It is with a heavy heart that Canada says goodbye to Farley Mowat, a literary great and passionate Canadian. Mowat passed away, yesterday, at the age of 92. “Mowat, author of dozens of works including Lost in the Barrens and Never Cry Wolf, introduced Canada to readers around the world and shared everything from his time abroad during the Second World War, to his travels in the North and his concern for the deteriorating environment,” writes the CBC.
In much brighter news from the Canadian literary scene, the Federation was honoured to award the four winners of the 2014 Canada Prizes at a gala held yesterday at York University's Glendon College in Toronto. The afternoon event included remarks from President Antonia Maioni and a keynote address from jury member and Environics Research Group and Environics Institute president Michael Adams.
To read Michael Adams’ keynote address, visit here. Photos from the event are also available here.
For the past week, and in the lead up to the event, the Federation blog has featured a story written by Daniel Drolet about each of this year’s winners. Be sure to take a gander at what these celebrated works are all about!
“Poet P.K. Page a role model for women”: Sandra Djwa, Canada Prize in the Humanities winner for Journey With No Maps: A Life of P.K. Page (McGill-Queen's University Press)
“Canada’s opposition critical to its stability”: David E. Smith, Canada Prize in the Social Sciences winner for Across the Aisle: Opposition in Canadian Politics (University of Toronto Press)
“Early 20th-century Montreal through the eyes of a Jewish immigrant”: Pierre Anctil, Prix du Canada en sciences humaines winner for Jacob-Isaac Segal, 1896-1954 : Un poète yiddish de Montréal et son milieu (Presses de l'Université Laval)
“Adrien Arcand, Ernst Zundel and anti-Semitism”: Hugues Théorêt, Prix du Canada en sciences sociales winner for Les chemises bleues : Adrien Arcand, journaliste antisémite canadien-français (Éditions du Septentrion)
As for hot button issues headlined in the news this week, be sure to check out the following:
- The Globe Debate: Is university education still worth the price? (The Globe and Mail)
- Video: Doug Saunders on the worth of a university degree (The Globe and Mail)
- Audio: Skilled Trades vs. Liberal Arts: What creates the best workforce? (CBC’s The Current)
- Internships provide new opportunities for highly-skilled graduates (Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada)
- Universities must convert widening access into graduate jobs (Times Higher Education)