(PEN Canada/IFEX) – The following is a 5 October 2005 PEN Canada press release: Writer and journalist Paul William Roberts winner of inaugural PEN Canada/Paul Kidd Courage Award Toronto, October 5, 2005 – Journalist, author and academic Paul William Roberts is the winner of a new award honouring courage in journalism. The PEN Canada/Paul Kidd […]
(PEN Canada/IFEX) – The following is a 5 October 2005 PEN Canada press release:
Writer and journalist Paul William Roberts winner of inaugural PEN Canada/Paul Kidd Courage Award
Toronto, October 5, 2005 – Journalist, author and academic Paul William Roberts is the winner of a new award honouring courage in journalism.
The PEN Canada/Paul Kidd Courage Award is named after the late Canadian journalist, who was one of Canada’s first globe-trotting foreign correspondents. Kidd filed reports from more than 70 countries, braving street violence, gunfire, terrorism and arrest from political regimes infuriated by his insistence on getting and reporting the truth. Kidd died in 2002.
“We think that the awarding of the prize to Paul William Roberts is an excellent and appropriate choice,” said writer Judy Creighton, the widow of Paul Kidd. “Roberts’s writings accurately reflect his bravery in getting the word out.”
The selection committee for the PEN Canada/Paul Kidd Courage Award noted that Roberts more than met the criteria for receiving the award: a Canadian journalist or one working for a Canadian media outlet; someone who has made a contribution to writing or broadcasting; someone whose work has demonstrated a willingness to put his or her career on the line in the tenacious pursuit of a story; and a self-starter who has had the courage to be unique and take an independent viewpoint.
Roberts is the author of six books and dozens of articles. He has written for many magazines and newspapers, including The Toronto Star, Harper’s, Toronto Life, The Globe and Mail and The Washington Post. His books include A War against Truth and The Demonic Comedy, which deal with his time covering both wars in Iraq and the perils that he faced in documenting events on the ground there.
The award will be presented at PEN Canada’s fall gala event, “Lives of Girls and Women”, on October 20 in Toronto. The fundraiser will open the International Festival of Authors at Harbourfront, where such leading lights of the arts community as Alice Munro, Dionne Brand, Adrienne Clarkson, Ann-Marie MacDonald and Deepa Mehta will take to the stage in support of PEN Canada’s freedom of expression work.
A gala dinner at the Great Hall of Hart House, on the campus of the University of Toronto, will follow. Many artistic luminaries, as well as leading figures in politics and the business world, will be in attendance for a memorable evening of conversation, music and dancing.
Tickets to the readings only are $35 each. Tickets to both events cost $250 and are eligible for a $150 tax receipt. All proceeds to benefit PEN Canada.
