Title and statement of responsibility area
Title proper
Jan Drabek fonds
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Fonds
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Physical description area
Physical description
6.20 m of textual records
(50 boxes)
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Archival description area
Name of creator
Biographical history
Jan Drabek was born in Prague, Czechoslovakia on May 5, 1935, the younger of two sons of a lawyer-journalist. He moved to New York with his family in 1948. He holds a BA from American University, Washington, DC, 1960 and pursued graduate studies at Mysore, India and the University of British Columbia, where he received a teaching diploma in 1966.
Mr. Drabek worked as a newspaperman, broadcaster and refugee resettlement officer and travel agent. He taught in Vancouver at Kitsilano High School from 1966 to 1976.
Drabek has written a number of popular fiction books and some non-fiction. His fiction is fast-paced, often humorous and laced with intrigue and clandestine affairs. It also has a strong political flavor. His non-fiction reflects his social concerns and deals with the subjects of education and with retirement options. He has also written children’s fiction and has published numerous short stories, articles and critical reviews for newspapers and periodicals, including a column in The BC Teacher. He was a member of the National Council of the Writers’ Union of Canada and has served two terms as the President of the Federation of BC Writers. In the 1980s he also tutored for the Open Learning Agency.
Mr. Drabek returned to his homeland in September of 1990 after the reinstatement of democracy in Czechoslovakia. He worked there in various high-ranking civil service positions before deciding to return to Vancouver in December of 1998.
Custodial history
Scope and content
The fonds consists of literary correspondence, drafts of literary work, published books and articles, reviews of Drabek’s work, printed material accumulated for research purposes, a small amount of personal correspondence and family papers and some newspaper photographs of Drabek.
There is a series comprising material Drabek created through his administrative role as a representative to the Writers’ Union of Canada, BC Caucus and as President of the Federation of BC Writers, in addition to his work as a writer. It contains minutes of meeting, correspondence, newsletters, and other material.
Notes area
Physical condition
Immediate source of acquisition
Donated by Jan Drabek in 2002.
An additional accrual was made in 2020.
Arrangement
The archivist has numbered manuscripts as a means of distinguishing versions. The numbering does not reflect the chronology of their creation.
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Accruals
Further accruals are expected.
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Accrual added and described by student archivist Mya Ballin in October 2021.