George Ryga

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Works by George Ryga:

He presented at the Sunshine Coast Festival of the Written Arts, Sechelt in 1987.

From ABC BookWorld, "A wall plaque to commemorate George Ryga was installed in the newly-opened Summerland Library in October of 2015, in conjunction with a temporary George Ryga exhibit, as a permanent feature of the 8,000 sq. ft. facility that was built across the street from the previous library for an estimated budget of $4.5 million. George Ryga lived at 5109 Caldwell Street in Summerland from 1962 until his death in 1987 at the age of 55. The majority of George Ryga's plays, screenplays and novels were written in the large, Caldwell Street house that was designated as a heritage site in February of 1996. With a live-in caretaker, George Ryga House functioned as a cultural centre and occasional writers' retreat until early 2012 when the George Ryga Centre Society put the house up for sale and reluctantly disbanded. The house is now privately owned. Subsequently the annual George Ryga Award for best book contributing to social awareness by a B.C. author has been fully managed by B.C. BookWorld. QUICK REFERENCE ENTRY: George Ryga is British Columbia's greatest playwright. "More than any other writer," said theatre director John Juliani, "George Ryga was responsible for first bringing the contemporary age to the Canadian stage." The published version of Ryga's most famous play, The Ecstasy of Rita Joe (1970), helped Talonbooks grow into the country's leading publishing house for drama."