Considered by many to be the “mother of Canadian Science Fiction”, Phyllis Gotlieb (1926-2009) was a well-known poet and novelist. The Sunburst Award is named after her debut science-fiction novel Sunburst in 1964.
A poetry collection, Ordinary Moving, earned a Governor General’s Literary Award nomination in 1970, and in 1982 she received Canada’s Aurora Award for lifetime contributions and best novel, A Judgement of Dragons.
Phyllis Gotlieb was awarded the SF Canada Lifetime Achievement Award in 2008.