Regent Professors and Students Vie for Top Christian Writing Awards
On June 13, The Word Guild presented its 2011 Canadian Christian Writing Awards at its twenty-fourth annual gala event in Mississauga, Ontario. As in previous years, Regent faculty, students, and alumni were well represented among the winners.
Professor John Stackhouse humbly ceded the award for best Article–Column (Series) to current student Carolyn Arends of Surrey, BC, who won for "Satan's a Goner" and "Going Down Singing" (Christianity Today). Stackhouse received an Award of Merit for "Get Out the Chequebook" and "Listening to the New Atheists" (Faith Today).
Professor Emerita Maxine Hancock was the winner in the Article–Long Feature category for "Remembering Margaret Avison/Margaret Avison Remembering," published in Regent’s academic journal CRUX. Alumnus Lance Odegard of Vancouver won in the Poetry category for "Ark," which was also published in CRUX. Alumnus Kurt Armstrong of Winnipeg tied for the winning prize in the Article–Review category for "The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains by Nicholas Carr" (Paste Magazine).
In the Book—Academic category, Professor Hans Boersma received an Award of Merit for Heavenly Participation: The Weaving of a Sacramental Tapestry (Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.). Alumnus Douglas Farrow (now based in Montreal) won in the Book–Biblical Studies category for Ascension Theology (Continuum International Publishing Company).
Regent alumni were also recognized as accomplished fiction writers. Alumnus Mike Mason of Langley, BC was chosen as the winner in the Novel–Futuristic/Fantasy category for The Violet Flash (David C Cook), while alumnus Murray Andrew Pura of Pincher Creek, Alberta won in the Novel–Historical category for The White Birds of Morning (Windhover Marsh/Clements Publishing).
The Grace Irwin Award—valued at $5,000 and recognized as Canada's largest literary award for writers who are Christian—was handed to Deb Elkink for her novel The Third Grace.
The Leslie K Tarr Award for Lifetime Achievement went to Jean Vanier, who has written over thirty books, and is perhaps best known as the founder of L'Arche, an international organization that enables people with developmental disabilities to live in community with their caregivers.