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Readings and lectures: University of Waterloo.
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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 flyers, posters, clippings from newsletters and newspapers all relating to readings or lectures given by Eric McCormack at the University of Waterloo (UW). The readings to which the materials contained in this file relate are as follows:
(1) Reading given by Eric McCormack on Nov. 7, 1984 in Hagey Hall at UW;
(2) Readings given by Eric McCormack and Ken Ledbetter as part of the UW's reading series sponsored by The English Society of St. Jerome's College, the Dept. of English at UW, and the Canada Council;
(3) Readings given by Eric McCormack and Ken Ledbetter at UW's Theatre of the Arts on Oct. 1, 1987. These readings formed part of the Eighth Annual Arts Lectures;
(4) Reading from Inspecting the Vaults by Eric McCormack in Hamilton on Oct. 27, 1987. This event was sponsored by the University of St. Jerome's College Graduates' Associaton in recognition of National Universities' Week;
(5) Talk given by Eric McCormack in Feb. 1991at one of UW's internal communications workshops organized by the Dept. of English at St. Jerome's College. The title of Eric McCormack's talk was "Telling Stories on Paper";
(6) Talk given by Eric McCormack on May 6, 1998 entitled "Six Impossible Things Before Breakfast". The talk, which took place at UW's Theatre of the Arts, was sponsored by the Friends of the University of Waterloo Library to celebrate UW's authors and the creative process;
(7) Reading at St. Jerome's on Oct. 21, 1998 featuring Eric McCormack.
This file also contains two items for which no date is supplied. These include a clipping announcing that the Faculty of Arts at UW is organizing a reading at St. Jerome's College by Eric McCormack. The other item is a hand illustrated poster announcing that Eric McCormack and The Weathermen will participate at an event at the Kent Hotel to be sponsored by St. Jerome's College and The English Society.
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- English