Biographies of Contributors Armstrong, Jeannette made into films. His stories usually mix the macabre with the humorous. Born 1948, Penticton Indian Reserve, British Columbia Jeannette Armstrong is fluent in the Okanagan language. Her publications include the children’s Callwood, June books Enwhisteetkwa Walk in Water (1982), and Born 1924, Chatham, Ontario Neekna and Chemai (1984), and the novel Slash Canadian writer and activist June Callwood began (1987). She has been Director of En’owkin, a her career as a reporter for the Brantford Expositor multifaceted Native Education Centre. “Dust Devil” in 1941. She has written for many Canadian appeared in a collection of her poetry entitled newspapers and magazines, including Maclean’s Breath Tracks (1991). and Chatelaine. Callwood has also written for radio and television and has authored fifteen Barnard, Denise books. She is well known for her humanitarian efforts and has received many awards and born 1964, Toronto, Ontario honours, including Woman of the Year, B’nai Denise Barnard has worked as a magazine editor B’rith, the Order of Canada, and the Governor and writer, and college instructor. Her stories have General’s Literary Award. appeared in such journals as Intersections ’93, White Wall Review 1994, Prairie Fire and McGill Street Magazine. Her chapbook Some Tings Lie So Carrier , Roch Deep was published by Gargoyle Press in 1995. Born 1937, Sainte-Justine-de-Dorchester, Quebec Barnard lives in Toronto. Novelist, playwright, and short story writer Roch Carrier often uses allegory, satire, and dark Bentez, F ernando humour to portray the political issues and confrontations between English and French born Mexico Canadians. Much of his work has been translated Fernando Benítez is recognized as one of Mexico’s into English, and he has adapted several of his greatest living journalists and intellectuals. He was novels into plays. the director of El Nacional, among other Mexican journals. He is the author of many books both for adults and young people. Conn, Jan Born 1952, Asbestos, Quebec Bradbury, Ray Jan Conn was raised in Montreal, Quebec. She has lived in Vancouver, Toronto, Caracas (Venezuela), Born 1920, Waukegan, Illinois and Gainesville (Florida). Her first book of poetry, Ray Bradbury is regarded as a classic American Red Shoes in the Rain, was published in 1982. She science fiction writer. His best known works is presently an assistant professor at the University include the novels Something Wicked This Way of Vermont, where she works on the evolutionary Comes (1983), The Martian Chronicles (1958), and history and genetics of South American Fahrenheit 451 (1967), all of which have been mosquitoes. Biographies of Contributors 281 Crozier , Lorna Ephron, Delia Born 1948, Swift Current, Saskatchewan Born 1944, Los Angeles, California Poet Lorna Crozier grew up in Swift Current, and Ephron is best known for her humorous books that many of her poems are filled with images of the entertain both young readers and adults. Her first prairie landscape. She writes of human book of humour was How to Eat Like a Child relationships, the natural world, memory, and the (1978), which evolved from an article she wrote self. Her work includes ten collections of poetry, for the New York Times Magazine. Her many and in 1992 she won the Governor General’s books cover everything from embarrassing teenage Award for Inventing the Hawk. romance to kids and manners, all delivered in Ephron’s deadpan style. Her dialogue “How to Hang Up the Telephone” is an example of her David, Lester lighthearted humour. Born 1914, New York Journalist and biographer Lester David has contributed nearly a thousand articles to national Foon, Dennis magazines in the United States. He has also Born 1951, Detroit, Michigan written several biographies of prominent American Playwright Dennis Foon attended the University of political families. British Columbia, and has lived in Vancouver for many years. He has written and directed many children’s plays. One of his aims is to help young De Lint , Charles people learn to cope with a complex and confusing Born 1951, the Netherlands world. A Canadian citizen, Charles de Lint is a novelist and short story writer as well as a professional Celtic musician. He is considered a pioneer in the Forstrom, Dora field of urban fantasy, but has also written science born 1922, Kenora, Ontario fiction, horror, and traditional high fantasy. He is a Dora Forstrom is a watercolourist, lecturer, and art prolific author, averaging two to three books per teacher. She has led delegations of North American year, as well as writing nonfiction, magazine artists to the USSR, Israel, Egypt, Greece, and articles, and reviews. Turkey. Her paintings are held in private and corporate collections in the Americas, Europe, Asia, and Australia. An illustrated collection of her Ellis, Sarah short stories is currently in progress. Born 1952, Vancouver, British Columbia Sarah Ellis attended