Glen Sorestad.
Born in Vancouver on May 21, 1937, Glen Sorestad and his parents moved back to Saskatchewan in l947. There he attended a rural school near Buchanan and graduated from Sturgis Composite High School. He began his teaching career in Yorkton in l957.
Sorestad joined the staff of Evan Hardy Collegiate in l969. As English Program Coordinator he established the Creative Writing program there, and was a key figure in organizing the groundbreaking Prairie Writers’ Conference.
In 1975 Sorestad and his wife, Sonia, co-founded the literary publishing house, Thistledown Press, in Saskatoon. Over the years Thistledown became known as one of the finest literary publishers in Canada. After twenty-five years as publisher, Sorestad retired in January 2000 with the publication of over 200 literary titles to his credit. Many of them have been translated and published in various foreign countries.
He continues to live and work in Saskatoon. His career has taken him all over North America and to various countries in Europe. He is the author of a dozen books of poetry, of many short stories, and is the co-editor of many well-known anthologies. Sorestad has given over 300 public readings of his poetry, visiting every province in Canada as well as many parts of the United States and Europe. He was the guest at a reception held in his honour at the residence of the Canadian Ambassador in Oslo,and his readings have been broadcast on Norway’s public radio network.
An active member of the Saskatchewan Writers’ Guild since its formation in l970, Sorestad was given a Founders’ Award by the Guild in 1990. He is also an active member of the Writers’ Union of Canada, and was recently honoured as a Life Member in the League of Canadian Poets.
In November 2000, Sorestad was appointed the first Poet Laureate of Saskatchewan at the Saskatchewan Book Awards. In November 2001, he received the Saskatoon Book Award for his poetry collection, Leaving Holds Me Here.
Joyce Wells