Kreisel Lecture Series / Série de conférences Kreisel
The Henry Kreisel Memorial Lecture is the CLC's annual flagship event dedicated to nurturing public and scholarly engagement with the pressing concerns of writers in Canada. Each year an established author is invited to deliver an original lecture on an issue that is important to them, with some lectures featured on CBC Radio One's IDEAS. The lecture series showcases the myriad ways in which writers help us to understand the textures of life and literature in this country. Each Kreisel Lecture is also co-published with the University of Alberta Press as part of the Kreisel Series.
To read more about each lecture event, including lecture abstracts and author biographies, and to access links to audio or video recordings where they are available, visit the page for each decade of Kreisel Lectures.
The first decade of Kreisel Lecturers:
- Joseph Boyden (2007)
- Wayne Johnston (2008)
- Dany Laferrière (2009)
- Eden Robinson (2010)
- Annabel Lyon (2011)
- Lawrence Hill (2012)
- Esi Edugyan (2013)
- Tomson Highway (2014)
- Lynn Coady (2015)
- Margaret Atwood (2016)
The most recent Kreisel Lecturers:
- Heather O'Neill (2017)
- Michael Crummey (2018)
- Dionne Brand (2019)
- Leanne Betasamosake Simpson (2020)
- Vivek Shraya (2021)
- Cherie Dimaline (2022)
- Wayde Compton (2023)
- Kate Beaton (2024)
Henry Kreisel
The Centre for Literatures in Canada continues the legacy of visionary Canadian author and University of Alberta professor Henry Kreisel through this memorial lecture, a forum for open and inclusive critical thinking.
Le Centre de littératures au Canada se consacre à perpétuer la mémoire de l'auteur canadien et professeur Henry Kreisel par cette conférence commémorative qui se veut un forum pour la pensée critique, ouverte et inclusive.
You have to cultivate and encourage the writers in your own country. You have to know yourself first, then maybe others will know you.
Henry Kreisel
Henry Kreisel was an author, University Professor, and Officer of the Order of Canada. An Austrian-born Jew, Kreisel left his homeland for England in 1938 and was interned in Canada for 18 months during the Second World War. After studying at the University of Toronto, he began teaching in 1947 at the U of A and served as Chair of English from 1961 until 1970. As Chair, Kreisel introduced the first Canadian literature course that was taught at the U of A. He served as Vice-President (Academic) from 1970 until 1975, when he was named University Professor, the U of A's highest scholarly award for faculty members.
As one of the first people to bring the immigrant experience to modern Canadian literary studies, Henry Kreisel was an inspiring and beloved teacher who taught generations of students to love literature.