used "lesser-known...events and showed how they influenced the lives of young teenagers." Bilson wrote the draft of his cholera book for children under the title of ''Yellow Flags in Montreal''. The title was changed to ''Death Over Montreal'' after a book with a similar name was released before Bilson's book. In his written draft, Bilson "wanted both parents to die from cholera" in the book. He later edited his book to only include the death of the main character's father. To create ''The Guest Children'', Bilson conducted interviews with fourteen former Guest Children and incorporated their recollections. He also added the background of the Overseas Reception Board project for the book.

Death and personal life

Prior to his death, Bilson was experiencing

brain cancer A brain tumor (sometimes referred to as brain cancer) occurs when a group of cells within the brain turn cancerous and grow out of control, creating a mass. There are two main types of tumors: malignant (cancerous) tumors and benign (non-cance ...

. He had two children during his marriage. On 25 June 1987, Bilson's death occurred in

Saskatoon Saskatoon () is the largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It straddles a bend in the South Saskatchewan River in the central region of the province. It is located along the Trans-Canada Hig ...

Honours

A year after his death, the

began presenting the

. During the early 1990s, the Geoffrey Bilson Memorial Lecture was created. Leading up to the 2020s, some of the scheduled speakers for the Saskatchewan lecture included

Janet Lunn Janet Louise Lunn, (''née'' Swoboda; December 28, 1928 – June 26, 2017) was a Canadian children's writer. Early life and education Lunn was born in Dallas, Texas; she moved with her family to Vermont when she was an infant. In 1938, she ...

and Bathsheba Demuth.

References

{{reflist 1938 births 1987 deaths Canadian people of Welsh descent Academic staff of the University of Saskatchewan Welsh children's writers Welsh non-fiction writers Alumni of Aberystwyth University