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Aritha van Herk

アリタ・ヴァン・ヘルク

Aritha van Herk

Profile

Gender
Female
Born
1954-05-26 （Wetaskiwin, Alberta）
Nationality
Canada
Languages
English
Residence History
Edberg, Alberta → Edmonton, Alberta → Calgary, Alberta

Career

Occupations
critic, editor, writer, professor, public intellectual
Active Years
1978-2024
Affiliations
University of Calgary
Memberships
Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada
Influenced
Anita Rau Badami, Thomas Wharton
Nominations
No Fixed Address nominated for Governor General's Award

Education

University of Alberta
Department of English
Degree: B.A. Honours
Period: 1970s
Year of Graduation: 1976
Country: Canada
Canadian literature and Creative Writing
University of Alberta
Department of English
Degree: M.A.
Year of Graduation: 1978
Country: Canada
University of Manitoba
Degree: Hon. D.Can.L.
Year of Graduation: 2013
Country: Canada
Honorary
Athabasca University
Degree: Hon. D.Lit.
Year of Graduation: 2018
Country: Canada
Honorary

Awards

Seal First Novel Award
1978
Work: Judith
Organization: McClelland and Stewart
Result: 受賞
Howard O'Hagan Award
Result: 受賞
Grant MacEwan Author's Award
2001
Work: Mavericks
Result: 受賞
Lorne Pierce Medal
Organization: Royal Society of Canada
Result: 受賞
Golden Pen Lifetime Achievement Award
2011
Organization: Writers' Guild of Alberta
Result: 受賞
Alberta Order of Excellence
2011
Result: 受賞
Member of the Order of Canada
Category: CM
Organization: Government of Canada
Result: 受賞
Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada
1997
Organization: Royal Society of Canada
Result: 選出

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Judith

1978 Novel

Explores a female protagonist's experiences in both rural and urban Canadian spaces.

feminist themeswestern Canada culture
Adaptations
  • [Theatre] Judith: Memories of a Lady Pig Farmer / Heather Davies (2018)

The Tent Peg

1981 Novel

Female protagonist disguises herself as a man to work as a cook in a northern geological bush-camp.

female experienceCanadian wilderness

No Fixed Address: An Amorous Journey

1986 Novel

Parody of the picaresque genre where an underwear saleswoman traverses the Canadian prairies.

female journeyCanadian prairies

Restlessness

1998 Novel

Nomadic protagonist divulges her life story to the man she hired to kill her.

restlessnessfemale narrative

Places Far From Ellesmere: a geografictione

1990 Geografictione

Travel narrative analyzing concepts of travel and narrative.

geographyfiction

Bibliography

  • Judith (1978)
  • The Tent Peg (1981)
  • No Fixed Address (1986)
  • Places Far From Ellesmere (1990)
  • Restlessness (1998)
  • In Visible Ink (1991)
  • A Frozen Tongue (1992)
  • Mavericks (2001)
  • Audacious and Adamant (2007)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
fictocriticismgeografictioneatypical narrative forms
Recurring Motifs
female protagonistswestern Canadawildernessjourneys

Legacy

Canadian writer, critic, and professor known for feminist themes and depictions of western Canadian culture.

Museums

  • Glenbow Museum Calgary, Alberta Opened in 2007

Archives

  • Aritha van Herk Special Collections at University of Calgary Library

Trivia

  • Parents and elder siblings immigrated from Nazi-occupied Netherlands during WWII.
  • Teaches at University of Calgary.