Marsha Lederman (photo courtesy of Max Wyman Award)
Canadian arts writer Marsha Lederman is the winner of the 2024 Max Wyman Award for Critical Writing.
The award “celebrates critical commentary on the visual, performing and literary arts in the province of British Columbia. The winner receives a prize of $5,000 and a gold and emerald pin designed by Vancouver artist Robert Chaplin,” according to the news release.
Philanthropist Yosef Wosk created the Max Wyman Award in 2017 to honour the achievements of Vancouver writer and arts critic Max Wyman. Presented annually, the award recognizes people writing critically on subjects that include visual arts, architecture and design, theatre, literature, dance, music, film and television, plus general cultural commentary.
An award-winning journalist and author based in Vancouver, Lederman has been a staff writer for The Globe and Mail since 2007. Her memoir, Kiss the Red Stairs: The Holocaust, Once Removed, was published by McClelland & Stewart in 2022; it won a Western Canada Jewish Book Award in 2023. She has won myriad other awards for her work, including the 2019 National Newspaper Award for Arts and Entertainment and the inaugural Webster Award for Arts and Culture reporting in 2023.
Previous winners include critic and educator Jerry Wasserman, Dorothy Woodend, Robin Laurence and Scott Watson.
As part of this year's award, Lederman chose a mentee, Ming Wong, to receive a secondary mentorship prize. An art director, graphic designer and journalist in Vancouver, Wong will receive $1,000.
Source: Max Wyman Award for Critical Writing