news | Wednesday June 22, 2011

Robert Kroetsch, Teacher of a Generation

We are sorry to say that beloved writer and poet Robert Kroetsch died in a car accident on Tuesday night (June 21, 2011) while returning from a literary festival in Canmore. According to reports, there was a two-car collision near Drumheller on Highway 21 and three other people were hospitalized.

Kroetsch, 84, was born and raised in Heisler, in central Alberta, and during a long and distinguished literary career published 14 books of poetry, seven books of non-fiction and nine books of fiction. His third novel, The Studhorse Man, that won him the Governor General’s Award for Fiction in 1969. He was also appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2004.

Kroetsch was recently recognized with a lieutenant-governor’s Alberta Distinguished Artist award and, just two weeks ago, with a Golden Pen Award from the Writers’ Guild of Alberta.