DC Reid is an author and a steadfast advocate for the Canadian literary community, having served as the president for the Federation of BC Writers, Victoria Book Prize Society, and League of Canadian Poets. He has won more than twenty awards for his work, including the 2023 Professional Outdoor Media Association of Canada gold medal for books for his memoir A Man and His River: a 25-year Love Affair with a Wild Island Waterway. In between fly-fishing trips, Reid has published 18 books including 11 collections of poetry, a novel, a work of literary nonfiction, and five books on fishing. His poems and stories have been published in magazines around the world, and his fishing articles have been published in magazines, newspapers, and on websites across North America. A 2015 PoeTrain Laureate, he holds a BSc in zoology and biochemistry from the University of Calgary, an Honours BA in English and philosophy from the University of Liverpool, and a master’s in public administration from the University of Victoria. His most recent book is Poems: Selected and New, published by Ekstasis Editions.

The award selection committee writes:

“DC Reid’s lifetime contributions to Canadian poetry—as a poet, editor, mentor, literary advocate, community leader, volunteer, and ground-breaking philanthropist— have been, and continue to be profound. A celebrated poet, his work draws inspiration from wide-ranging streams: philosophy, fly fishing, the science of creativity and brain research, the natural world, and his deep attention to work of other poets. He has published both print and web-based video poetry and his poems have been translated internationally in multiple languages. His philanthropic leadership in support of Canadian poets is writ large in funding created through multiple writing organizations, most notably in the $1.5 million endowment he established through the Writers Trust of Canada, a fund that administers eight grants annually. His unparalleled contributions to poetry as an enriching cultural and communal force absolutely support DC Reid as a truly worthy recipient of the League of Canadian Poets Lifetime Achievement Award.”

On winning the inaugural Lifetime Achievement Award, DC Reid writes:

"I have been president of the League of Canadian Poets, Federation of BC Writers and Victoria Book Prize Society over the years. Way back in 1976, I attended the Banff School of Fine Arts as a prose writer. I was told to write down anything that came into my head, a W.O. Mitchell style of writing. One day, after doing my writing, Eli Mandel, then a well-known poet and friend of Margaret Atwood, looked over my sample and circled some of it. He said it was a poem and to write it in short lines.

After I did that, Mandel made me submit it to the Bliss Carmen Award. Much to my surprise my first ever poem won silver in the award. Since then, a large part of my output has been in poems, with my 11th book, Canada a Country of Poets and Human Writes, to be published in 2026. This book has won several awards prior to being published and, in total, I have had the good fortune to have won, or been a finalist for, 25 awards over the years. My work has been translated into 8 languages.

And here I am today, thankful to be awarded the League’s Lifetime Achievement Award after all these years and poems. I have been a League member for many decades, and it is quite the honour. Now, I am a member of the League’s Senior Poets Caucus. Thank you League of Canadian Poets."