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This article is about the Canadian writer. For the British trade unionist, see George Woodcock (trade unionist). George Woodcock (1904 &ndash 1979 was a British trade unionist and general secretary of the Trades Union Congress from 1960 to 1969

George Woodcock (May 8, 1912 - January 28, 1995) was a prolific Canadian writer of poetry, essays, criticism, biographies and historical works. Events 589 - Reccared summons the Third Council of Toledo 1450 - Jack Cade's Rebellion: Kentishmen Year 1912 ( MCMXII) was a Leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Leap year starting Events 1077 - Walk to Canossa: The Excommunication of Henry IV Holy Roman Emperor is lifted Year 1995 ( MCMXCV) was a Common year starting on Sunday. Events of 1995 Country to "Dominion of Canada" or "Canadian Federation" or anything else please read the Talk Page A writer is anyone who creates a written work although the word usually designates those who write creatively or professionally as well as those who have written in many different forms An essay is usually a short piece of writing It is often written from an author's personal point of view. The word critic comes from the Greek el κριτικός ( el-Latn kritikós) "able to discern" which in turn derives from the word A biography (from the Greek words bíos (βίος meaning "life" and gráphein (γράφειν meaning "to write" is an account History is the study of the past particularly the written record Those who study history as a Profession are called Historians Etymology He was also the founder (in 1959) the journal Canadian Literature—the first journal dedicated to Canadian writing. ''Canadian Literature'' is a quarterly of criticism and review published out of the University of British Columbia. Elsewhere in the world, he is probably best remembered for writing Anarchism: A History of Libertarian Ideas and Movements (1962), one of the great overviews of anarchism. Anarchism is a Political philosophy encompassing theories and attitudes which support the elimination of all compulsory Government, i

Contents

Life

Woodcock was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, but moved with his parents to England at an early age, attending Sir William Borlase School and Morley College. Winnipeg (ˈwɪnɨpɛg is the capital and largest city in the Canadian province of Manitoba, and 7th largest municipality in Canada with a population Manitoba (English ˌmænɨˈtoʊbə French /manitoba/ is a province of Canada, spanning 647797 square kilometres (250116  sq mi of North America England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland Morley College is an Adult education college in London, England. Though his family was quite poor, Woodcock had the opportunity to go to Oxford University on a scholarship; however, he turned down the chance, because he would have had to acknowledge a religious affiliation. The University of Oxford (informally "Oxford University" or simply "Oxford" located in the city of Oxford, Oxfordshire, England is the A religion is a set of Tenets and practices often centered upon specific Supernatural and moral claims about Reality, the Cosmos Instead, he took a job as a clerk at the Great Western Railway and it was there that he first became interested in anarchism (specifically libertarian socialism). The Great Western Railway ( GWR) was a British railway company and a notable example of Civil engineering, linking London with the West Libertarian socialism is a group of political philosophies that aim to create a society without political economic or social hierarchies – a society in which all violent He was to remain an anarchist for the rest of his life, writing several books on the subject, including Anarchism, the anthology The Anarchist Reader (1977), and biographies of Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, William Godwin, Oscar Wilde and Peter Kropotkin. Pierre-Joseph Proudhon (ˈpruːd ɒn in British English, dɔ̃ in French) ( 15 January 1809 – 19 January 1865) was William Godwin ( 3 March 1756 &ndash 7 April 1836) was an English journalist political philosopher and Novelist Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 1854 – 30 November 1900 was an Irish Playwright, Novelist, poet and Author of

It was during these years that he met several prominent literary figures, including T. S. Eliot and Aldous Huxley. Thomas Stearns Eliot, OM (September 26 1888 – January 4 1965 was a poet Dramatist, and Literary critic. Aldous Leonard Huxley (26 July 1894 &ndash 22 November 1963 was an English writer and one of the most prominent members of the famous Huxley family. He first came to know George Orwell after the two had a public disagreement in the pages of the Partisan Review. Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950 who used the Pseudonym George Orwell, was an English writer Partisan Review was an American political and literary quarterly published from 1934 to 2003, though it suspended publication between October 1936 Orwell wrote that in the context of a war against Fascism, pacifism was "objectively pro-Fascist". Fascism is a totalitarian nationalist and corporatist ideology As a pacifist himself, Woodcock took exception to this. Despite this difference, the two met and became good friends. Woodcock later wrote The Crystal Spirit (1966), a critical study of Orwell and his work which won a Governor General's Award. Each winner of the 1966 Governor General's Awards for Literary Merit was selected by a panel of judges administered by the Canada Council for the Arts.

Woodcock spent World War II working on a farm, as a conscientious objector. World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including A farm is an area of land including various structures devoted primarily to the practice of producing and managing food ( Produce, Grains, or Livestock A conscientious objector (CO is an individual who on religious moral or ethical grounds refuses to participate as a combatant in war or in some cases to take any role that would support Following the war, he returned to Canada, eventually settling in Vancouver, British Columbia. Vancouver (vænˈkuːvɚ is a coastal British Columbia (ˌbrɪtɨʃ kəˈlʌmbiə ( BC) ( (la Colombie-Britannique C In 1955, he took a post in the English department of the University of British Columbia, where he stayed until the 1970s. The University of British Columbia ( UBC) is a Canadian public research University with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna This article is about the Decade 1970-1979 For the Year 1970 see 1970. Around this time he started to write more prolifically, producing several travel books and collections of poetry, as well as the works on anarchism for which he is best known.

Towards the end of his life, Woodcock became increasingly interested in what he saw as the plight of Tibetans. Definitions of Tibet See also Definitions of Tibet Name In English The English word Tibet, like the word for Tibet in most European He travelled to India, studied Buddhism, became friends with the Dalai Lama and established the Tibetan Refugee Aid Society. India, officially the Republic of India (भारत गणराज्य inc-Latn Bhārat Gaṇarājya; see also other Indian languages) is a country Buddhism is a family of beliefs and practices Jetsun Jamphel Ngawang Lobsang Yeshe Tenzin Gyatso (born Lhamo Döndrub ( 6 July 1935 in Qinghai) He is the head of the Tibetan government-in-exile He and his wife Inge also established Canada India Village Aid, which sponsors self-help projects in rural India. Both organizations exemplify Woodcock's ideal of voluntary cooperation between peoples across national boundaries.

Recognition

Woodcock was honoured with several awards, including a Fellowship of the Royal Society of Canada in 1968, the UBC Medal for Popular Biography in 1973 and 1976, and the Molson Prize in 1973. The Royal Society of Canada ( Société royale du Canada) now known as the RSC Academies of Arts Humanities and Sciences of Canada ( SRC Académies des Arts The Molson Prize for the Arts is awarded by The Canada Council for the Arts However, he only accepted awards given by his peers, refusing several awards given by the Canadian state, including the Order of Canada. The Order of Canada is the highest civilian honour within the Canadian system of honours, with membership awarded to those who exemplify the order's Latin The one exception was the award of the Freedom of the City of Vancouver, which he accepted in 1994.

He is the subject of a biography, The Gentle Anarchist: A Life of George Woodcock by George Fetherling (1998). Douglas George Fetherling (born January 1, 1949 in Wheeling West Virginia USA) is a Canadian Poet, Novelist, Journalist

Selected bibliography

See also

External links

Anarchism in Canada spans a range of anarchist philosophy including Anarcho-syndicalism, Individualist anarchism, green anarchy and Anarchist MPEG-1 Audio Layer 3, more commonly referred to as MP3, is a Digital audio encoding format using a form of Lossy data compression
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