Writer and winner of the Governor General’s Literary Award for Poetry, Katherena Vermette will appear as the March 7 guest in the 18th annual Canadian Writers in Person Lecture series.
The series, presented by the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies (LA&PS), runs Tuesday evenings from 7 to 10pm at 206 Accolade West Building.
Vermette is a Métis writer from Treaty One territory in Winnipeg, Manitoba. She is a writer and filmmaker and has earned high acclaim for both artistic disciplines. Her debut book, North End Love Songs (The Muses’ Company) won the Governor General’s Literary Award for Poetry.
The poetry is inspired by Winnipeg's North End, a neighbourhood Vermette describes as infused with colourful birds, stately elms, and always "wily" rivers. It is where a brother's disappearance is trivialized by local media and police because he is young and aboriginal. It is also where young girls share secrets, movies, cigarettes, Big Gulps and stories of love -- where a young mother full of both maternal trepidation and joy watches her small daughters as they play in the park.
Vermette’s novel, The Break (House of Anansi), was shortlisted for the Governor General's Literary Award for Fiction, the Rogers Trust Fiction Prize and is a finalist in Canada Reads.
She has published a seven-volume children’s picture book series The Seven Teachings Stories.
Vermette has also earned the Coup de Coeur at the Montreal First Peoples Festival and a nomination for a Canadian Screen Award for her National Film Board short documentary, this river.
Vermette has a master’s of fine arts from the University of British Columbia. She is also involved in coordinating arts programs in Winnipeg, where she lives with her family.
The Canadian Writers in Person Lecture Series runs as part of a degree credit course on Canadian literary culture through the LA&PS Culture & Expression program. Members of the York community not enrolled in the course can also enjoy the readings, which are free and open to the public.
This year’s lineup will feature a unique selection of writers who explore a diverse range of topics and geographical and cultural landscapes. Authors include poets, playwrights, fiction writers and more.
The 2016-17 series continues with:
- March 21 – Terry Fallis, Poles Apart
For more information, email gailv@yorku.ca or leslie@yorku.ca.