Nominations are always open for THE LESLIE K. TARR AWARD
Named in honour of its first recipient, the late Leslie K. Tarr — a journalist, editor, and teacher — the Leslie K. Tarr Award celebrates a major career contribution to Christian writing and publishing in Canada. Specifically, the award recognizes a Canadian citizen who affirms the Apostles' Creed and who has:
- demonstrated excellence in his or her own writing;
- contributed to the development of Christian writing and writers in Canada;
- helped position the church in Canadian society, leading to better understanding of Christianity.
Candidates must meet all three of these criteria.
If you would like to nominate someone for this award, please send a letter indicating who you are nominating and giving details why/how you feel this person meets the requirements. Your letter should also include brief background information about yourself and your relationship, if any, to the person you are nominating. Feel free to enclose any supporting documentation, such as clippings, reviews, the nominee's CV, etc. Nominations are not restricted to members of The Word Guild.
Nominations may be submitted at any time for consideration for future awards.
Send your nomination to:
Tarr Award
The Word Guild
Box 487
Markham ON L3P 3R1
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Les Tarr, who died in 1995, was a pastor and journalist who taught and wrote for a wide variety of secular and Christian publications. He was one of the first editors of Faith Today magazine; was the Canadian correspondent for Christianity Today; was Canadian director of Decision magazine; taught at God Uses Ink conferences (now known as Write! Canada); was professor of homiletics and communications at Central Baptist Seminary. The Reverend Tarr was author of Shields of Canada (biography of Baptist preacher T.T. Shields); 250 articles in The Toronto Star; articles in United Church Observer, Moody, Fundamentalist Journal, Canadian Churchman, Quill & Quire, etc. Despite disability and many years of painful illness, Les Tarr was a much-published and respected writer who remains an inspiration to us all.
Previous Leslie K. Tarr Award winners include Canadian Christian writing pioneers whose careers and work influenced many, such as Grace Irwin of Toronto, whose novels and dramatized biographies include Andrew Covington, Least of All Saints, Servant of Slaves, The Seventh Earl; Margaret Epp of Waldheim, Sask., whose 39 books were written primarily for the children/young adult market; Margaret Clarkson of Toronto, writer of hymn lyrics, articles and books; novelist Janette Oke of Alberta, who invented the inspirational fiction genre in the 1970s and whose books have sold more than 11 million copies; poet Margaret Avison of Toronto, an Officer of the Order of Canada, two-time Governor General's Award winner and 2003 recipient of the $40,000 Griffin Poetry Prize for Concrete and Wild Carrot; mainstream faith and ethics journalist Bob Harvey of the Ottawa Citizen; and Christian community newspaper founder and journalist Lloyd Mackey of British Columbia.
The nineteenth annual Leslie K. Tarr Award winner was author Rudy Wiebe, an Officer of the Order of Canada, and winner of two Governor General’s Literary Awards for the novels The Temptations of Big Bear and A Discovery of Strangers. Wiebe won The Writers' Trust Non-Fiction Prize in 1998 for Stolen Life: The Journey of a Cree Woman, which he co-authored with Yvonne Johnson. His memoir, Of This Earth: A Mennonite Boyhood in the Boreal Forest (Knopf Canada), was a finalist for a Writers' Trust prize and won the $25,000 Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction in 2007.
The Tarr Award was created and administered from 1988 to 2001 by the God Uses Ink Christian Writers' Conference, which was sponsored by Faith Today magazine and its publisher, The Evangelical Fellowship of Canada. Faith Today continued to sponsor the award until 2004.
The Word Guild assumed responsibility for administering the Tarr Award in 2002. The award was enhanced to augment the engraved plaque with a $500 cash prize beginning in 2004. The Tarr Award been sponsored since 2005 by Tyndale University College and Seminary, Toronto.
