June Callwood honoured with Writers' Trust outstanding contribution award

Longtime magazine writer and activist, June Callwood, has been given the Writers' Trust Award for Outstanding Contribution. Callwood, 82, wrote for Maclean's, the Star Weekly and was one of the 11 founders of what was then the Periodical (now Professional) Writers Association of Canada in 1976.

Callwood has become perhaps better known for her campaigns on behalf of the disenfranchised, but she always says her proudest claim is to be a journalist. In accepting the award, she warned the audience about being complacent in the face of injustice:

If any of you happens to see an injustice, you are no longer a spectator, you are a participant and you have an obligation to do something.

(Photo is by Tara Walton, Toronto Star)