Media Releases

Acclaimed novelist Lawrence Hill to receive honorary degree

June 10, 2010

 

TORONTO, ON. – On Tues­day, June 15, 2010 at 10:00 a.m., the Uni­ver­si­ty of Toron­to will award acclaimed Cana­di­an author Lawrence Hill an hon­orary doc­tor of let­ters degree in recog­ni­tion of his con­tri­bu­tions to Cana­di­an lit­er­a­ture, in par­tic­u­lar through his explo­ration of race rela­tions and human­i­tar­i­an con­cerns.

Lawrence Hill is a fic­tion and non-fic­tion author whose work address­es, among oth­er themes, the social his­to­ry of slav­ery and race rela­tions in Cana­da and inter­na­tion­al­ly. His 2007 nov­el, The Book of Negroes, has won inter­na­tion­al praise and is being trans­lat­ed into sev­er­al lan­guages. It won the over­all Com­mon­wealth Writ­ers’ Prize, the Ontario Library Association’s Ever­green Award, and CBC Radio’s 2009 Cana­da Reads com­pe­ti­tion. The book was also a final­ist for the Hurston/Wright LEGACY Award and longlist­ed for both the Giller Prize and the IMPAC Award.  In 2005, Hill won the Nation­al Mag­a­zine Award for the best essay pub­lished in Cana­da.  He has worked as a reporter with the Globe and Mail, and as a par­lia­men­tary cor­re­spon­dent for the Win­nipeg Free Press.

Lawrence Hill is a grad­u­ate of the Uni­ver­si­ty of Toron­to Schools. He has a B.A. in eco­nom­ics from Laval Uni­ver­si­ty and an M.A. in writ­ing from Johns Hop­kins Uni­ver­si­ty,

Mem­bers of the media are invit­ed to attend the con­vo­ca­tion cer­e­mo­ny, but seat­ing is lim­it­ed and advance con­fir­ma­tion of atten­dance is required. Please RSVP to U of T media rela­tions at 416–978-0100 no lat­er than 3 p.m. on Mon­day, June 14.

WHAT:           Lawrence Hill to receive hon­orary degree at spring con­vo­ca­tion.

WHEN:           Tues­day, June 15, 2010 at 10:00 a.m. Media need to RSVP in advance and should arrive no lat­er than 9:45 a.m. to ensure seat­ing.

WHERE:        Uni­ver­si­ty of Toron­to, Con­vo­ca­tion Hall, 31 King’s Col­lege Cir­cle.

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For more infor­ma­tion and to RSVP:

con­tact media rela­tions at 416–978-0100