the University of British Columbia and received her Master of Library Foster , Robert B. Science in 1975. She also received an M.A. from Born Victoria, B. C. Simmons College in Boston in 1980. In addition to Robert B. Foster received a Masters degree in her books, she also writes a column for Hornbook Creative Writing from Syracuse University. Later, magazine, works part-time as a librarian, and while editing a poetry magazine in Winnipeg, he occasionally teaches. Ellis won the Governor was diagnosed with several disabilities, including General’s Award in 1991, for Pick-Up Sticks. Attention Deficit Disorder. He currently works in Parry Sound, Ontario at an organization called RISE: Independent Living Resource Centre, where 282 Biographies of Contributors people with disabilities help each other become became the property of the Public Archives of more independent. Canada. Most of her works were untitled, but she signed them using her initials F.A.H. Ginter, Peter Born Germany Hughes, Langston Peter Ginter is an award-winning photographer Born 1902, Joplin, Missouri; died 1967 whose work appeared in Material World: A Global Langston Hughes published works in all forms of Family Portrait. The team of fifteen of the world’s literature, but is best known for his poetry. He was foremost photographers travelled around the world a major literary figure of the Harlem renaissance, for one year, shooting 2,000 rolls of film and 112 and wrote proudly and optimistically about black hours of video for a variety of media. They people. He experimented with poetic metre photographed thirty families in thirty countries, (rhythm) by adopting the rhythms of black music living with them for a week, and at the end of the in his poetry. week taking portraits of the family outside its home, surrounded by all its possessions. Jacobs, W. W. Born 1863, London, England; died 1943 Hamilton, Virginia W. W. Jacobs wrote nineteen volumes of short Born 1936, Ohio stories, most of which are about sailors’ Virginia Hamilton grew up in southern Ohio. She adventures. Ironically, his most famous work, The has won many awards for her books about Monkey’s Paw, doesn’t feature sailors or the sea. African-American children. Hamilton’s goal is to expand the choice of subjects available for young readers by drawing on subjects from history, myth, Kogawa, Joy Born 1935, Vancouver, British Columbia and folklore. Joy Kogawa is best known for her novel Obasan, about the internment of Japanese Canadians Heker, Liliana during World War II. She has also written a Born 1943, Buenos Aires, Argentina children’s version of Obasan entitled Naomi’s Liliana Heker’s first book of short stories, Those Road. Her work addresses issues of racial and Who Beheld the Burning Bush (1966), together cultural diversity, persecution, and self-identity. with her editorship of the “radical” literary Her poem “When I Was a Little Girl” is a personal magazine The Platypus, quickly established her reflection. reputation as an outspoken critic of the military dictatorship in Argentina. Kurelek, William Born 1922, Whitford, Alberta; died 1977 Hopkins, Frances Anne William Kurelek grew up on a farm in Manitoba, Born 1838, England; died 1918 and his childhood has been captured in the books Artist Frances Hopkins came to Canada to paint he wrote and illustrated for children. A largely self- the wilderness. Accompanying her husband on taught painter, he created a large body of work canoe expeditions in Upper Canada, she painted a that depicted aspects of Canadian life. remarkable series of oil and watercolour paintings of the voyageurs. Her Canadian sketchbooks Biographies of Contributors 283 LaRocque, Emma McWatt, Tessa Born 1949, Big Bay, Alberta born 1959, Guyana Educator, author, and poet Emma LaRocque Tessa McWatt emigrated with her family to Canada received her M.A. in Canadian History at the at the age of three. A Canadian citizen, she has University of Manitoba. A Métis by birth, she has a worked as a book editor, ESL teacher, and special interest in Native peoples and human translator and adapter of screenplays. Her poetry rights issues and focusses much of her work in has appeared in numerous journals. Her novel Out these areas. She is currently working on her Ph.D. of My Skin, the first in a trilogy, was published in in Aboriginal History/Literature and is the 1998 by Riverbank Press. McWatt lives in London, professor of Native Studies at the University of England. Manitoba. Mitchell, Joni MacEwen, Gwendolyn Born 1943, Fort Macleod, Alberta Born 1941, Toronto, Ontario; died 1987 Joni Mitchell’s career as a singer and songwriter Though she published several collections of short began in coffee houses and at folk festivals in stories, two novels, and a travelogue, Gwendolyn Ontario and the United States. Several of her MacEwen is best known for her books of poetry. songs, recorded by other performers, brought her Two of these, The Shadow-Maker (1969) and international fame.