George Swede facts for kids
George Swede (whose original name was Juris Puriņš) was born on November 20, 1940, in Riga, Latvia. He is a Latvian Canadian psychologist, poet, and writer of children's books. Today, he lives in Toronto, Ontario. George Swede is a very important person in the world of English-language haiku poetry. He is known for his clever and touching observations in his poems.
Contents
George Swede's Life Journey
Early Life and Education
In 1947, George Swede came to Canada with his mother and stepfather. They moved from 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, George and his mother moved to Vancouver. There, he finished junior high and high school.
He then went to the University of British Columbia. In 1964, he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology. After that, he worked for a short time as a psychologist at the B.C. Penitentiary in New Westminster. In 1965, he earned his Master of Arts degree from Dalhousie University.
Teaching and Helping Students
From 1966 to 1967, George Swede taught psychology at Vancouver City College. After that, he worked as a school psychologist in Toronto until 1968.
He then started his long career at Toronto Metropolitan University (formerly Ryerson University). He was part of the psychology department from 1968 to 2006. He even led the department from 1998 to 2003.
From 1970 to 1975, he was a director for Developmental Psychology at Ryerson Open College. This was like a "virtual university" that shared lessons by radio and TV. Later, from 1993 to 2000, he helped with Ryerson University Now (RUN). This program encouraged bright students from disadvantaged backgrounds to go to university. George Swede taught a psychology course to these students. Many of them graduated and received scholarships for university.
Contributions to Haiku Poetry
George Swede was named the Honorary Curator of the American Haiku Archives for 2008-09. This was to recognize his important work in haiku poetry. His writings and papers from 1968 to 2012 are kept at the Fisher Library, University of Toronto. You can also find his papers at the Archives & Special Collections, Toronto Metropolitan University.
George Swede started writing free verse poetry in the late 1960s. His poems appeared in many journals, including:
- Antigonish Review
- Canadian Forum
- Grain
- New Quarterly
- Open Letter
- Piedmont Literary Review
- Quarry Magazine
- Rampike
- Tamarack Review
- Toronto Life
His interest in haiku, a type of Japanese poetry, began in 1976. This happened when he was asked to review a book called Modern Japanese Haiku.
After that, Swede began publishing his haiku poems in journals such as:
- Acorn
- American Tanka
- Cicada
- Frogpond
- Industrial Sabotage
- Inkstone
- Mainichi Shimbun, Haiku in English
- Modern Haiku
- Simply Haiku
In 1977, George Swede helped start Haiku Canada with Betty Drevniok and Eric Amann. This group supports haiku poets in Canada. In 2007, Haiku Canada gave him an Honorary Life Membership. In an interview, George Swede mentioned poets like Dylan Thomas and Leonard Cohen as people who influenced his writing.
George Swede also combined his love for poetry and psychology. He wrote an article about what makes someone want to become a poet, starting from childhood.
His work has been reviewed in many literary magazines, including:
- Canadian Literature
- Books in Canada
- Canadian Children's Literature
In-depth studies of his work have appeared in:
- Ryerson Magazine
- Poetry Toronto
- Origin
- CJRT-FM: Contemporary Poets
- What
- Canadian Author & Bookman
- TVOntario: In Conversation With . . .
- Blithe Spirit
- BBC Radio 3: Close To Silence
- Amanda Hill on George Swede
- haijinx
- Simply Haiku
From 2008 to 2012, George Swede 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. Some of them include:
- 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.
