This annual distinguished lecture was launched in 1985 to honour the founding chair of the Dept. of English and his contributions to literary studies in Canada. An important principle of the lecture series has been to invite writers and critics who can speak on issues of importance to the general public, as well as the academic world. The first lecture was given by Munro’s friend and colleague, Eli Mandel, and the second by Northrop Frye. Since then the series has been an important annual event at Carleton, sponsoring a challenging group of literary critics and creative writers, including Linda Hutcheon, Robert Kroetsch, Jeanette Armstrong, Roy Miki, Carol Sheilds, George Elliott Clarke, Mark Kingwell, Eleanor Wachtel and Alistair MacLeod. The event is open to the Carleton community and to the general public. Following the lecture, there is a reception at which the author’s books will be for sale.

Eden Robinson is a Haisla/Heiltsuk author who grew up in Haisla, British Columbia. Her first book, Traplines, a collection of short stories, won the Winifred Holtby Memorial Prize and was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year in 1998. Monkey Beach, her first novel, was shortlisted for both The Giller Prize and the Governor General’s Literary Award for fiction in 2000 and won the BC Book Prize’s Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize. Her most recent novel is Blood Sports.