news | Thursday October 29, 2015

Tomson Highway Wins 2015 Herbert Whittaker-CTCA Award!


Tomson Highway

Our congratulations to Tomson Highway! This Cree playwright, novelist, and musician, has been chosen as the winner of the 2015 Herbert Whittaker-CTCA Award. The award, given biennially since 1975, by the Canadian Theatre Critics Association, honours individuals for their outstanding long-term contributions to Canadian theatre. Past winners have included playwrights Judith Thompson and George F. Walker, Shaw Festival artistic director Jackie Maxwell, director Robert Lepage and puppeteer Ronnie Burkett.

“Oh deer!” responded Highway by email when he learned he had won. He then hastened to add: “You have to understand that I do come from a hunting and gathering society.”

Highway was chosen to receive the award by a jury of members of the Canadian Theatre Critics Association, which is made up of professional critics and arts writers from across Canada. “Tomson has been an enormous influence and inspiration to Canada’s First Nations theatre artists,” said Martin Morrow, President of the CTCA. “He also happens to be a delightful writer. It’s a great pleasure for us as critics to be able to honour him formally with this award.”

For more information, visit the CTCA website.