LESLIE K. TARR AWARD WINNERS
2011
Dr. J. I. Packer, 84, of Vancouver, British Columbia, prolific author and professor of theology at Vancouver's Regent College, is the twenty-third annual Leslie K. Tarr Award for outstanding career achievement.
J. I. Packer is the author of numerous books, articles, and papers. He is known for his cool head and warm heart. Timothy George, editor of the book J. I. Packer and the Evangelical Future, says Packer's "…mastery of ideas and the most fitting words in which to express them is peerless….his saintly character and spirituality run deep. I love to hear him pray."
Donald J. Payne, associate dean and professor of theology at Denver Seminary, refers to Packer as "…among the most influential English-speaking theologians in shaping the character of late-twentieth-century North American evangelical thought."
Packer’s most famous book is Knowing God. Packer's articles have often appeared in the periodical Christianity Today, of which he is a senior editor. He served as general editor for The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. Published in 2001, it is an evangelical revision of the Revised Standard Version.
2010
Jean Little, 78, of Guelph, Ontario, award-winning children’s author and member of the Order of Canada, received the twenty-second annual Leslie K. Tarr Award for outstanding career achievement on Wednesday, June 16, during The Word Guild Awards Gala at the World Vision headquarters in Mississauga.
“We chose Jean because of her accomplishments,” said Wendy Elaine Nelles, a member of the selection committee. “The number and quality of her books, her ability to affirm young readers, and her use of Canadian settings, stories, and history are just a few of the reasons. As well, the values she portrays are based on her Christian worldview.”
Jean Little has written novels, picture books, poetry, short stories, and two autobiographical books. Among them are some of Canada’s best-loved works for children, such as From Anna and Pippin the Christmas Pig.
Read the complete media release.
Photo: Jean Little by Moussa Faddoul www.fotoreflection.com
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2009
Ray Wiseman of Fergus, Ontario was awarded the twenty-first annual Leslie K. Tarr Award for outstanding career achievement. The award was presented on Wednesday, June 17, during The Word Guild Awards Gala at the World Vision headquarters in Mississauga, Ontario.The scope and quality of Ray Wiseman’s writing and his role as a mentor have made him an encouragement for many. Wiseman, who writes a weekly column for The Wellington Advertiser, has written a novel, seven non-fiction books, ten technical manuals and hundreds of newspaper columns. For 11 years he was a freelance columnist for the Guelph Mercury. |
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2008
Connie Brummel Crook, novelist, teacher |
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2007
Rudy Wiebe, an Officer of the Order of Canada, and winner of two Governor General’s Literary Awards for the novels The Temptations of Big Bear and A Discovery of Strangers. Wiebe won The Writers' Trust Non-Fiction Prize in 1998 for Stolen Life: The Journey of a Cree Woman, which he co-authored with Yvonne Johnson. His memoir, Of This Earth: A Mennonite Boyhood in the Boreal Forest (Knopf Canada), was a finalist for a Writers' Trust prize and won the $25,000 Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction in 2007. Photo: Rudy Wiebe (b. 1934), novelist, nonfiction author & teacher |
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2006 |
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2006 |
2005
Margaret Avison, to whom The Word Guild presented the Leslie K. Tarr Award in 2005 for outstanding contribution to Christian writing and publishing in Canada, passed away on July 31, 2007, in her 90th year. Avison twice won the Governor General's Award for poetry, and was an Officer of the Order of Canada. In 2003, at the age of 85, Avison won the $40,000 Griffin Poetry Prize for her work Concrete and Wild Carrot; the judges called Margaret "a national treasure."
