File 13 - Literary awards: Governor-General's Award for Fiction.

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Literary awards: Governor-General's Award for Fiction.

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SCA144-GA117-1-13

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(1938-2023)

Biographical history

Eric McCormack (1938-2023) was a Canadian author, reviewer, and academic. He grew up in the small industrial community of Bellshill in Scotland where his his father worked in the steel mill. Eric McCormack obtained a Masters Degree in English Literature from the University of Glasgow. In 1966 he left Scotland for doctoral studies at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, Canada. In 1970 he accepted a teaching post in the English Department of St. Jerome's College (Now St. Jerome's University) at the University of Waterloo, where he specialized in seventeenth-century and contemporary literature.
As an author Eric McCormack began his career writing short stories which appeared in small literary journals including Prism International, West Coast Review, Malahat Review, and The New Quarterly. In 1987 his first book Inspecting the Vaults was released. This is a collection of nineteen short stories, thirteen of which had been previously published in literary magazines. His first novel, The Paradise Motel, was published in February 1989. Eric McCormack became the focus of considerable media interest and his books were translated into many foreign languages. His next novel The Mysterium was released in 1989, and First Blast of the Trumpet Against the Monstrous Regiment of Women, was published in 1997. The Dutch Wife was published in 2002 and his final work, Cloud was published in 2014. Eric McCormack also frequently reviewed for The Globe and Mail. His works to date have received much critical acclaim.
Eric McCormack had won and/or been nominated for many prestigious literary awards. In 1988 Eric McCormack was one of two recipients of the Commonwealth Writers Prize in the Canada Caribbean Region for his work Inspecting the Vaults. He was awarded the Spring Book Award by the Scottish Arts Council for his novel The Paradise Motel in 1990, and in the same year he was one of the nominees for the People's Prize for Fiction. In 1997 the author was short-listed for the Governor-General Award for his work of fiction First Blast of the Trumpet Against the Monstrous Regiment of Women. In 1999 Eric McCormack was awarded the Literacy Award at the Eleventh K-W Arts Awards Ceremony.
Eric McCormack also read at many international and national literary festivals including Harbourfront, Vancouver, Ottawa, The Eden Mills Writers' Festival and the Elora Writers Festival. He also gave readings at the University of Waterloo, at other universities, in local public libraries, in bookstores, and at other venues.
(Source : GA 117, Series 1, Files 1-1, 1-3 to 1-5, and 1-7 to 1-8 )

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Includes clippings from newspapers and serial publications focusing on the fiction finalists for the Govenor-General Award in 1997. Eric McCormack was among those nominated for his novel First Blast of the Trumpet Against the Monstrous Regiment of Women.

Additionally, an article which appeared in St. Jerome's College newsletter _Update!_15, no. 2 (fall/winter 1997): 3, reports that 1997 was a very good year for writers and editors at St. Jerome's. Among the success stories referred to in this article is Eric McCormack's nomination for the Governor General's award for his novel First Blast of the Trumpet Against the Monstrous Regiment of Women.

Also included among the items in this file is a copy of a news bulletin issued by the Canada Council for the Arts on Oct. 22, 1997 listing the names of the nominees for the Governor-General's Awards and the titles of their works in English and French, in the categories of fiction, poetry, drama, nonfiction, children's literature (text and illustraton), and translation.
Additionally, two of the clippings contained in this file report that Jane Urquhart was the winner of the Governor General's Award for fiction in 1997.

These articles report on Ms. Urquhart's reaction to her win and focus on her literary career and previous literary awards received by her. These articles were published in The Record, Wednesday, 19 November 1997 and in The University of Waterloo Magazine (winter 1998). Both these articles also make reference to the fact that Eric McCormack was short-listed for this award.

Finally, this file contains a news bulletin issued by The Canada Council for the Arts on Nov. 17, 1998. This includes the names of the winners of the 1998 Governor General's Literary Awards.

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  • English

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