2007-2009 Poet Laureate
A Vancouver resident since 1968, George McWhirter was born in Belfast where he received his B.A. from Queen’s University. His extensive teaching experience has taken him from Kilkeel, County Down to the University of Barcelona’s Escuela de Idiomas, Port Alberni and UBC, where he was Head of the UBC Creative Writing Department and where he earned a Killam Prize for teaching.
An author of poetry, poetic works in translation, short stories and novels, McWhirter was the Advisory Editor for PRISM international magazine and has edited several anthologies. His legacy project as Poet Laureate, A Verse Map of Vancouver, featured upwards of 100 poets in an anthology that was published in 2009 by Anvil Press.