Dionne Brand

Biography

Dionne Brand won the Governor-General’s Award for Poetry and the Trillium Award for Literature in 1997 for Land to Light On, her seventh book of poetry. Her fiction includes the acclaimed novels In Another Place Not Here and At the Full Change of the Moon as well as Sans Souci and Other Stories. Her most recent non-fiction book, A Map to the Door of No Return, was published by Doubleday Canada. Her Griffin-shortlisted book of poetry, thirsty, has won the Pat Lowther Memorial Award from the League of Canadian Poets and is also nominated for the Trillium Book Award. Her newest novel, What We All Long For, was released to critical acclaim in early 2005, and won the 2006 City of Toronto Book Award. Brand was recently recognized with the $10,000 (Cdn) Harbourfront Festival Prize, which honours an individual who has made a significant contribution to the Canadian literary community. Her most recent book of poetry, Inventory, was nominated for the 2006 Governor-General’s Award for Poetry and is shortlisted for the Pat Lowther Award.

In addition to her literary accomplishments, Trinidad-born Brand has directed four documentary films for the National Film Board of Canada, focusing on Black women artists and activists. Brand has lectured and/or been writer-in-residence at Toronto’s York University, Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, B.C., Guelph University and Malaspina University-College in Nanaimo, B.C.

In September, 2009, Brand was named the poet laureate of Toronto for a three-year term.

Judges’ Citation

“The word ‘thirsty’ in Dionne Brand’s long poem is a dying man’s last utterance. Shot by the police in his own front yard, Alan is a Christie Pits Jeremiah as well as a tender nurturer of plants, an immigrant and a dreamer who thirsts for ‘a calming loving spot’ among the ‘conditional places’ and ‘conditional sentences’ that perpetuate the marginalisation of the poor. Thirsty is a reckoning with the pretenses of community in the soul-withering environments of today’s mega-cities. But Brand’s luscious and ferocious lines go beyond a critique of dystopian realities to construct, in themselves, in their keen, lyric intelligence, an oasis of truth, compassion, and sensuality.”

Dionne Brand reads from thirsty

From thirsty, by Dionne Brand

More about Dionne Brand

The following are links to other Web sites with information about poet Dionne Brand. (Note: All links to external Web sites open in a new browser window.)

• Opening the Door – Interview with Dionne Brand (Read Magazine)
• Dionne Brand bio, works, etc. (University of Toronto – Canadian Poetry)
• Dionne Brand profile (Northwest Passages)
• Voices from the Gap profile of Dionne Brand (University of Minnesota)

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Photo credit: Neil Graham