UBC Reports | Vol. 47 | No. 06 | Mar.
22, 2001
Reception honours league of UBC writers, composers
by Bruce Mason staff writer
Isolated from the real world in an insular ivory tower, populated
with eggheads and navel gazers?
The death knell of antiquated university stereotypes will ring
in the ears of anyone who scrolls this
year’s list of UBC authors.
Today 150 UBC authors will be recognized at the 11th annual
UBC authors’ reception. The reception, for those who were published
in 2000, takes place from 4:30-6 p.m. in the Great Hall of the First
Nations House of Learning.
“Unprecedented numbers of UBC writers are engaging, informing
and entertaining readers on a global scale. Their achievements are
a source of considerable pride and interest far beyond our campus,”
says UBC President Martha Piper.
“As a community of scholars we are well aware of the significance
of writing and publishing books,” she adds.
“A book is a milestone in an individual career, a product of intense
labour and love and a permanent and transportable addition to human
knowledge.”
Margaret Friesen, co-ordinator of staff training and development
for the Library and chair of the authors’ reception committee, counts
138 titles by authors from 46 departments, writing in 10 languages.
“There is a growing number of medical books and this year four
librarians were published,” she says. “Not too surprising are six
with `millennium’ or `100 years’ in the title.”
There are books on drug wars, geriatric medicine, NAFTA, neuroplasticity,
and the invention of the passport. UBC authors also produced a dictionary
of human geography and a dictionary of Sikh names, one on elementary
Korean, another on Balinese music.
Subjects range from urban watershed management to international
relations, teenage mothers, great migrations and global environment
change. There are studies of First Nations art, creation myth and
their place in the nation.
Most prolific was Music Prof. Stephen Chatman with five entries.
Unless you count all 26 episodes of the TV series Weird Homes
produced by Film Asst. Prof. Sharon McGowan.
Law Prof. Wesley Pue put one of the best known events at UBC in
perspective by editing Pepper in Our Eyes: The APEC Affair.
And yes there is a UBC book on taxes — Flat Taxes, Dual Taxes,
Smart Taxes: Making the Best Choices by Economics Prof. Jonathan
Kesselman.
Overwhelmed? Alexandra Bradley and Denise Dale from the School
of Library, Archival and Information Studies have produced two editions
of At Your fingertips! The first will help you create a home
filing system. The second is for small business.
See also: Genetics in
book’s makeup, Author
flies high, Pianist’s
work in the key of Beethoven, UBC
Authors 2000.
