Leeds Beckett academic honoured by the Royal Canadian Geographical Society

The prestigious Fellowship recognises individuals whose achievements have advanced the discipline of geography or enhanced Canada's global reputation. Dr Bök joins an illustrious group of past recipients, including Margaret Atwood, Dame Jane Goodall, Sir Stephen Fry and astronauts Roberta Bondar and Jeremy Hansen.

Dr Bök was recognised for his international contributions to both the arts and sciences, particularly through his groundbreaking literary and biotechnological projects. His acclaimed book Eunoia won the Griffin Poetry Prize and is celebrated worldwide as a landmark in experimental literature. His most ambitious project, The Xenotext, involved encoding a poem into the DNA of a living bacterium - creating what he describes as a 'living poem' designed to endure for eternity.

In a letter announcing the honour, John Geiger, CEO of the RCGS, praised Dr Bök for, "pushing poetry into the realm of exploration," and acknowledged the profound interdisciplinary nature of his work.

This Fellowship marks Dr Bök’s second induction into a Royal Society, following his election as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. Dr Bök said: "Receiving recognition from a Royal Society like the RCGS provides a beacon of reassurance that your own lifetime of very hard work has not gone unnoticed by your most great peers even when, at your darkest moments, no one seems to be looking."

Dr Bök, who teaches Fine Art in the School of Arts at Leeds Beckett University and who was nominated for the Prix Littéraire Bernard Heidsieck - Centre Pompidou in 2025, has been invited to formally accept the honour at the RCGS Fellows Induction and Geographica Gala in Ottawa this November.