Robin Stevenson

Winner of the Lieutenant Governor’s Award for Literary Excellence

Statement from the jury on the selection of Robin Stevenson:
“The Lieutenant Governor’s Award for Literary Excellence recognizes a writer who has produced a substantial body of literary work and who contributed significantly to the literary community of the Province of British Columbia. Robin Stevenson, at mid-career, has written over 30 books for children, young adults and adults, winning multiple awards and accolades. Ms. Stevenson’s prolific and acclaimed output impressed the jury, but we were particularly moved by the advocacy alive in her stories featuring young LGBTQIA+ characters, and by the activist work Ms. Stevenson does to speak in schools and volunteer in non-profit organizations. Ms. Stevenson strives, in both her creative projects and community life, to uphold women’s reproductive rights, expand queer representation in children’s and YA literature, to fight censorship and to mentor the next generation of queer writers. In this current moment of global politics, where we are seeing legislative assaults on the rights of queer and trans people, as well as battles over the exercise of “free speech,” Ms. Stevenson models for us how writing can celebrate diversity and give voice to historically oppressed people. Ms. Stevenson uses the power of story, and her position as a storyteller, to entertain young readers, encourage reluctant readers and to cultivate empathy. She sets a high bar for literary excellence in our province.”

Robin Stevenson is the award winning author of thirty books of fiction and non-fiction for kids and teens: her writing has been translated into numerous languages and published in more than a dozen countries. Robin’s books have won the Silver Birch Award, the Sheila A. Egoff award and a Stonewall Honor, and been finalists for the Governor General’s Literary Awards, the Lambda Literary Awards, and many reader’s choice awards. She is the Book and Periodical Council of Canada’s Champion of Free Expression for 2022.