A message from Jean Baird and Katherine Kalsbeek:

The Bowering Collection and Reading Room is scheduled to be installed in Special Collections at UBC in 2025. There is some urgency to the funding situation, partly because of George’s health but even more so because his eyesight is rapidly declining – we all want him to see this project completed. (On a recent visit Michael Ondaatje said he could think of nothing worse for a writer than going blind – the loss of two worlds.) Another factor is the financial challenges that many universities are currently facing, and rapidly increasing construction costs.

Margaret Atwood has pledged 50K and launched the Bowering Collection Pledge Campaign for "a unique assemblage” of " literary history" that will be "a very important resource for poets, fiction writers, essayists, and those who study them, from Canada but also from North America, as George had many connections over the years.” You can read her impassioned letter in the attached deck here (PDF).

Katherine Kalsbeek is Head of Special Collections and Archives. When Katherine and others from UBC first visited George in 2015 to discuss the possibility of the Bowering Collection finding a home at UBC, Katherine was intrigued by the objects on the shelves. Not the books, but all of the other items. There is a bird’s nest that George picked up when walking the Stations of the Cross at the church that Jack Kerouac attended as a youth. A woodblock that was a gift from bpNichol. An inkwell shaped like a dog that belonged to Robin Blaser. Katherine was particularly interested in the Hello Kitty pez dispenser. George hated Hello Kitty. Then he started collecting a few items, ironically. It wasn’t long before word got out and Hello Kitty items starting showing up for birthdays and other special occasions, ironically.

During that first visit, Katherine told George that she had recently given a tour to a high-profile visitor from Japan who was sporting a Hello Kitty tie. She said she wished she’d had George’s pez dispenser on the archives' shelves that day. When he explained his vision—that the Bowering Collection would include all the things on the shelves, not just the books, and all the things on the walls—she was very excited. She understood what a dynamic and exciting space could be created by recreating George’s workspace and the things he surrounds himself with—a resource for students for decades to come.

The word ‘archives’ creates a sense of gravitas. It has been said of George, “George Bowering approaches literature as he does life: with a playful gravity and a grave merriness that makes intellectual life and writing seem at once attractive, unintimidating and remarkable. He dispels the myth of literature being hard or tricky, and demonstrates, as he reads and chats, the accessible and enriching nature of great literature. He is generous with his time and that generosity has touched lives and launched careers.” The Bowering Collection is also playful, from the Word Bird that will greet people at the door (it was at Nat Bailey — it is now onsite having been donated, at George’s request), to the cheeky cartoon done by Margaret Atwood of the day she met George, to the Daniel Pinkwater books.

The project goal is $500,000 which needs to be secured by December 31, 2024. To date we have secured $137,750+ in donations and pledges.

Commitments of any amount are much appreciated—perhaps the cost of a cappuccino, or a Cadillac, or anything in between. There is a pledge form available here (PDF), and UBC has also set up a designated giving page here.

All donations will receive a tax receipt issued by UBC. If you have any questions about the pledge or donation process, please do not hesitate to contact Katherine at katherine.kalsbeek@ubc.ca or 604-822-2819.

Might you wish to join Margaret Atwood in supporting this opportunity and spreading word about this initiative?

Thanks for your consideration