Title and statement of responsibility area
Title proper
General material designation
- Multi-media
Parallel title
Other title information
Title statements of responsibility
Title notes
Level of description
Reference code
Edition area
Edition statement
Edition statement of responsibility
Class of material specific details area
Statement of scale (cartographic)
Statement of projection (cartographic)
Statement of coordinates (cartographic)
Statement of scale (architectural)
Issuing jurisdiction and denomination (philatelic)
Dates of creation area
Date(s)
-
[196?]-2012 (Creation)
- Creator
- Thesen, Sharon
Physical description area
Physical description
2.43 m of multi-media records
79 photographs:
31 color photographs
33 black & white photographs
3 contact sheets
12 color slides
70 film negatives
7 black & white screen printed paper prints
1 colour paper print
4 book cover proofs
8 - 3 1/2 x 4 inch computer disks
9 cassette tapes
1 microfiche: 10.5 cm x 14.8 cm
1 pin
1 small tree branch
Publisher's series area
Title proper of publisher's series
Parallel titles of publisher's series
Other title information of publisher's series
Statement of responsibility relating to publisher's series
Numbering within publisher's series
Note on publisher's series
Archival description area
Name of creator
Biographical history
Sharon Thesen, also known as Sharon Fawcett, was born in Saskatchewan on October 1, 1946. She is a Canadian poet who lives in Lake Country, British Columbia. A graduate of Simon Fraser University (B.A. English, 1970 and M.A. English, 1975), in the late 1960s and early 1970s she was involved in the production of Iron magazine (1967?-1971) edited by her then-husband Brian Fawcett and others. She also participated in the production of Iron II (1975-1976), edited mainly by Brett Enemark. Thesen taught for many years at Capilano College in North Vancouver, where she edited The Capilano Review. She also took part in a teaching exchange with Dawson College (1980) and was a writer-in-residence at Concordia University (1992). In 2003, Thesen was a judge for the Griffin Poetry Prize. She taught Creative Writing at the University of British Columbia (Okanagan) from about 2005 until her retirement in 2012. Since then, she has been teaching poetry through her own Pinecone Poetry Workshops.
Thesen has been nominated and has won several awards for her writing, including the Governor General's Literary Award in poetry for "Selected Poems: The Vision Tree" (1982, won; 1984 & 1987, nominated), the BC Book Award for "News and Smoke: Selected Poems" (2000, won), and the Pat Lowther Memorial Award for "A Pair of Scissors: Poems" (2001, won).
Sharon Thesen's bibliography includes the following books:
The Wig-Maker (co-written by Janet Gallant). New Star Books, 2021.
The Receiver. Vancouver: New Star Books, 2017.
Oyama Pink Shale. Toronto: Anansi, 2011.
From Toledo. (Chapbook). Prince George, BC: Gorse Press, 2007.
Scrap Book. (Chapbook). Edmonton, AB: The Olive Reading Series Collective, 2006.
Weeping Willow. (Chapbook). Vancouver: Nomados, 2005.
The Good Bacteria. Toronto: Anansi, 2005.
A Pair of Scissors. Toronto: Anansi, 2000.
News & Smoke, Selected Poems. Vancouver: Talon, 1999.
Aurora. Toronto: Coach House, 1995.
Po-It-Tree: A Selection of Poems and Commentary. (Chapbook). Burnaby: SFU, 1992.
The Pangs of Sunday, Selected Poems. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1990.
The Imagination of Awakening. Monograph. Archai 2, 1973.The Beginning of the Long Dash. Toronto: Coach House, 1987.
Confabulations: Poems for Malcolm Lowry. Lantzville, BC: Oolichan, 1984.
Holding the Pose. Toronto: Coach House, 1983.
Sheet Music. (Chapbook). Burnaby: SFU, 1982.
Radio New France Radio. (Chapbook). Vancouver: Slug Press, 1981.
Artemis Hates Romance. Toronto: Coach House Press, 1980.
She has also been an editor for the following books:
After Completion: The Later Letters of Charles Olson and Frances Boldereff. With Ralph Maud. Talon Books, 2012.
The New Long Poem Anthology, 2nd Ed. Talon Books, 2001.
Charles Olson and Frances Boldereff: A Modern Correspondence. With Ralph Maud. Wesleyan U. Press, 1999.