Margaret gave a rare, two-hour interview to journalist/photographer Sue Careless shortly after winning the Griffin Prize, in which she talked about her conversion and her Christian faith. Sue, who is a professional member of The Word Guild, generously offered to share the article and photo, which originally were published in July 2003 in ChristianWeek. Margaret's poem "Leading Questions" is included. Photos: Left: Margaret Avison (b. 1918 – d. July 31, 2007), poet (Photo by Sue Careless, 2003) Right: Margaret Avison in June, 2005, with award presenter, Earl Davey, left, Provost of Tyndale University College and Seminary. Photo Jane Twohey/The Word Guild
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2004
Photo: Winner: Janette Oke (b. 1935), novelist |
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2003
Photo: Margaret Epp Winner Margaret Epp, (d. Sept. 7, 2008) author, penned 39 books, mainly for children and young adults. Many dealt with Mennonite themes, including The Earth is Round. She died at age 95 on September 7, 2008 in at the Mennonite Nursing Home in Rosthern, Saskatchewan. |
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2002
Photo: Grace Irwin (b. 1907 – died September 16, 2008), teacher/author/minister. Grace Irwin enjoyed a fulfilling career as a high school English and classics teacher at Humberside Collegiate. Her six published novels include: Least of All Saints, Andrew Connington and Contend with Horses; biographical fiction Servant of Slaves (life of John Newton) and The Seventh Earl (Lord Shaftesbury); the autobiographical Three Lives in Mine; and a manuscript written in 1927 that was published in 2003 titled Compensation. She passed away in Toronto at age 101 on September 16, 2008, after a long, active and vibrant life, living her entire life in the same house in which she was born. Grace's nephew, John Irwin, is on the board of Christian Info Canada, the umbrella organization that encompasses The Word Guild. In 2010, John and his wife began the Grace Irwin Award, which is co-sponsored by The Word Guild. |
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2001Larry Matthews, editor/writer/consultant |
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2000Doug Koop, editor/journalist |
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1999Audrey Dorsch, editor/writer |
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1998Jim Taylor, editor/author/publisher |
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1997Hugh Cook, professor/author |
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1996W. Harold Fuller, writer/author |
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1995John White (b. 1924 – d. 2002), author |
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1994Phyllis Mitchell, columnist/author |
1993Harold Jantz, founder/editor, Christian Week |
1992
Photo: E. Margaret Clarkson (b. 1915 – d. March 17, 2008), poet/author/hymnwriter She had published many hymn lyrics, including "So Send I You," and 17 books, including So You're Single, Destined for Glory, All Nature Sings and A Singing Heart. She died in Toronto on March 17, 2008 at age 93 after a long struggle with physical illness and a 15-year disablement by Alzheimer's. A "Service of Witness To the Resurrection of Jesus Christ and Those Who Belong to Him" was held on June 3, 2008 in the chapel at Tyndale University College & Seminary in Toronto. Approximately 70 people were present to honour Margaret's memory, including a number of academics and pastors. All the details of the service, which consisted of a series of scripture passages and six of Margaret's own hymns, were planned by Margaret in 1990. Anyone who knew her would not be surprised to learn that Margaret had timed it to last precisely one hour–and it did exactly that! Wendy Elaine Nelles presented copies of Hot Apple Cider to Jesse, Margaret's 95-year-old sister, and to Kathy Clulow, Margaret's niece. |
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1990Maxine Hancock (b. 1942), professor/broadcaster/author |
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1989John H. Redekop (b. 1932), professor/author |
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1988
Photo: Leslie K. Tarr (d. 1995), writer/editor/author Les Tarr, who died in 1995, was a pastor and journalist who taught and wrote for a wide variety of secular and Christian publications. He was one of the first editors of Faith Today magazine; was the Canadian correspondent for Christianity Today; was Canadian director of Decision magazine; taught at God Uses Ink conferences (now known as Write! Canada); was professor of homiletics and communications at Central Baptist Seminary. The Reverend Tarr was author of Shields of Canada (biography of Baptist preacher T.T. Shields); 250 articles in The Toronto Star; articles in United Church Observer, Moody, Fundamentalist Journal, Canadian Churchman, Quill & Quire, etc. he was also very active in helping other writers. Despite disability and many years of painful illness, Les Tarr was a much-published and respected writer and mentor who remains an inspiration to us all. |
