Tom Wayman

Winner of the Lieutenant Governor’s Award for Literary Excellence

Tom Wayman’s prolific literary career includes writing more than twenty poetry collections, three collections of critical and cultural essays, three books of short fiction and a novel, as well as editing six poetry anthologies. He received British Columbia’s 2022 George Woodcock Award for Lifetime Achievement in the literary arts. In 2015, he was named a Vancouver Literary Landmark, with a plaque on the city’s Commercial Drive commemorating his championing of people writing for themselves about their daily employment. He won the Western Canada Jewish Book Awards prize for fiction in 2016 (for the short story collection, The Shadows We Mistake for Love) and for poetry in 2023 (for Watching a Man Break a Dog’s Back: Poems for a Dark Time). His memoir, The Road to Appledore (or How I Went Back to The Land Without Ever Having Lived There in the First Place), was published in 2024. Wayman lives in Winlaw, BC.

Jurors: Courtney Bill, Rafeed Chowdhury, and Karis Shearer

Statement from the jury:
“For six decades Tom Wayman has been contributing on and off the page to British Columbia’s literary community. He has published more than twenty poetry collections, three books of short fiction, a novel, a memoir, collections of essays, and edited a number of poetry anthologies. Throughout his prolific career he also taught for many years in the B.C. community college system, co-founded the Vancouver Industrial Writers’ Union, and co-founded two alternative B.C. post-secondary creative writing schools. Over the years he has been deeply committed to reflecting the experience of working people. 

What stood out to the jury was how his literary work and community contribution intertwined with one another to make a broader impact. His love and contribution to the lives of working people expanded the range of experience in Canadian literature. His contribution is not only packed within an impressive bibliography, but far beyond that. That broader legacy is reflected in the literary communities, organizations, and conversations he helped create and sustain.

We gladly congratulate Tom Wayman on this recognition and thank him for his contributions to our literary community.”