The New Long Poem Anthology. House of Anansi Press, 1991.
Please note: this bibliography was taken directly from poetrycanada.org, with addendums of publication dates for edited books and addition of Janet Gallant as co-author of The Wig Maker by the archivist.
Custodial history
The records were in the custody of Sharon Thesen until their donation to Simon Fraser University Library, Special Collections and Rare Books.
Scope and content
This fonds illustrates Sharon Thesen’s work as a poet, writer, and teacher, and also contains records pertaining to her personal life in terms of finances and relationships. It has been broken down into six series: Correspondence, Writing, Writing by Others, Teaching & Events, Personal Records, and Publications. The arrangement is as follows:
Series 1: Correspondence
Series 2: Writing
Sub-series: Drafts, Edits & Typescripts
Sub-series: Reviews and Interviews
Sub-series: Awards: Judging and Nominations
Series 3: Writing by Others
Sub-series: Typescripts
Sub-series: Reviews, Interviews & Articles
Series 4: Teaching & Events
Series 5: Personal Records
Sub-series: Financial Records
Sub-series: Ephemera
Sub-series: Personal Photos
Sub-series: Life Events
Series 6: Publications
Fonds consists of correspondence, written works by Thesen and other writers, photographs, and other records accumulated by Thesen between [197-?] and 2000. Records include correspondence, poems, reviews, and other written works, notes, a notebook, magazine & newspaper clippings, photographs, a small branch, a color print on paper, cassette tapes, personal and financial records, teaching materials, computer disks, screen printed paper prints, and event promotional materials & invitations.
Notes area
Physical condition
Many items of facsimile correspondence are fading.
Immediate source of acquisition
Arrangement
An unknown archivist or librarian from Simon Fraser University had already gone through materials from the first accrual and sorted them into archival boxes. It is unclear whether the folders in the boxes were kept in Thesen’s original order or whether the individual who put the material into boxes sorted items based on their own knowledge of the records. Additionally, please note that the previous archivist or librarian put some correspondence records in a loose chronological order, though the chronology is not always exact. The first accrual is contained in boxes 1 through 13 and the second accrual is contained in boxes 14 through 21.
Due to time constraints, the correspondence from the second accrual was not put in alphabetical order by sender. Additionally, the physical received order was maintained as the original order for the second accrual.
Language of material
- English
- French
Script of material
Location of originals
Availability of other formats
Restrictions on access
The following files are restricted and cannot be accessed without the permission of Sharon Thesen or her assignee:
Correspondence series: Clark, S. Dale (MsC-33-0-1-0-0-21)
Correspondence series: Thompson, Peter (MsC-33-0-1-0-0-75)
The following files contain sensitive personal information and cannot be accessed without a researcher agreement:
Correspondence series: Correspondence (Folder 4 of 11) (MsC-33-0-1-0-0-108)
Correspondence series: Nick/Nicholas (Cifarelli) (MsC-33-0-1-0-0-117)
Correspondence series: Correspondence (Folder 11 of 12) (MsC-33-0-1-0-0-123)
Reviews, Interviews & Articles series: Clippings (MsC-33-0-3-2-0-7) & Events series: Montreal Exchange (MsC-33-0-4-0-0-1)
Teaching & Events series: Sage Hill/Sask/summer (MsC 33-0-4-0-0-2)
Personal Records series: Financial (MsC-33-0-5-1-0-1)
Terms governing use, reproduction, and publication
The fonds contains copyright-protected materials. Special Collections and Rare Books makes copies available for private study or research purposes under the fair dealing provisions of Canada's Copyright Act. Use for any other purpose may require the permission of the copyright owner. SCRB can assist researchers in attempting to identify copyright owners, but it is the user's responsibility to contact owners and secure any permissions.
Finding aids
Printed inventory available.
Generated finding aid
Associated materials
Accruals
Further accruals expected.
Alternative identifier(s)
Standard number
Standard number
Access points
Subject access points
Place access points
Name access points
- Thesen, Sharon (Subject)
Genre access points
Control area
Description record identifier
Institution identifier
Rules or conventions
Rules for Archival Description
Status
Level of detail
Dates of creation, revision and deletion
Created May 20, 2014, LZ
Revised March 15, 2023, Shelley Jennings
Language of description
- English