معرفی
Lawrence Hill is a Professor of Creative Writing in the School of English and Theatre Studies at the University of Guelph, appointed in 2016. A prolific author of eleven books including the award-winning The Book of Negroes and The Illegal, he is a prominent public intellectual addressing Black history, human rights, and creative writing through fiction, nonfiction, and international lectures.
His educational background includes:
- B.A. in Economics, Université Laval
- M.A. in Writing, Johns Hopkins University
Hill's research centers on Black history in Canada and globally, slavery and freedom, human rights, migration, refugee experiences, mixed-race identity, blood as an identity marker, and medically-assisted dying. His creative nonfiction and fiction critically examine these themes through the lens of the African diaspora, the search for home, and contemporary social justice issues. He emphasizes the freedom to read and write as fundamental human rights.
Hill's publications reveal a consistent trajectory exploring historical trauma and systemic oppression through narrative. His novels The Book of Negroes and The Illegal dissect refugee experiences and racial identity, while nonfiction works like Blood: The Stuff of Life investigate biological and cultural dimensions of identity. Recent essays confront censorship in education and end-of-life ethics, demonstrating his commitment to applying literary discourse to urgent societal debates.
His major honors include:
- Commonwealth Writers’ Prize
- Rogers Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize
- CBC Radio’s Canada Reads (twice)
- NAACP Image Award
- Order of Canada (2015)
- Royal Society of Canada Fellowship (2024)
- Canada Council Molson Prize (2017)
As an educator, Hill has mentored emerging writers for over thirty years at institutions including Johns Hopkins University, UBC, and the Banff Centre. He founded Gryphons Read at the University of Guelph and chaired the President’s Advisory Committee on Anti-Racism. His community engagement includes teaching memoir writing in federal penitentiaries through Book Clubs for Inmates and Walls to Bridges programs, while securing institutional support for anti-racism initiatives and creative writing development.
Hill collaborates with Crossroads International on global volunteer projects, the Black Loyalist Heritage Society in Birchtown, and prison education initiatives. His current work includes a novel about African-American soldiers building the Alaska Highway and advocacy against school book bans, reflecting his lifelong commitment to historical truth-telling and educational freedom.
