Budge Wilson

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Budge Wilson

BornBudge Marjorie Archibald
(1927-05-02)May 2, 1927
Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
DiedMarch 19, 2021(2021-03-19) (aged 93)
Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
LanguageEnglish
NationalityCanadian
Alma materDalhousie University
Notable worksBefore Green Gables, The Metaphor

Budge Marjorie Wilson CM ONS (née Archibald; May 2, 1927 – March 19, 2021) was a Canadian writer. She was noted for her work in children's literature.

Wilson started her career in writing in her fifties. Her first book was published in 1984, when she was 56. In total she wrote more than thirty books, mostly children's books, won several awards, and was a recipient of the Order of Canada and the Order of Nova Scotia.

Early life

Wilson was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia, on May 2, 1927. Her father, Maynard Brown Archibald, was a judge; her mother was Helen MacGregor Archibald.[1] Wilson studied philosophy and psychology at Dalhousie University, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in 1949.[1][2] She then undertook postgraduate studies at the University of Toronto from 1949 to 1951. She obtained a Diploma of Education in 1953, as well as a certificate in physical education.[1]

Career

Wilson's first job was as a teacher of English and art at Halifax Ladies’ College for one year starting in 1951. She was subsequently employed by the Institute of Child Study at the University of Toronto from 1953 until 1957. There, she was responsible for filing, editing, and art work. After stints at the Toronto Public Library and Acadia University nursing school, Wilson went back to teaching in 1968. She became a fitness instructor at the Peterborough County Board of Education and Young Women’s Association in Peterborough, working in that capacity until 1987.[1]

Wilson delved into writing full time starting in 1978.

Penguin Canada,[2] and was eventually adapted into an animated series in Japan titled Kon'nichiwa Anne: Before Green Gables.[1] Wilson also authored The Leaving, a collection of short stories[5] that won first prize in the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's Literary Competition for Adult Short Story in 1991.[2][6] It won the Canadian Library Association Young Adult Book Award and the City of Dartmouth Book Award for Fiction that same year,[6] and went on to be listed as one of "The 75 best children's books of the last 25 years" by the American Library Association in 1994. It was also shortlisted for the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize for Best Book in the Canada–Caribbean Region.[1]

Other noted works of Wilson's include Lorinda's Diary and Thirteen Never Changes (1991).[5][6] She dedicated her book Fractures (2002) to both her eleventh grade teacher and her English professor at Dalhousie.[2] One of her final works was After Swissair (2016), a poetry collection chronicling the aftermath of the crash of Swissair Flight 111 off the coast of Nova Scotia on September 2, 1998.[5]

Honours and awards

Wilson received numerous awards for her work

Imperial Order of the Daughters of the Empire) Violet Downey Award, an Atlantic Independent Booksellers Award, and an IBBY (International Board on Books for Young People) Honour Award. She was appointed a Member of the Order of Canada in 2004,[7] and received the Order of Nova Scotia in 2011.[3] One year later, Wilson received the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal.[8]

Wilson received honorary degrees from Dalhousie University (2010)[2][9] and Mount Saint Vincent University (2012).[10]

Personal life

Wilson married Alan Wilson in 1953. They met while studying at Dalhousie together.[11] He was the founding chair of the Departments of History and Canadian Studies at Trent University.[12] They had two children.[11]

After living in Peterborough, Ontario, for 33 years,[1] Wilson and her husband went back to Nova Scotia in 1989 and resided in Northwest Cove on St. Margarets Bay. During her later years, they moved into a retirement facility in Halifax.[5]

Wilson died on March 19, 2021, at a hospital in Halifax. She was 93, and suffered from complications from a fall earlier that month.[5]

Selected works

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Personal archives of Budge Wilson". MemoryNS. Council of Nova Scotia Archives. Retrieved March 21, 2021.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g "Budge Wilson, C.M." Dalhousie University. Archived from the original on April 11, 2021. Retrieved March 21, 2021.
  3. ^ a b "Order of Nova Scotia. Recipients–2011". novascotia.ca. Retrieved August 4, 2015.
  4. ^ a b Penguin Books, Press Release: December 14, 2007,
  5. ^ a b c d e Ryan, Haley (March 21, 2021). "Budge Wilson, acclaimed Nova Scotia writer, dies at 93". CBC News. Retrieved March 21, 2021.
  6. ^ a b c "Member Profile – Budge Wilson". Writers' Union of Canada. Retrieved March 22, 2021.
  7. ^ "Budge Wilson | Writers' Federation of Nova Scotia". Writers.ns.ca. Archived from the original on February 9, 2019. Retrieved August 10, 2015.
  8. ^ "Diamond Jubilee Medal Investiture - Order of Canada". Flickr. June 11, 2012. Retrieved August 4, 2015.
  9. ^ [1] Archived May 15, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
  10. ^ "MSVU - Mount Convocation celebrates students, faculty, honorary degree recipients". Msvu.ca. Retrieved August 4, 2015.
  11. ^ a b "Anonymous Donor Establishes Alan Wilson Graduate Student Entrance Scholarships at Trent". Trent University. November 16, 2009. Retrieved March 21, 2021.
  12. ^ "Alan Wilson – Centre for Teaching & Learning". Trent University. Archived from the original on March 22, 2021. Retrieved March 21, 2021.
  13. OCLC 70423980
    . Retrieved March 24, 2021 – via worldcat.org.
  14. . Retrieved March 24, 2021 – via worldcat.org.
  15. . Retrieved March 24, 2021 – via worldcat.org.
  16. . Retrieved March 24, 2021 – via worldcat.org.
  17. . Retrieved March 24, 2021 – via worldcat.org.
  18. . Retrieved March 24, 2021 – via worldcat.org.
  19. . Retrieved March 24, 2021 – via worldcat.org.
  20. . Retrieved March 24, 2021 – via worldcat.org.
  21. . Retrieved March 24, 2021 – via worldcat.org.
  22. . Retrieved March 24, 2021 – via worldcat.org.
  23. . Retrieved March 24, 2021 – via worldcat.org.
  24. . Retrieved March 24, 2021 – via worldcat.org.
  25. . Retrieved March 24, 2021 – via worldcat.org.
  26. . Retrieved March 24, 2021 – via worldcat.org.
  27. . Retrieved March 24, 2021 – via worldcat.org.
  28. . Retrieved March 24, 2021 – via worldcat.org.
  29. . Retrieved March 24, 2021 – via worldcat.org.
  30. . Retrieved March 24, 2021 – via worldcat.org.
  31. . Retrieved March 24, 2021 – via worldcat.org.
  32. . Retrieved March 24, 2021 – via worldcat.org.
  33. ^ "Winners of the IODE Violet Downey Book Award". iode.ca. Retrieved March 24, 2021.

External links