Theatre critic, creator and actor Jerry Wasserman is the winner of this 12 months’s Max Wyman Award in Vital Writing.
The once a year award celebrates crucial remark at the visible, acting and literary arts within the province of British Columbia.
It’s supposed to honour knowledgeable and compelling writing that stimulates crucial considering, fosters ongoing dialogue in regards to the position of arts and tradition in recent society and demonstrates the price of ingenious remark in our figuring out of the international round us.
The winner receives a prize of $5,000 and a gold and emerald pin designed via Vancouver artist Robert Chaplin. A mentee, named via the laureate, receives a $1,000 prize. This 12 months’s mentee is Angie Rico, an rising author and media artist.
The award used to be established in 2017 via philanthropist Yosef Wosk to honour the profession and lifelong contributions of the Vancouver creator, arts critic and commentator Max Wyman. It acknowledges writers who’ve accumulated a vital frame of labor. Eligible topics of grievance come with the visible arts, structure and design, theatre, literature, dance, track, movie and tv, in addition to extra basic cultural remark.
Jerry Wasserman started running as a theatre critic on CBC nationwide radio within the mid-Eighties and broadcast weekly evaluations on Vancouver’s The Afternoon Display from 1987-2003. He has since served as theatre critic for The Province and, recently, the Vancouver Solar. About 400 of his articles and evaluations have gave the impression in the ones papers. Since 2004, his web site, www.vancouverplays.com, has gained over 1.6 million visits. He taught English and Theatre on the College of British Columbia for over 4 a long time and served as head of the dep. of Theatre and Movie from 2007-2012. His appearing resume contains degree appearances for the Arts Membership, Playhouse, Town Degree, Westcoast Actors, New Play Centre, United Avid gamers and Western Gold Theatre, and over 200 movie and TV appearances, from The X-Information, Glance Who’s Speaking and Alive to I, Robotic, Watchmen and The Final of Us.
The jury quotation reads: “Jerry Wasserman’s outstanding profession in some ways embodies the objectives of this award. His a long time as a trainer and as a performer give his writing in regards to the theatre a sympathetic and considerate figuring out this is expressed in language this is energetic, direct and deeply knowledgeable. The jury used to be unanimous in its appreciation of the best way he has inspired and enhanced a much broader appreciation of the richness of the Vancouver arts scene and the skills of those that make that richness imaginable—each thru his print and media evaluations and thru his web site, which is a constant supply of knowledge and crucial context on all issues theatre in Vancouver.”
Yosef Wosk commented: “Jerry Wasserman’s voice has been a gradual and relied on supply of knowledge and context in regards to the Vancouver theatre scene for many years. He treats grievance and remark as an integral a part of the cultural material, and sees the position of the critic now not as an antagonist to the performer and writer however as a collaborator. I’m extremely joyful that he’s to obtain this award.”
Earlier winners of the Wyman award are Dorothy Woodend, arts editor of the online mag The Tyee, freelance artwork critic Robin Laurence and creator, critic and previous UBC gallery director Scott Watson.
