UBC Reports | Vol. 52 | No. 3 | Mar. 2, 2006

More than 166 Works from UBC Authors

By Glenn Drexhage, the Irving K. Barber Learning Centre

What have UBC authors done lately? An awful lot, actually -- and the results will be on display at the Sixteenth Annual Authors’ Reception on March 30. The event profiles the contributions of campus talent and will feature at least 166 titles published by 158 UBC scholars during 2005 -- including current and retired professors, staff and students. A complete list of UBC authors and their works is available at www.library.ubc.ca/authorsweek.

The range of expertise on offer among UBC books reflects what’s been going on campus-wide in research and teaching, says Margaret Friesen, a UBC librarian and chair of the UBC Authors Committee. But it goes beyond, she says, “because we have bedtime reading, music CDs and videos here as well.”

Thirty-six broad disciplines -- from anthropology to zoology -- will be profiled at the annual reception, with leading topics including literature, political science, medicine, music, education, and English language and literature. Seventy per cent of the works submitted for the event fall under the banner of arts, humanities and social sciences, while the remainder are in the categories of science and medicine.

For those wanting a provincial fix, there’s plenty of “B.C.-iana” to consider from UBC, including works on First Nations language and anthropology, local history, fine arts and the environment. UBC-authored books on B.C. topics will soon be displayed at Koerner Library, in an exhibit entitled B.C. in Print.

Print continues to be the dominant medium, although UBC authors also use other formats. This year also counts six DVDs, six music CDs, at least one CD-ROM, six e-books, technical reports, conference proceedings, exhibition catalogues and several new musical scores by perennial UBC composer Stephen Chatman.

In 2005, UBC works have been published in at least 15 countries, and appear in a range of languages, including Chinese, French, German, Indic, Japanese, Korean and Slovakian.