Nicholson connects agriculture to tropes of tradition and supremacy, John-Kehewin contends with the colonial restraints of language in her play with English and Nêhiyawêwin (Plains Cree), while Dandurand illustrates the experiences of grief, forgiveness, and love. Join these three poets as they use their voices to weave between history and memory, moving through trauma and loss forward into existence beyond survival.
Location: Poetry Tent, UBC Robson Square
Type: Poetry, Q&A
Moderator: Evelyn Lau
Readers: Cecily Nicholson, HARROWINGS (Talonbooks) | Wanda John-Kehewin, Spells, Wishes, and the Talking Dead ᒪᒪᐦᑖᐃᐧᓯᐃᐧᐣ ᐸᑯᓭᔨᒧᐤ ᓂᑭᐦᒋ ᐋᓂᐢᑯᑖᐹᐣ mamahtâwisiwin, pakosêyimow, nikihci-âniskotâpân (Talonbooks) | Joseph Dandurand, The Punishment (Harbour Publishing)
About The Moderator
Evelyn Lau is a Vancouver author of fourteen books, including nine volumes of poetry. Her poetry has received the Milton Acorn Award, the Pat Lowther Award and a National Magazine Award, as well as being shortlisted for the Governor-General's Award and a BC Book Prize. From 2011-2014, she served as Vancouver Poet Laureate. Her most recent collection is Cactus Gardens (Anvil, 2022).
About The Readers
Wanda John-Kehewin is a Cree writer who came to Vancouver, BC from the prairies, on a Greyhound when she was nineteen and pregnant — carrying a bag of chips, thirty dollars and a bit of hope. Wanda has been writing about the near decimation of Indigenous culture, language and tradition as a means to process history and trauma that allows her to stand in her truth and to share that truth openly. Wanda has published poetry, children’s books, graphic novels and a middle grade reader with hopes of reaching others who are trying to make sense of the world around them, especially if you think you come from nowhere and don’t belong either. With many years of travelling the healing path (well mostly stumbling), she brings personal experience of healing to share with others. Wanda is a mother of five children , two dogs, two cats, three tiger barbs, and a hamster not named Hammy.
Cecily Nicholson is the author of four books and past recipient of the Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize and the Governor General’s Literary Award for Poetry. She is an Assistant Professor in Poetry at the School of Creative Writing, UBC and will be the 2024/2025 Holloway Lecturer in Poetry and Poetics at UC Berkeley.
Joseph A. Dandurand is a member of Kwantlen First Nation located on the Fraser River about 20 minutes east of Vancouver. He resides there with his 3 children Danessa, Marlysse, and Jace. Joseph is the Director of the Kwantlen Cultural Center. Joseph received a Diploma in Performing Arts from Algonquin College and studied Theatre and Direction at the University of Ottawa. He has been the Storyteller in Residence at the Vancouver Public Library. He has published 13 books of poetry and the latest are: I WANT by Leaf Press (2015) and HEAR AND FORETELL by BookLand Press (2015) The Rumour (2018) by BookLand Press in (2018) SH:LAM (the doctor) Mawenzi Press (2019) The Corrupted by Guernica Press (2020) his children’s play: Th’owixiya: the hungry Feast dish by Playwrights Press Canada (2019) his children’s books: The Sasquatch, the fire, and the cedar basket (2020) and The Magical Sturgeon (2022) published by Nightwood Press along with his poetry manuscript: The Punishment (2022) He also is very busy Storytelling at many events and Schools.
