Di Brandt

Di Brandt grew up in Reinland, a Mennonite farming village in south central Manitoba and was one of the first women writers to break the public silence of Mennonite women in Canada. She taught English and Creative Writing at the University of Winnipeg from 1986-1995, and currently teaches English at the University of Alberta. She is a former poetry editor of Prairie Fire and a founding member of the feminist editorial collective of Contemporary Verse II.

Awards
Governor General's Award for Poetry, finalist, 1987, 1995.
The Gerald Lampert Memorial Award, 1987.
Commonwealth Poetry Prize, short list, 1988.
McNally Robinson Manitoba Book of the Year, 1990; short list, 1994, 1995.
The Pat Lowther Memorial Award, shortlist, 1992, 1995.
Canadian Authors Association National Poetry Award, 1995.
National Magazine Award for Poetry, 1995.

Selected Publications
questions i asked my mother. (Turnstone Press, 1987).
Agnes in the sky. (Turnstone Press, 1990).
mother, not mother. (Mercury Press, 1992).
Wild Mother Dancing: Maternal Narrative in Canadian Literature. (University of Manitoba Press, 1993).
Jerusalem, beloved. (Turnstone Press, 1995).
Dancing naked: Narrative Strategies for Writing Across Centuries. (Mercury Press, 1996).

Selected Anthologies
Section Lines: A Manitoba Anthology. (Turnstone Press, 1988).
Making a Difference: Canadian Multicultural Literature. (Oxford University Press, 1996).
Uncommon Wealth: an Anthology of Poetry in English. (Oxford University Press, 1996).

Books in Print
Brandt, Di
Agnes in the sky. Turnstone Press, 1990. $8.95 ISBN: 0-88801-150-4.
Dancing Naked: Narrative Strategies for Writing Across Centuries. Mercury Press, 1996.
mother, not mother. Mercury Press, 1992. $11.95 ISBN: 0-920544-91-6.
questions i asked my mother. Turnstone Press, 1987. $8.95 ISBN: 0-88801-115-6.
Wild Mother Dancing: Maternal Narrative in Canadian Literature. University of Manitoba Press, 1993. $17.95 ISBN: 0-88755-632-9.

Di Brandt English Department, University of Windsor, 401 Sunset Av Windsor, ON, N9B 3P4, (519) 977-7959
dbrandt@uwindsor.ca
http://www.library.utoronto.ca/www/canpoetry/

Poet in the School
(Windsor)

phone: 519-977-7959

Di Brant grew up in Reinland, a Mennonite farming community village in southern Manitoba. She currently lives in Edmonton, where she is a research fellow at the University of Alberta. Di Brandt has published four collections of poetry, one book of literary essays, and a book of literary criticism. Her poetry has received many awards, including the Gerald Lampert Award, the McNally Robinson Manitoba Book of the Year Award and the CAA National Poetry Award. She has been twice shortlisted for the Governor General's Award and has been nominated for the Commonwealth Poetry Prize and the Pat Lowther Award. Her most recent book is Jerusalem, beloved.

Grade Levels: 10 - OAC

Fees: standard

Classroom Approach:
Di's approach includes talking about poetry, our "fear" of it, and the magic of it; reading contemporary Canadian poems out loud and listening for the way they create magic in the words (including her own); writing poems, using the read poems as models, focusing on various aspects such as rhythm, voice, memory, fantasy, etc.; talking about "cultural politics" in writing: cross-cultural writing, gender consciousness, economic considerations and publishing venues.