Langara College Welcomes First Writer in Residence
Langara College welcomes Rawi Hage, one of five finalists for the 2022 Scotiabank Giller Prize, as the College’s first Writer in Residence. Hage was shortlisted for this year’s Giller Prize, English Canadian fiction’s largest literary award, for his short story collection Stray Dogs.
“The opportunity to support and inspire students in their creative process, and in such a diverse, youthful environment, is rewarding and meaningful to me. I’m excited to be part of the Langara community,” said Hage.
The Writer in Residence program is made possible with a gift to the Langara College Foundation in honour of Gregory James Graham and is being hosted by the English department. It will provide an opportunity for the celebrated author to pursue his creative projects while also making him available to the College community for student mentorship, classroom visits, and a public reading for the wider community.
“This is an amazing opportunity for our students to gain access to a renowned Canadian author,” said Yusuf Varachia, Vice President, External Relations and Community Engagement. “Students benefit by having an opportunity to connect directly with Mr. Hage, and receive his mentorship and feedback outside of the context of formal classroom evaluation. He is a wonderful role model for our aspiring student writers.”
The Writer in Residence program will begin in January 2023 and run for approximately three months.
A jury citation for the The Giller Prize said: “The short stories in Rawi Hage’s Stray Dogs fuse spare, graceful language with world-spanning design. The writing is streamlined and confident, understated and wry. As the stories develop, we are confronted by their surprising, lifelike inevitability.”
The Giller Prize, founded in 1994 by Jack Rabinovitch, recognizes excellence in Canadian fiction – long format or short stories – and endowed a cash prize annually of $25,000.00, the largest purse for literature in Canada. In 2005, Scotiabank created the Scotiabank Giller Prize, and the purse increased from $25,000 to $50,000, grew again in 2008 to $70,000, and increased to $140,000 in 2014.