John Terpstra Honoured with Lifetime Achievement Award

Congratulations to John Terpstra!

A Lifetime Achievement Award is conferred annually to recognize living artists or arts managers who have contributed substantially to the artistic vitality of the city over the course of a career, and have inspired others through their leadership, creativity and artistic excellence. These individuals’ experience and impact may be local, national or international in scope.

Over the past 45 years, John Terpstra has published 14 books of poetry, 6 works of creative non-fiction, and numerous chapbooks. He has won and been short-listed for a variety of national awards, including the Governor General’s Award for Poetry and the Charles Taylor Literary Non-Fiction Prize. He has won a number of Hamilton Arts Literary Awards in both categories, and in 2016 was given the City of Hamilton Writing Award. His most recent book, A Carpentry of Words and Wood, chronicles his life in writing and woodworking.