Nationality Canadian Role Poet Name Phyllis Webb | Notable works The Vision Tree Genre poetry | |
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Born April 8, 1927 (age 97)
Victoria, British Columbia ( 1927-04-08 ) Occupation poet and radio broadcaster Notable awards Governor Generals Award, Officer of the Order of Canada Education University of British Columbia, McGill University Awards Governor General's Award for English-language poetry People also search for Sharon Thesen, John F. Hulcoop, Patricia Young Books Peacock Blue: The Collected, Hanging Fire, Selected Poems: The Visio, Nothing but brush strokes, Wilson's bowl | ||
Phyllis Webb: Importance of Prayer
Phyllis Webb, (born April 8, 1927) is a Canadian poet and radio broadcaster. The Canadian Encyclopedia describes her as "a writer of stature in Canadian letters", and calls her work "brilliantly crafted, formal in its energies and humane in its concern".
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Life
Born in Victoria, British Columbia, she attended the University of British Columbia and McGill University. In 1949 she ran as a candidate for the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation in the British Columbia general election, 1949, the youngest person to do so.
Her poetry was published in 1954 in Trio, an anthology of poems by Eli Mandel, Gael Turnbull, and Webb published by Raymond Souster's Contact Press.
In 1957 Webb won a grant that allowed her to study theatre in France.
Webb has worked as a writer and broadcaster for the CBC, where in 1965 she created, with William A. Young, the radio program Ideas. From 1967 to 1969, Webb was its executive producer. In 1967, she travelled to the Soviet Union, carrying out research on the Russian Revolution of 1917 and on the anarchist Peter Kropotkin, much of which appears in her serial poem "The Kropotkin Poems".
Webb has taught creative writing at the University of British Columbia, the University of Victoria, and the Banff Centre, and was writer-in-residence at the University of Alberta 1980-1981.
She lives on Salt Spring Island, British Columbia.
Honours
In 1980 Webb was awarded a prize of CA$2,300 by fellow Canadian poets in recognition of her book Wilson's Bowl, which was overlooked for a Governor General's Award nomination that year; "the letter accompanying the prize money stated that 'this gesture is a response to your whole body of work as well as to your presence as a touchstone of true good writing in Canada, which we all know is beyond awards and prizes'".
Webb won the Governor General's Literary Award for Poetry, 1982, for The Vision Tree.
She won Canada Council Senior Arts Awards in 1981 and 1987.
She became an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1992.
Sound/video recordings
Except where otherwise noted, sound/video information courtesy Brock University.