Toronto, ON – March 19, 2014
The 2014 Bonham Centre Awards Gala (BCAG) will celebrate Power of the Word for noted authors and writers on April 24, 2014 at 6:00 PM at the University of Toronto’s Hart House (7 Hart House Circle), honouring those who have made distinguished contributions to the public understanding of sexual diversity in Canada. Tickets for the event are now on sale at www.uc.utoronto.ca/bcag14
The evening’s master of ceremonies is Toronto-based journalist and television personality, Global Television’s Liem Vu.
The 2014 BCAG will honour three distinguished writers in the genre of sexual diversity including Edmund White, Patricia Nell-Warren, and Shyam Selvadurai. In addition, the IBM Youth Award will be given to Waawaate Fobister.
Established in 2008, The Bonham Centre Awards recognizes an individual or group that has made a significant contribution to the advancement and education of human rights issues surrounding sexual education.
Past recipients include founder of the It Gets Better campaign Dan Savage, former Canadian politician and diplomat Stephen Lewis, Gay Straight Alliance Bent on Change, Oscar-winning screenwriters and LGBT rights activist Dustin Lance Black, Degrassi television series co-creator and executive producer Linda Schuyler, filmmaker John Greyson, lawyer Barbara Findlay, the Canadian Union of Public Employees, and renowned sexual educator and counsellor Sue Johanson.
About the 2014 Bonham Centre Awards Gala Recipients
Edumund White
An American writer of novels, memoirs and essays on literary and social topics, drawing on gay love and his own gay experience. White has been influential as a critic on same-sex love and sexuality.
Patricia Nell-Warren
An author of gay literature and a distinguished investigative journalist and columnist, her subjects range from youth, human rights, gay and lesbian life, and mixed-blood people to sports, current events, and more.
Shyam Selvadurai
A Sri Lankan Canadian novelist born in Colombo, Sri Lanka to a Sinhalese mother and a Tamil father – members of conflicting ethnic groups whose troubles form a major theme in his work. Author of Funny Boy, he received the Lambda Literary Award for Best Gay Male Novel, and Smithbooks/Books in Canada First Novel Award for 1994.
Waawaate Fobister
A First Nations Playwright who in 2009 won six Dora Awards for his production of Agokwe, a one-man play which he wrote and starred in.
Located at University College at the University of Toronto, the Mark S. Bonham Centre for Sexual Diversity Studies offers an undergraduate program, a collaborative graduate program (MA and Ph.D.), hosts academic and community events, and promotes research into sexuality. It is a hub for forging connections among faculty, undergraduates, graduate students, and community members interested in questions about how we understand sexual diversity and sexual practices.
For more information visit:
www.uc.utoronto.ca/sexualdiversity
Follow the Mark S. Bonham Centre for Sexual Diversity Studies on Twitter:
@BonhamCentreSDS
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Available for Interviews:
Mark S. Bonham
Brenda Cossman, Director, Bonham Centre for Sexual Diversity Studies
Edmund White, Writer
Patricia Nell-Warren, Writer
Shyam Selvadurai, Writer
Presenting Sponsor
Youth Award Sponsor
