UBC Reports | Vol. 47 | No. 06 | Mar. 22, 2001

More authors than ever honoured at annual event

Reception honours league of UBC writers, composers

by Bruce Mason staff writer

Isolated from the real world in an insular ivory tower, populated with eggheads and navel gazers?

The death knell of antiquated university stereotypes will ring in the ears of anyone who scrolls this year's list of UBC authors.

Today 150 UBC authors will be recognized at the 11th annual UBC authors' reception. The reception, for those who were published in 2000, takes place from 4:30-6 p.m. in the Great Hall of the First Nations House of Learning.

"Unprecedented numbers of UBC writers are engaging, informing and entertaining readers on a global scale. Their achievements are a source of considerable pride and interest far beyond our campus," says UBC President Martha Piper.

"As a community of scholars we are well aware of the significance of writing and publishing books," she adds.

"A book is a milestone in an individual career, a product of intense labour and love and a permanent and transportable addition to human knowledge."

Margaret Friesen, co-ordinator of staff training and development for the Library and chair of the authors' reception committee, counts 138 titles by authors from 46 departments, writing in 10 languages.

"There is a growing number of medical books and this year four librarians were published," she says. "Not too surprising are six with `millennium' or `100 years' in the title."

There are books on drug wars, geriatric medicine, NAFTA, neuroplasticity, and the invention of the passport. UBC authors also produced a dictionary of human geography and a dictionary of Sikh names, one on elementary Korean, another on Balinese music.

Subjects range from urban watershed management to international relations, teenage mothers, great migrations and global environment change. There are studies of First Nations art, creation myth and their place in the nation.

Most prolific was Music Prof. Stephen Chatman with five entries. Unless you count all 26 episodes of the TV series Weird Homes produced by Film Asst. Prof. Sharon McGowan.

Law Prof. Wesley Pue put one of the best known events at UBC in perspective by editing Pepper in Our Eyes: The APEC Affair.

And yes there is a UBC book on taxes -- Flat Taxes, Dual Taxes, Smart Taxes: Making the Best Choices by Economics Prof. Jonathan Kesselman.

Overwhelmed? Alexandra Bradley and Denise Dale from the School of Library, Archival and Information Studies have produced two editions of At Your fingertips! The first will help you create a home filing system. The second is for small business.

See also: Genetics in book's makeup, Author flies high, Pianist's work in the key of Beethoven, UBC Authors 2000.