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Peninsula poetry pair award one of their own

Susan Musgrave wins latest Spirit Bear Award for poetry

Renowned poet Susan Musgrave is the latest recipient of the Spirit Bear Award for her continuing contribution to poetry in the Pacific Northwest.

As a gift, Musgrave received a hand-carved wooden box, created by Sooke artist John Mugford and $1,000.

The Spirit Bear Award was established by Peninsula poets Patrick Lane and Lorna Crozier in 2010, with support from the Greater Victoria poetry community.

Lane called Musgrave one of Canada’s most remarkable and enduring writers.

Musgrave has published more than 25 books over the past 40 years, including poetry, fiction, non-fiction, children’s writing, and seven anthologies for which she was the editor. She has been nominated for and received awards in all six categories of writing, including the B.C. Book Award and the CBC Literary Award in poetry. Her most recent volume of poetry, Origami Dove, published in 2011, was short-listed for last year’s Governor General’s Literary Awards.