| Robert Bringhurst | |
|---|---|
| Born | October 16, 1946 Los Angeles, California, United States of America |
| Residence | Quadra Island, British Columbia, Canada |
| Nationality | Canadian |
| Occupation | poet, typographer, author |
| Spouse | Jan Zwicky |
Robert Bringhurst (born October 16, 1946) is a Canadian poet, typographer and author. He is the author of The Elements of Typographic Style – a reference book of typefaces, glyphs and the visual and geometric arrangement of type. He has also translated works of epic poetry from Haida mythology into English.
He lives on Quadra Island, near Campbell River, British Columbia (approximately 170 km northwest of Vancouver) with his wife Jan Zwicky, a poet and philosopher.
Contents |
Born in Los Angeles, California, he was raised in Utah, Montana, Wyoming, Alberta, and British Columbia. Bringhurst studied architecture, linguistics, and physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and comparative literature and philosophy at the University of Utah. He holds a BA from Indiana University and an MFA in creative writing from the University of British Columbia.
Bringhurst has taught literature, art history and history of typography at several universities and held fellowships from the Canada Council for the Arts, the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, and the Guggenheim Foundation.
Both his poetry and his work on typography have been widely acclaimed, but his translations of the Haida legacy have raised controversy; while his translations have reinvigorated Haida culture and the language, which in 1991 was considered "likely to be lost unless strong efforts are made very quickly to perpetuate them".[1] However, Bringhurst has been criticised by Haida communities and leaders for failing to acknowledge and spend time inside the Haida culture. Bringhurst has been accused of academic exploitation and cultural appropriation.[2] There is also resentment around the covers of his translations because they feature his name rather than the names of the Haida who created the works. This has been perceived by Haida communities as an extensions of the colonial legacy. Traditionally, Haida stories, songs, crests, and other intellectual works are considered more sacred than physical property; it was customary for violators of intellectual property rights to receive corporal punishment.
In 2005, Bringhurst won the Lieutenant Governor's Award for Literary Excellence which recognizes British Columbia writers who have contributed to the development of literary excellence in the Province.