Media Release

---

For immediate release
August 21, 2006

B.C. writer Trevor Carolan appointed Banff Centre director of Literary Arts

The Banff Centre has appointed B.C. -based writer and educator Trevor Carolan to the new position of director, Literary Arts, responsible for overseeing all literary programs and the Banff Centre Press.

The Literary Arts department has a distinguished history at The Banff Centre, dating from the days when W.O. Mitchell led it. In recent years, innovative programs such as Wired Writing, the Banff International Translation Centre, Literary Journalism, and Science Communications have been developed, leading to the current rich array of course offerings.

In announcing Carolan’s appointment, Vincent Varga, executive artistic director of Fine Arts, noted, “Trevor Carolan brings such a broad range of experience – from journalism to poetry to teaching and publishing – which will be a real asset.  He also has an ability to encourage a deepening of national and international collaborative opportunities for the Centre’s arts-based learning culture.  ”

Carolan began his career in the arts as a printmaker, going on to complete a Master’s in English Literature from Humboldt State University in California in 1978. He recently completed interdisciplinary PhD studies in International Relations at Bond University in Queensland, Australia.

As a freelance journalist , his work has appeared in the Vancouver Sun, Calgary Herald, Shambhala Sun, Bloomsbury Review, and Kyoto Review, among other publications, and his books include The Colours of Heaven: Stories from the Pacific Rim, ed. (Vintage), an acclaimed anthology of Pacific Rim fiction, Giving Up Poetry: With Allen Ginsberg At Hollyhock (Banff Centre Press), and Return to Stillness: Twenty Years with a Tai Chi Master (Marlowe & Co.).

Following a term as inaugural executive director of the Federation of B.C. Writers, Carolan served as literary coordinator for the XV Olympic Winter Games Festival of the Arts in Calgary from 1986 to 1988. He has taught writing and humanities courses at the University of British Columbia, Simon Fraser University, and the University College of the Fraser Valley.

In April 2005, The Banff Centre’s Fine Arts division was established by consolidating the visual arts, Walter Phillips Gallery, the Banff International Curatorial Institute, the Banff New Media Institute, Creative Electronic Environments, Writing and Publishing, and the Banff Centre Press, under the executive artistic direction of Vincent Varga. Building on this significant re-structuring, the Centre has recently re-branded its Writing and Publishing department as Literary Arts, affirming the commitment The Banff Centre has to nurturing professional creative writers.