Dr. Roy Akira Miki is a distinguished scholar and teacher, one of Canada’s finest poets and authors, and a passionate advocate for social justice.

Born on a sugar beet farm in Manitoba, where his Japanese Canadian parents were interned during the Second World War, Dr. Miki’s early experiences with discrimination fuelled his drive to express his ideas and emotions.

As a writer, much of his work explores the complex issues of internment: history, memory, identity, displacement, race and redress.

Dr. Miki’s willingness to write and speak out against injustice played a significant part in the success of the Japanese Canadian redress movement.

His human rights activism has helped change the shape of Canadian society.

He has authored or edited an impressive range of books, essays, papers and anthologies, many of which have received critical acclaim. A 2002 collection of his poems, “Surrender”, received the Governor General’s Award for Poetry.

Dr. Miki’s writing and voluntary contributions were recognized in 2006 with three major awards: the Order of Canada, Gandhi Peace Award and Thakore Visiting Scholar Award.

He is also a recipient of Simon Fraser University’s Nora and Ted Sterling Prize in Support of Controversy.