Anne DeGrace has been named Nelson’s Cultural Ambassador for 2011. This won’t be a big change for her, since she already unofficially acts in that role.

Photo by Timothy Schafer, courtesy of Anne DeGrace

Andrea Klassen wrote about Anne’s award in the Nelson Star:

“She was an extremely popular choice, which really wasn’t a surprise,” says Nelson cultural development officer Joy Barrett. “She’s a literary powerhouse in this community. And not only is she a magnificent writer, she’s been marvelous support for emerging writers in the community too.” (Source: The Nelson Star)

Anne is the author of three novels–most recently, Far From Home (McArthur & Co, 2009)–and has been active in the artistic life of Nelson for decades, including involvement in the Arts Council, the Nelson Municipal Library, and Artwalk.

Inaugurated three years ago, the cultural ambasssadorship is given to one artist each year  who has achieved high quality in his or her work and been active in the city’s cultural life both here and beyond. The previous winners have been the Corazon choir and fiber artist Angelica Werth.

Read the complete story  of the new Cultural Ambassador in The Nelson Star.

I have written about Anne DeGrace twice before on this site: once about Anne’s and Steve Thornton’s publication of their book Nelson, British Columbia, and again on the publication by the library and the food coop of the literary cookbook Seasonings, which Anne co-edited.