Writer Helen Humphreys will be featured in the fifth presentation in the 18th annual Canadian Writers in Person Lecture Series at York University on Nov. 15.
The series, presented by the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies (LA&PS), runs Tuesday evenings from 7 to 10pm at 206 Accolade West Building.
Humphreys is a multiple award-winning author who will read from her newest novel, The Evening Chorus. The fictional book takes the reader through a journey with protagonist English officer James Hunter, who spends the Second World War in a German POW camp. The book was published in February 2015. She has also penned several other novels, four books of poetry and two works of creative non-fiction.
Her first novel, Leaving Earth, was published in 1997 and won the City of Toronto Book Award and was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year. That was followed by Afterimage, released in 2000 and winner of the Rogers Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize. It was also nominated for the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize, and was also listed as a New York Times Notable Book of the Year. Her third novel, The Lost Garden, was published in 2002, and in 2003 it earned a Canada Reads selection and another spot on the New York Times Notable Book of the Year list. Her fourth novel, Wild Dogs, published in 2004, won the Lambda Prize for fiction and has been optioned for film. It was also produced as a stage play at CanStage in Toronto in 2008. Coventry, published in 2008, was a national bestseller and was shortlisted for the Trillium Book Award and the Canadian Authors Association Award for Fiction, and was also a New York Times Editors’ Choice. The Reinvention of Love, which came out in 2011, was longlisted for the Dublin Impac Literary Award and shortlisted for the Canadian Authors Association Award for Fiction. Her creative non-fiction and poetry work has also earned her notable acclaim. In 2009, she was awarded the Harbourfront Festival Prize for literary excellence.
The Canadian Writers in Person Lecture Series runs as part of a degree credit course on Canadian literary culture through the LA&PS Culture & Expression program. Members of the York community not enrolled in the course can also enjoy the readings, which are free and open to the public.
This year’s lineup will feature a unique selection of writers who explore a diverse range of topics and geographical and cultural landscapes. Authors include poets, playwrights, fiction writers and more.
The 2016-17 series presents:
- Nov. 29 – Allan Weiss, Making the Rounds
- Jan. 17 – André Alexis, Fifteen Dogs
- Jan. 31 – Lynn Crosbie, Where Did You Sleep Last Night?
- Feb. 14 – Madhur Anand, A New Index for Predicting Catastrophe
- March 7 – Katherena Vermette, North End Love Song
- March 21 – Terry Fallis, Poles Apart
For more information, email gailv@yorku.ca or leslie@yorku.ca.