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GLEN SORESTAD BECOMES SASKATCHEWAN'S FIRST POET LAUREATE |
Glen Sorestad, poet and publisher, has been named Poet Laureate of
Saskatchewan, the first provincial Poet Laureate to be officially recognized
in Canada.
Mr. Glen Sorestad was introduced by the Honourable Jack Hillson, Minister of
Municipal Affairs, Culture and Housing at the 8th annual Saskatchewan Book
Awards in Regina.
"The Government of Saskatchewan is pleased to endorse this initiative, which
will give recognition to the importance of writers and writing in our
community," Hillson said.
The honourary two-year position was created as an initiative of the
Saskatchewan Book Awards and will be managed in partnership with the
Saskatchewan Writers Guild. These two organizations, with the advice of the
Saskatchewan Arts Board, SaskCulture and the Department of Municipal
Affairs, Culture and Housing, agreed on a selection committee consisting of
award-winning poet, teacher and active Writers Guild member, Judith Krause,
avid reader and arts supporter, John Nilson and Master Teacher and Professor
of English at the University of Saskatchewan, Ron Marken. The Saskatchewan
Writers Guild will co-ordinate a reading program which will allow the Poet
Laureate to tour the province and return to the Book Awards in 2001 to
present a new work.
In choosing the province's first Poet Laureate, factors considered by the
selection committee were: A substantial publication history; contribution to
the writing community; long term Saskatchewan residency; a poet whose work
reflects Saskatchewan.
"Our writers give voice to who we are," said Cindy MacKenzie, president of
the Saskatchewan Book Awards. "And perhaps, of all writers, poets achieve
that with the greatest passion. Saskatchewan's Poet Laureate will continue
to write independently, but will also become a spokesperson for the writing
community and an honoured participant at public events throughout the
province."
Asked about his work as a poet, Sorestad said, "Each time you write a poem
you share a small part of yourself, often a very vital part. I am a person
who likes to listen. I record -- sometimes objectively, sometimes becoming
emotionally involved. I see this as part of a time-honoured tradition that
goes back to the minstrels of the Middle Ages."
The Poet Laureate tradition itself is a time-honoured one. England has had
a Poet Laureate since 1668 and the custom has been adopted by many other
countries including the United States.
GLEN SORESTAD
Sorestad began his teaching career in Yorkton in 1957. Three years later
he married Sonia Talpash who, in 1975, become his partner in founding the
literary publishing house, Thistledown Press.
After completing his Education degree with honours at the University of
Saskatchewan, Sorestad taught for four more years in Yorkton, then moved to
Saskatoon where he taught continued to teach and write. He earned his M.Ed.
in 1976.
In 1981 Sorestad quit teaching to devote more time to his writing career
which had earned him a national reputation as a poet, fiction writer, editor
and publisher. Sorestad is author of a dozen books of poetry, numerous
short stories and is the co-editor of many anthologies. He has given over
two hundred and fifty public readings of his poetry in every province in
Canada, in many parts of the United States and in Europe. A reception in his
honour was held at the residence of the Canadian Ambassador in Oslo and his
reading broadcast on Norway's public radio network.
An active member of the Saskatchewan Writers Guild, Sorestad was given a
Founders' Award by the Guild in 1990. He is an active member of the Writers
Union of Canada and was recently honoured with a life membership in the
League of Canadian Poets.
Earlier this year, Sorestad retired after 25 years as President of
Thistledown Press. With over 250 published titles to his credit, many
published abroad, Sorestad and his wife continue to make their home in
Saskatoon where he devotes himself full time to his writing. At the
beginning of this new century, Sorestad enjoys the distinguished honor of
being named the first Poet Laureate of Saskatchewan.
Glen Sorestad was born in Vancouver in 1937. When he was 10, Sorestad's
parents returned to Saskatchewan where their son attended a rural school
near Buchanan and graduated from Sturgis Composite High.