George McWhiter: Vancouver's Inaugural Poet Laureate
City Council established the Poet Laureate Program in December of 2006 to highlight the contribution of literature and poetry to life in Vancouver. On March 8, 2007 George McWhirter, Professor Emeritus of UBC’s Creative Writing Program 
, was named the City of Vancouver’s inaugural Poet Laureate.
View video of George McWhirter’s introduction to City Council and first presentation as Poet Laureate in Council Chamber.
Photo credits at bottom of page
During his honourary two-year term, McWhirter set a personal mandate to raise the status of poetry in the everyday consciousness of Vancouverites.
A Vancouver resident since 1968, George McWhirter was born in Belfast where he received his B.A. from Queen’s University. His extensive teaching experience has taken him from Kilkeel, Bangor, County Down to the University of Barcelona’s Escuela de Idiomas, to Port Alberni and finally to UBC. McWhirter was Head of the UBC Creative Writing Department from 1983 until 1993 and during that time was awarded a Killam Prize for teaching. An author of six books of poetry, two poetic works in translation, five short stories and three novels, McWhirter has been the Advisory Editor for PRISM international magazine and has edited several anthologies.
McWhirter will receive an annual stipend of $5,000, which is funded through a $100,000 donation by Dr. Yosef Wosk. Dr. Wosk’s donation, matched by the BC Arts Renaissance Fund and held in trust by the Vancouver Foundation, ensures that the poet laureate position will continue in the City of Vancouver.
The Poet Laureate was chosen by an independent assessment committee from the literary and poetry communities that included Association of Book Publishers of BC Executive Director Margaret Reynolds; City of Victoria’s Poet Laureate Carla Funk, poet and non-fiction author Gary Geddes and was supported by representatives from the Vancouver International Writers Festival, Vancouver Public Library and the City of Vancouver’s Cultural Services Division.
The Poet Laureate Program is a partnership of the City of Vancouver, Vancouver Public Library and the Vancouver International Writers & Readers Festival.
Photo credits at top of page from left to right:
First: L-R: Councillor Elizabeth Ball; George McWhirter, Poet Laureate; Mayor Sam Sullivan; Dr. Yosef Wosk, Philanthropist; and Leslie Hurtig, Board Chair of the Vancouver International Writers and Readers Festival
Second: L-R Councillor Peter Ladner, Dr. Yosef Wosk, Mayor Sam Sullivan
Third: Councillor Ball, George McWhirter
Fourth: George McWhirter’s first presentation as Poet Laureate in Council Chamber
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