photo by Carol Loewen
Miriam Toews, photo by Carol Loewen
WINNIPEG, MB –The University of Winnipeg will award an Honorary Doctor of Letters to author Miriam Toews and an Honorary Doctor of Laws to educator Dr. Steve Van Bockern at Spring Convocation June 11 and 12, 2015.
An award winning author of seven books, Toews grew up in Steinbach, Manitoba, the second daughter of Mennonite parents, a heritage that has informed much of her work. She is the author of six novels: Summer of My Amazing Luck, A Boy of Good Breeding, A Complicated Kindness, The Flying Troutmans, Irma Voth, All My Puny Sorrows, and one memoir, Swing Low: A Life. She will receive her Honorary Degree on June 11 at 9:30 am.
“Skillfully and with poignancy, Toews draws on her own life to create art and illuminate the dark corners of human experience,” said Dr. Neil Besner, UWinnipeg’s Provost and Vice-President, Academic. “Although Toews is a fearless and unflinching writer, she always weaves wry humour and compassion into her narratives. Her characters are deeply human.”
Dr. Steve Van Bockern
Dr. Steve Van Bockern is a former teacher and school principal known for reaching out to the community. Van Bockern and his colleagues pioneered the incorporation of Indigenous perspectives and wisdoms with contemporary psychological research. He is renowned for his work with at-risk youth as well as with gifted children.
In 1990, Van Bockern co-authored the book Reclaiming Youth at Risk: Our Hope for the Future, which has had a worldwide impact on educators working with marginalized young people. It has sold more than 300,000 copies and has been translated into four languages. He receives his Honorary Degree on June 12 at 9:30 am.
Everyone is invited to attend Spring Convocation June 11 and 12 at the Duckworth Centre.
BACKGROUND
Miriam Toew’s father, a respected school teacher, committed suicide in 1998. His death inspired Toews to write a memoir in her father’s voice, Swing Low: A Life. The book’s insight into mental illness won the Alexander Kennedy Isbister Award for Non-Fiction and the McNally Robinson Book of the Year Award. Toews’ older sister, Marjorie, who struggled with depression, committed suicide in 2010, almost 12 years to the day after their father. Toews’s most recent novel, All My Puny Sorrows, explores the heart-wrenching bond between two sisters – one who wants to die, the other who wants desperately for her to live.
She has won numerous literary prizes including the Governor General’s Award for Fiction and the Writers’ Trust Engel/Findley Award for body of work. She is also a two-time finalist for the Scotiabank Giller Prize and a two-time winner of the Rogers Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize. She has dedicated time to encourage new writers and has appeared as a panelist and presenter at The University of Winnipeg.
Dr. Steve Van Bockern, along with his colleagues, created the not-for-profit organization Reclaiming Youth International in 1997 and he is currently serving as the organization’s dean. Its’ Circle of Courage™ model integrates Indigenous philosophies of child-rearing with contemporary research. Van Bockern has also taught in UWinnipeg’s Faculty of Education and has presented at many conferences hosted by the University.
At present, Van Bockern teaches at Augustana College in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. He serves as Dean of the Black Hills Seminars, is a senior trainer for Response Ability Pathways programs, and is co-editor of the journal Reclaiming Children and Youth.
Get more details about Spring 2015 Convocation here.
MEDIA CONTACT
Diane Poulin, Senior Communications Specialist, The University of Winnipeg
P: 204.988.7135, E: d.poulin@uwinnipeg.ca
