Roberta Rees (born 1954 in

New Westminster New Westminster (colloquially known as New West) is a city in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia, Canada, and a member municipality of the Metro Vancouver Regional District. It was founded by Major-General Richard Moody as the capi ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

)"Author finds voice in elements". ''

Calgary Herald The ''Calgary Herald'' is a daily newspaper published in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Publication began in 1883 as ''The Calgary Herald, Mining and Ranche Advocate, and General Advertiser''. It is owned by the Postmedia Network. History ''The ...

'', November 4, 1994. is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

writer from

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

Career

Rees was raised primarily in

Crowsnest Pass Crowsnest Pass (sometimes referred to as Crow's Nest Pass, french: link=no, col du Nid-de-Corbeau) is a low mountain pass across the Continental Divide of the Canadian Rockies on the Alberta– British Columbia border. Geography The pass is ...

, and has been based in

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, makin ...

since moving there at age 19 to attend the

University of Calgary The University of Calgary (U of C or UCalgary) is a public research university located in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The University of Calgary started in 1944 as the Calgary branch of the University of Alberta, founded in 1908, prior to being ins ...

. She has also taught English and creative writing at the high school and university levels. To date, she is most noted for her short story collection ''Long After Fathers'', which won the

ReLit Award The ReLit Awards are Canadian literary prizes awarded annually to book-length works in the novel, short-story and poetry categories."Three indie writers honoured by ReLit Awards". ''The Globe and Mail'', July 19, 2007. Founded in 2000 by Newfoundla ...

for short fiction, and was a finalist for the

Danuta Gleed Literary Award The Danuta Gleed Literary Award is a Canadian national literary prize, awarded since 1998. It recognizes the best debut short fiction collection by a Canadian author in English language. The annual prize was founded by John Gleed in honour of his ...

, in 2008.

Awards

In 1993, she won the

Gerald Lampert Award The Gerald Lampert Memorial Award is made annually by the League of Canadian Poets to the best volume of poetry published by a first-time poet. It is presented in honour of poetry promoter Gerald Lampert Gerald Lampert (c. 1924 - April 29, 1978) w ...

and the

Alberta Literary Awards The Alberta Literary Awards (ALA), administered by the Writers’ Guild of Alberta, have been awarded annually since 1982 to recognize outstanding writing by Alberta authors. The awards honour fiction, nonfiction, poetry, drama, children's literatu ...

' Stephan G. Stephansson prize for poetry for her poetry collection ''Eyes Like Pigeons'', and her novel ''Beneath the Faceless Mountain'' won the Alberta New Fiction Competition for unpublished manuscripts in 1993. Following the publication of ''Beneath the Faceless Mountain'' in 1994, the book was co-winner, with

Richard Wagamese Richard Wagamese (October 14, 1955 – March 10, 2017) was an Ojibwe Canadian author and journalist from the Wabaseemoong Independent Nations in Northwestern Ontario."Indian Horse is a dark ride". '' Calgary Herald'', February 28, 2012. He was be ...

's ''Keeper 'n Me'', of the Georges Bugnet Award for Novel at the 1995 Writers' Guild of Alberta's

."Rees, Wagamese share novel win at Writers Guild of Alberta gala". ''

Edmonton Journal The ''Edmonton Journal'' is a daily newspaper in Edmonton, Alberta. It is part of the Postmedia Network. History The ''Journal'' was founded in 1903 by three local businessmen — John Macpherson, Arthur Moore and J.W. Cunningham — as ...

'', May 14, 1995. Her collection of short fiction ''Long After Fathers'' won the Howard O'Hagan Award at the

in 2008. Rees has twice won the James H. Gray Award for short nonfiction, an Alberta Literary Award, in 2018 for "Evie's Massage Parlour" (Writing Menopause,

Inanna Publications Inanna Publications and Education Inc. is a Canadian book publisher based in Toronto, Ontario. Inanna publishes women's writing, including a journal, literary fiction, poetry, and academic books. Inanna's books are on a wide variety of feminist t ...

and Education Inc., 2017) and again in 2019 for "Bones, Honey" ( Waiting: An Anthology of Essays,

The University of Alberta Press University of Alberta Press (UAlberta Press) is a publishing house and a division of the University of Alberta that engages in academic publishing. Overview UAlberta Press is situated in the Rutherford Library on the University of Alberta campu ...

, 2018).

Bibliography

Poetry

*''Eyes Like Pigeons'' (Brick Books, 1992)

Fiction

*''Beneath the Faceless Mountain'' ( Red Deer Press, 1995) *''Long After Fathers'' (

Coteau Books Coteau Books was a small, non-profit literary press based in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. It was established in 1975 by Bob Currie, Gary Hyland, Barbara Sapergia and Geoffrey Ursell when they realized that there was little opportunity for Sask ...

, 2009)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rees, Roberta 1954 births 20th-century Canadian novelists 20th-century Canadian poets 20th-century Canadian short story writers 21st-century Canadian novelists 21st-century Canadian poets 21st-century Canadian short story writers Canadian women novelists Canadian women poets Canadian women short story writers University of Calgary alumni Living people People from New Westminster Writers from British Columbia Writers from Alberta 21st-century Canadian women writers 20th-century Canadian women writers