George Swede facts for kids

George Swede (born Juris Puriņš on November 20, 1940, in Riga, Latvia) is a Latvian Canadian psychologist, poet, and children's writer. He lives in Toronto, Ontario. He is well known for his English-language haiku poems, which often show clever and touching observations.

Life Journey

In 1947, George Swede arrived in Canada with his mother and stepfather. They had left Europe after World War II. They lived with his grandparents on a fruit farm in Oyama, British Columbia. When his stepfather passed away in 1950, Swede and his mother moved to Vancouver. There, he finished junior high and high school.

Education and Early Career

Swede studied at the University of British Columbia. He earned a B.A. degree in Psychology in 1964. After that, he worked briefly as a psychologist at the B.C. Penitentiary in New Westminster. In 1965, he earned his M.A. degree from Dalhousie University.

From 1966 to 1967, Swede taught psychology at Vancouver City College. He then worked as a school psychologist for the Scarborough Board of Education in Toronto until 1968.

University Professor

In 1968, Swede began his academic career at Ryerson University. He was a member of the psychology department until 2006. He even served as the department chair from 1998 to 2003.

From 1970 to 1975, he was the Director for Developmental Psychology at Ryerson Open College. This was a special virtual university that broadcast lectures on radio and TV. Later, from 1993 to 2000, he helped with Ryerson University Now (RUN). This program encouraged bright students from disadvantaged backgrounds to attend university. Swede taught a university-level psychology course to these students. Many of them graduated and received scholarships to continue their studies.

In recognition of his work in haiku, Swede was named the Honorary Curator of the American Haiku Archives for 2008-09. This archive is located at the California State Library.

Writing and Poetry

George Swede started writing free verse poetry in the late 1960s. He published his poems in many literary magazines. Some of these included:

• Antigonish Review
• Canadian Forum
• Grain
• New Quarterly
• Open Letter
• Piedmont Literary Review
• Quarry Magazine
• Rampike
• Tamarack Review
• Toronto Life

Discovering Haiku

Swede's interest in haiku began in 1976. He was asked to review a book called Modern Japanese Haiku by Makoto Ueda. After this, he started publishing his own haiku in various journals, such as:

• Acorn
• American Tanka
• Cicada
• Frogpond
• Industrial Sabotage
• Inkstone
• Mainichi Shimbun, Haiku in English
• Modern Haiku
• Simply Haiku

In 1977, Swede helped create Haiku Canada with Betty Drevniok and Eric Amann. This organization supports haiku poets in Canada. In May 2007, Haiku Canada gave Swede an Honorary Life Membership. This was to celebrate their 30th anniversary.

Swede has also talked about the poets who influenced him. These include Dylan Thomas, Leonard Cohen, and Ezra Pound. He even combined his love for poetry and psychology. He wrote an article about what makes someone want to become a poet, starting from childhood.

Editorial Work

From 2008 to 2012, George Swede held a major editorial position. He was the editor of Frogpond. This is the journal of the Haiku Society of America.

Awards and Recognition

George Swede has received many awards for his poetry and writing. Here are some of them:

• Co-winner, High/Coo Press Mini-Chapbook Competition, 1982 for "All of Her Shadows"
• Museum of Haiku Literature Award, "Frogpond", 5:4, 1983
• Museum of Haiku Literature Award, "Frogpond", 8:2, 1985
• "Our Choice", Canadian Children's Book Centre, 1984, 1985, 1987, 1991, 1992
• Museum of Haiku Literature Award, "Frogpond", 15:2, 1992
• First Prize, "Mainichi Daily News" Haiku Contest in English, 1994
• Second Prize, "Mainichi Daily News" 125th Anniversary Haiku Contest, 1997
• Third Prize, Harold G. Henderson Haiku Contest, Haiku Society of America, 1997
• First Prize, The Snapshot Press Tanka Collection Competition 2005 for "First Light, First Shadows"ISBN: 978-1-903543-19-1
• Associate, The Haiku Foundation, 2008
• Honorary Curator, American Haiku Archives, 2008/09
• Second Prize, "Mainichi Daily News" Haiku Contest in English, 2008
• Scorpion Prize, "Roadrunner" 2010, 10:1 Judged by Marjorie Perloff
• Second Prize (Tokusen), Foreign Language Category, Kusamakura International Haiku Competition, 2010
• Honorable Mention, Touchstone Book Awards 2010 for "Joy In Me Still"
• Grand Prize (Taisho), Foreign Language Category, Kusamakura International Haiku Competition, 2011
• First Honorable Mention, Kanterman Book Awards 2011 for "Joy In Me Still"
• Scorpion Prize, "Roadrunner" 2012, 12:2 Judged by Mark Wallace
• Honorable Mention, Touchstone Book Awards 2014 for "micro haiku: three to nine syllables"
• Honorable Mention, Mildred Kanterman Merit Book Award, Haiku Society of America, 2015, for "micro haiku: three to nine syllables"
• First Prize, Mildred Kanterman Merit Book Award, Haiku Society of America, 2017, for ″Helices″
• One of 4 Winners, e-Chapbook Awards, 2019 for "Arithmetic"
• 3rd Place, The Marianne Bluger Book and Chapbook Awards 2024 for The Way A Poem Emerges: A Haiku Trinity & Beyond.