WARD, Ken 1949–

PERSONAL: Born July 12, 1949, in Minnedosa, Manitoba, Canada; son of Louis Elwood Ward (a cowboy) and Evelyn Sybil Salvail; married; wife's name, Janice. Education: Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, B.F.A., 1981, M.A., 1991. Hobbies and other interests: Puppetry.

ADDRESSES: Home—2013 Maynard St., Halifax, Nova Scotia B3K 3T1, Canada.

CAREER: Writer and illustrator. Canadian Postal Service, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, mail carrier, beginning 1983; writing instructor, beginning 1985; participant in the Writers-in-the-Schools program in Nova Scotia, beginning 1987; has worked variously as an insurance clerk, carpenter, fork lift operator, warehouse worker, and in retail sales.

MEMBER: Writers' Federation of Nova Scotia (treasurer, 1987–89; president, beginning 1991); Writers' Union of Canada; Canadian Society of Children's Authors, Illustrators, and Performers.

AWARDS, HONORS: Writers' Federation of Nova Scotia Literary Contest prize, 1981 and 1983.

WRITINGS:

SELF-ILLUSTRATED

Tiny Dreams and Secret Sighs, self-published (Halifax, Nova Scotia), 1976.

Another Slice of Goo (poems), self-published, 1981.

Twelve Kids, One Cow (poems), Annick Press, 1989.

Mrs. Kitchen's Cats (poems), Annick Press, 1990.

Had four poems published in The Pottersfield Portfolio Children's Edition, June, 1989.

SIDELIGHTS: Ken Ward once told CA: "Although my own writing (particularly my poetry) is important to me, I am more interested in working with writers at the elementary level. I have been conducting writing workshops for kids—aged seven to twelve—for twelve years and am a frequent writer-in-the-schools participant. I am also interested in working with teachers, conducting workshops that stress issues such as motivation and evaluation of students' work, and children as writers."

In 1997, his work was included in the National Library of Canada's exhibition The Art of Illustration: A Celebration of Contemporary Canadian Children's Book Illustrators.

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Canadian Children's Literature, Vol. 27, no. 65, 1992, p. 100.

Chronicle Herald (Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada), December 7, 1990, Leo Antonelli, review of Mrs. Kitchen's Cats.

OTHER

Thistle Dance Publishing, http://www.thistledance.com/ (October 23, 2003), biography of Ken Ward.

Writers' Federation of Nova Scotia, http://www.writers.ns.ca/Writers/kward.html (October 10, 2002), biography of Ken Ward.