Discipline: Literature

Sheila Burnford

Discipline: Literature
MacDowell Fellowships: 1967, 1968, 1969
More: sites.google.com/site/theincrediblejourneylis514/sheila-burnford
Sheila Burnford (1918–1984) was born in Scotland and emigrated to Canada in the late 1940s. Her debut novel, The Incredible Journey, was first published in 1961 and received the Canadian Library Association Book of the Year for Children Award (1963) and the Aurianne Award (1963). The Incredible Journey became a best-seller after it was adapted for film by the Walt Disney Company in 1963 and again in 1993 (as Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey). She wrote a collection of autobiographical essays, The Fields of Noon (1964) and the nonfiction Without Reserve (1969). In 1972, Burnford published One Woman’s Arctic, an account of her activities on the Canadian Arctic island of Baffin. In 1978, she published Bel Ria, her final book, which drew on her experience as a volunteer ambulance driver during World War II.

Studios

Watson

Sheila Burnford worked in the Watson studio.

Built in 1916 in memory of Regina Watson of Chicago, a musician and teacher, this studio was donated by a group of her friends, along with funds for its maintenance. Originally designed to serve as a composers’ studio with room for performance, Watson was used as a recital hall for chamber music for a…

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