Poet, novelist and playwright Priscila Uppal has died after a long battle with synovial sarcoma, a rare disease she once called “the Kick in Your Face Cancer.” She was 43.
A professor at Toronto’s York University, Uppal received the colourful moniker of “Canada’s coolest poet” by Time Out London magazine when she was appointed poet-in-residence for Canadian Athletes Now at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.
That position reflected the sense of fun and generosity — and incredible work ethic — with which she approached her career.
“In all the years I’ve known her, Priscila Uppal approached every project with enthusiasm and every person with generosity,” said the poet, editor and teacher Paul Vermeersch. “She seemed utterly immune to cynicism, which is so rare, and I think that’s what made her such a great teacher and friend and mentor to so many.”
Uppal was the author of 10 books of poetry, two novels, a short story collection and has appeared in and edited many anthologies. She was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, was shortlisted for the Griffin Poetry Prize in 2007, and acted as the poet-in-residence at the Vancouver Olympics and Paralympics in 2010. At the time of her death, she was working on two books: a collection of poetry, as well as an anthology based on her poem “Another Dysfunctional Cancer Poem” with contributions from authors including Zoe Whittall, Adam Sol and many others.
“It was Priscila’s idea to put together this anthology because she really wanted there to be more works out there for either caregivers or people suffering from cancer themselves,” said Meaghan Strimas, her co-editor.
Strimas is also an editor of Uppal’s upcoming poetry collection On Second Thought, due out this fall from Mansfield Press. “Priscila, even up to 10 days ago, was going through final edits,” recalls Strimas, “as sharp and brilliant as ever. She was a person who had such great focus, even amongst all this chaos with her health.”
Strimas was a student of Uppal’s at York years ago, as was Leigh Nash, now the publisher of Invisible Press, and editor of the Giller-shortlisted novel I Am A Truck by Michelle Winters.
“She taught me the value of hard work, of commitment to craft and art and writing,” said Nash. “She’s the reason I wrote a novella of my own, and the reason I started writing poetry; she nurtured the poems that ended up being the backbone of my first book. She’s the reason I did an MFA. She turned me into a runner — she’s the reason I’ve run a marathon, even though she always argued that marathons were too far to run. She preferred 5Ks.”
Uppal’s first five collections of poetry were published by Exile Editions. “I will miss her smile and generosity and warmth of spirit, and most of all her zest for life, which she had on full display to the end,” said publisher Michael Callaghan.
Exile editor-in-chief Barry Callaghan remembered her as an unknown 20-year-old. “She was full of talent, edge, great laughter, and she wanted to be known ... she had the courage to risk being who she wanted to be.
“I shall never forget her showing up (at an event), after several treatments of chemo, dressed to the nines, sporting a bright red, expertly made wig ... even on the edge of death, she was all life. And to the end, she was a writer. A genuine spirit is gone.”
Uppal loved theatre. Her bravery and artistry was perhaps best exemplified in the 2017 play What Linda Said, in which she confronted head on, with sometimes biting humour, what it was to cope with cancer. The play was based on her relationship with the actress Linda Griffiths, who was dying of cancer at around the same time Uppal was diagnosed with the disease herself.
“I knew Priscila as a colleague, and a client, as an unofficial mentor, and as the best possible tablemate at literary events,” recalled John Degen, executive director of the Writers’ Union of Canada. “I deeply admired her openness and kindness to others in the business. Her generosity with other writers will likely be referenced again and again in tribute, because she was all generosity. We’ve lost an irreplaceable artist.”
Tributes did, indeed, reference Uppal’s generosity — and her love of the writing community of which she was a part — her talent as a writer and, perhaps above all, her zest for life.
“She just wanted to live so badly. She wasn’t ready at all,” said Strimas.
“She was was so smart, and so much fun, and I can’t believe that I won’t ever drink another glass of Champagne with her ever again,” said Nash.
Deborah Dundas is the Star’s Books editor. She is based in Toronto. Follow her on Twitter: debdundas
Update Sept. 5: This story was changed from a previous version that incorrectly stated Priscila Uppal’s age. She was 43.
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