A flavour of Cascadian Zen is coming to Quadra Island, with poets and other writers reading from a newly released anthology. "We just put out this anthology that is full of famous people, and we were lucky they were willing to do that," says Adelia MacWilliam, the managing editor of Watershed Press' Cascadian Zen Volume One . "Two of those famous people live on Quadra Island, Robert Bringhurst and Jan Zwicky who are both award-winning poets.
They are a big deal on Quadra." MacWilliam and Watershed Press decided to hold the event on Quadra Island because a previous event involving Bringhurst had a good turnout. Bringhurst is a prolific writer, publishing several books of poetry and prose and translated works from Haida, Navajo, and classical Greek and Arabic.
He was named an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2013. The Beauty of the Weapons, a collection of poetry originally published in 1982, was nominated for the Governor General's Award. He was again shortlisted for the award in 2000 for A Story as Sharp as a Knife , which was about Haida symbolism.
In 2005, Bringhurst won the Lieutenant Governor's Award for Literary Excellence, a British Columbian award for writers. Zwicky, appointed to the Order of Canada in 2022, also has an extensive bibliography. Zwicky has been shortlisted for the Governor General's Awards for Poetry for Songs for Relinquishing the Earth and Robinson's Crossing .
The former won her the award in 1999. Wisdom & Metaphor was shortlisted for the 2004 Gover.