In a reception at the Merril Collection of Science Fiction, Speculation and Fantasy at the Toronto Public Library, SF Canada last week presented its first ever Lifetime Achievement Award to Phyllis Gottlieb. According to the organization, Gottlieb is “one of the founders of contemporary Canadian science fiction and has been a prominent voice in the field for over four decades.”
Gottlieb’s prolific writing career began with her 1964 novel Sunburst, for which Canada’s top juried sf award is named. Her most recent book, Birthstones, was published in 2007 by Robert J. Sawyer Books.
SF Canada President Colleen Anderson said of the recipient: “Phyllis Gottlieb has been a mentor, an inspiration, and a trailblazer in Canadian science fiction for decades. The Lifetime Achievement Award is the highest honor our organization can bestow, and Phyllis is a most deserving recipient.” The text of SF Canada Vice President Joe Mahoney’s remarks at the presentation is available here.
SF Canada is an organization for professional sf authors which “exists to foster a sense of community among Canadian writers of speculative fiction, to improve communication between Canadian writers of speculative fiction, to foster the growth of quality writing in Canadian speculative fiction, to lobby on behalf of Canadian writers of speculative fiction, and to encourage the translation of Canadian speculative fiction.”